BENGALURU: Drought, along with hailstorms and heavy wind, has left mango growers in Kolar - where more than 70 per cent of mangoes are grown in Karnataka - in dire straits. They have lost more than half their crops to drought, say farmers. Adding to their misery, mangoes that were about to ripen in May, were lost to hailstorms and heavy winds this week.
Karnataka is among the top mango-growing states in the country, with the fruit being grown in 1.7 lakh hectares in 16 districts, including Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Dharwad and Ramanagara. Annually, the state has the capacity to grow more than 10 to 12 lakh tonnes of mangoes. Kolar alone, especially Srinivasapura taluk, Sidlaghatta and Mulbagal, contributes 8 lakh tonnes of mangoes.
Normally, the flowering period in the state is from November to January, and depending on water availability and soil moisture, the flowers turn into fruit. Srinivasa Gowda, a mango grower from Sidlaghatta, said that in the monsoon of 2018, there was no rain during the South Western monsoons or North East monsoons, so flowering was not as per expectations. “In some villages in my taluk, there was flowering in January, but with no moisture in the soil, flowers fell even before turning into fruits. At a few places, mangoes grew and we expected to see them ripen by May,’’ he said.
Shivarama Reddy from Srinivasapura said in last five to six days, Kolar saw 6 cm rainfall with hailstorms and heavy wind. “This has affected the crop even more. This is a huge loss for us,” he said.Now, farmers are expecting barely 1.5 lakh tonnes of mangoes from Kolar instead of 7-8 lakh tonnes. This, according to him, will impact the demand and supply chain. The quality of mangoes left won’t be good, he said. “Farmers will not get back the amount they have invested,’’ he added.
The Kolar District Mango Cultivators’ Association’s president, Chinnappa Reddy, said that many mango growers take gold loans from banks. They pledge their gold jewellery to get loans of Rs 50,000 to a lakh, which van be availed on the spot and does not require many It also does documents.
“Mango growers use this loan money to buy fertilizers and other material for their crops. But now, with yields not as expected, the farmers aren’t able to pay back their loans. The government only waives off land loans. We are requesting the concerned authorities to include this type of loan under the waive off scheme,’’ he said. They are now also requesting the Kolar district commissioner to survey the number of fruits lost in the recent hailstorms.