Mango output in India may touch 14 mln tons despite rains

The mango production in the country this year is unlikely to be affected by unseasonal rains last week, a top government official said.

 

"Rainfall does not affect mango or litchi crops. Only hailstorms and cyclonic weather can have some impact on the mango crop output," National Horticulture Board (NHB) Managing Director Bijay Kumar told PTI.

 

The output of mango is likely to reach the last year's level of 14 million tons, he said.

 

Mangoes, grown in the southern and western region, have already started arriving in the markets.

Varieties like alphonso totapalli and baiganpalli sindhu and ratna, senthura, kalepad, rumani and neelam are already available in the markets in the price range of 6,50 – 7,37 eur per box containing 15 kg of mangoes.

 

Any decline in output is likely to affect the livelihood of fruit growers as about 40 per cent of the total fruit area is covered under mango cultivation that accounts for about 2.2 million hectares.

 

Even as the area is going up every year, the productivity is not increasing due to lack of rejuvenation of crops.

 

The NHB is planning to implement Israeli technology, which can prune mango trees in large areas, to increase the productivity.