Hailstorm damages around 30% of mango crop in Bijnor, India
While other growers were affected, mango growers claimed that they are worst-hit, and this year, harvests will dip, they lamented. Bijnor supplies mango to Delhi, Haryana and Uttarakhand.
Mango groves are spread over 13,310 hectares in the district, including Mandawar, Kiratpur, Bijnor, Najibabad, Chandpur, Nagina and Dhampur. The mango trees were in the flowering stage. But the hailstorm has destroyed 25% to 30% of the blossoms, orchard owners claimed.
Senior horticulture inspector Narpal Malik estimated that 20% of the mango blossoms had been damaged but the actual loss would be known only after an assessment.
Talking with TOI, district agriculture officer Pramod Sirohi, said, "We are trying to assess the loss. We have asked all farmers to inform us about their losses, so that we could visit the fields and make an estimate."
source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
