Hello!
This is Nikita & Karthik here :) Both of us live in a mango orchard that we call Velanga Orchard in a village known as Jambuneradipalli, Andhra Pradesh, India. Interestingly, Our village name translates to Blackberry Village and Velanga translates to woodapple in tamil but we run a mango orchard. A good start to our blog post :)
Every year we harvest tonnes of mangoes that go to the local town market or mandi where mangoes from all the mango farmers in this area auction their fruit and get paid depending on a lot of factors that are very dynamic in nature. There's so much to farming that is impossible to understand when living in a city, receiving your fruit from a shop or a seller.
Karthik, my partner starting mango farming in 2009 and has learnt pretty much on the job. So I thought this end of the mango season, we share with you, answers to questions I asked him early this season.
Q. How old are our mango trees?
Our mango trees are between 7-30 years old.
Q. What all varieties do we have?
Our top 3 major varieties based on volume are Totapuri ( poly mango) Benganapalli ( aka benisha ) Neelam. Other varieties we have in varying volumes are Sindhura, Malgoba, Kalepad, Romania, Geddha mango ( large pickling variety) Khadar ( South Indian Alphonso ) Chinna rasalu ( miniature variety rich in sucrose) Naati ( a few native varietals ).
Q. What pattern have you seen with the mangoes in the last 5 years?
Fruiting patterns : Generally speaking fruit orchards especially mango orchards are biannual in nature which means some trees will produce maximum fruit every alternate year. With climate change spreading its wings, the summer temperatures rising and monsoon deficit with rainfall the domino effect affects the fruit bearing mechanisms of fruiting trees and hence switch to vegetative growth ( shoots and leaves) based on signals they receive, which causes fruit volumes to reduce, which affects the usual one year high one year low cycles. In the last 5 years we have seen a decrease on the overall average of about 30%.
Market patterns in the last 5 years, due to the government subsidies and promotion of mango cultivation, there has a been a vast increase in acearage of mango cultivation. The infrastructure that was envisioned and proposed is nowhere near what it should have been. Due to this difference there has been a massive trend of chemically intensive agriculture taking over to compensate for the losses due to the rising volumes and lower prices.
If we co relate price trends with production of mangoes in our area especially, we can confidently arrive at an inference that a mango orchard is only profitable once in a 4-5 year cycle. Albeit my observations are clearly implied to orchards who do not indulge in extreme bio manipulation of the trees by using plant steroids and other unethical ways to increase volume, and manipulate shelf life.
Q. What’s the situation with the mangoes or the trees this time?
Our fruit volume this time is less than 40% of our usual harvest volume. We harvest almost at the end of the Indian mango season so we have to wait and watch if there will be any unseasonal rains that might affect our mangoes further.
Q. What is the secret to the juicy mangoes?
As Masanobu Fukuoka emphasis, the closer we get to a “ do nothing approach “ which means the least we interfere with the natural cycles of the land the more nourishing in quality the fruit gets. We strictly use only farm yard manure as a soil applicant and a couple of times over the span of 15 years introduced good healthy bacteria and micronutrients into the soil. And our pest management includes farm practises and bio pesticides which do not interfere with the biological cycle aiding in a healthy produce.
We wish to do more in balancing our soil nutrients through keen observation and aiding the growth of organic organisms which create a biodynamic environment for a natural symbiotic ecosystem to flourish.
Q. What factors play a role in the taste of the mangoes?
The general health of the tree, the external nutrient applications, pest management. Healthy farm practises like pruning and hygiene.
Q. How does sunlight play a role in the growth and taste?
When a tree is optimally pruned and healthy it allows sunlight to be absorbed and processed the way it should be and this clearly has a direct impact on the quantity and quality of the fruit and the overall health of the tree.
Q. Why are some mangoes pink purple? Is it the variety or their positioning?
There are over 3000 varieties of mangoes, and just like humans they derive their characteristic from their terroir. The colours of mangos can vary due to the amount of direct light they receive, thickness of the skin, shape and size as well and as we know there are many subtle difference in tastes due to the sugar content in each variety.
Q. What is a typical mango tree cycle?
Most mango trees are grown from cuttings of a healthy fruiting specimen, They take 3-5 years to bare their first flowers which may even fruit, but farmers usually just pluck the flowers out themselves so the fruits don’t grow and make the branches droop which may cause the plant to grow unevenly or even brake the branches as they are still tender.
Mango trees yield the most between 6- 15 years depending on variety as well sometimes. After the age of 15 with good practises they can bare mediocre volumes of fruit well into the ripe old ages of even 40. But the general trend of reduction in volume starts at the age of 30 and off course once the tree is past it’s prime its not uncommon to see farmers chopping them and planting new trees.
Our goal at Velanga is to let them grow in, forever turning them the place into a native forest. And hoping they will take care of us in more ways than one.
I would like to give an example here of our wood apple tree, which is known to fruit only once a year around the September - October period but our old beautiful tree fruits all year round, so may be and just may be if we look after them well enough they could give back just enough for everybody for ever.
Q. How is climate change affecting our farm? Direct consequences that we feel.
Well this is a Multi layered discussion
- The Natural Dilemma - We are experiencing extreme heat this season although not unusual and is not the very first time it compounds the impact when all the factors are combined like Pollinators - due to climatic changes our bee, fruit fly and other pollinators get affected and not just in numbers but also in behavioural patterns and timing which has a huge impact.
- Pests - Due to unseasonal rains and heat at the same time there has been a rampant spread of mango hopper which is a an insect that hides in the lower shoots and suck their sap causing huge damage to flowering. Now when they multiply in huge numbers they can not only cause damage to the fruits but also cause severe damage to the tree itself.
- The Human Dilemma - To compensate for seasonal disturbances / government policy impotency / livelihood grievances - farmers spray huge amount of chemicals to reap as much as they can to sustain.
Now this has an adverse affect in two ways A) the pests are all driven into farms like ours where natural methods are used and hence it’s an easier solution for the pest (off course I’m oversimplifying this) B) the pests themselves are absorbing and forming stronger resistance to chemicals which means each year the dosage of chemicals is being increased in lieu of the pests resistance to the chemical which means eventually the fruit is carrying amount of chemicals that are completely above permissible limits.
The disheartening part is their mangoes and our mangoes all go into the same factories to be processed. So climate when not respected rears its multiple heads in ways one can only understand in close proximity with agriculture and right now the situation is “ terrible”
Q. What can we do about this?
Live simpler lives. Choose quality over money. Hold onto better practises when shit comes to shove, Reforest, Waste less, Conserve water. The usual that we all know but only sometimes do
Q. Lastly, what is your favourite mango and why?
I love them all but strictly sticking to flavour as the yardstick here are my favourites Imam pasand - for its flavour and size Benganapalli, offcourse coz it’s our land, on the plate Malgoba, for the pulpy flesh Hapus from central India, for the sheer sugar rush Mankurad from Goa for the juiciness.
Q. After more than a decade of mango farming, any advice to a new mango farmer? Just do it.
Q. Is there any ‘good chemicals’?
No, only good microorganisms for the future
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With that, we say goodbye to our mango season! Until next year :)
Though, thankfully, I've converted our last batch of mangoes into jam so we can enjoy it along with our pottery students for a few more weeks!