BENGALURU: Over 100 Bengalureans spent their Sunday morning walking around mango orchards exploring varieties of mangoes, ways of cultivation and more. This was part of a tour organised by Karnataka State Mango Development Marketing Corporation Limited (KSMDMCL). It was a guided tour, where a local expert answered all the questions about mangoes from blossom to harvest.
Praveen D’Souza, an IT professional and a resident of Rammurthy Nagar, said he had a memorable time, learning about cultivation and features of a variety of mangoes. “I usually go trekking once in two months. But, this was a new experience and was well organised. We got to learn a lot and also met new people,” he said.
On Sunday morning, three packed buses headed to mango orchards outside Bengaluru. The people were picked up on a first-cum-first-served basis.
Kamalakshi Rajanna, Chairperson of KSMDMCL, told Express, “The main idea is to create curiosity, build communication and improve domestic market.”
One of the orchards visited during the tour was a 102-acre gravel field, where mango trees are spread over 50 acres. Owned by K H Janardhan Naidu, an advocate, and maintained by his son J Vivek, a BCom law graduate, the duo began growing mangoes in August 2015. Though 16 borewells were dug to find a water source, only three had water due to depletion of the groundwater table and scanty rains. So, the father-son duo used drip irrigation for their orchards.
“You have to take care of each tree like a child,” Vivek said. The Alphonso variety is among those which are prone to pests and require special care.
The mangoes grown in their orchards are completely organic. A distance of 30 feet is maintained between two trees and there are around 3,200 trees. Besides mango, there are other fruits planted here as well.
Weather is one of the many problems Vivek has to face. “This season, flowering was delayed by a month but the ripening was early. This is due to environmental changes,” Vivek said.
Of the 150 registered enthusiasts, only about 100 made it for the tour. Kamalakshi Rajanna said that they have received good response for the tour so far with many enquiries. She added that interested people can register themselves at the KSMDMCL website. The tour will be held next Sunday as well.