HYDERABAD: By this time, we should have been gorging on ripe mangoes. But thanks to climate change, the King of Fruits is not yet ready to be harvested and we might have to wait till May. In the meantime, some Hyderabadis are choosing to grow the fruit themselves in their gardens, backyards and farms. CE catches up with them to know more
It’s the mango season -- a time when the demand for organic mangoes hits the roof. But this year around, things seem to be changing -- Hyderabadis are choosing to grow the fruit themselves in their gardens, backyards and farms. Excited about their little mango plants, they share with CE how they are growing of the King of Fruits and more.
Gautam Mahmood, a lawyer, has been growing his own mangoes for nine years now in his 50-acre farm on the Madras highway in Cherlapally, enroute Nalgonda. Relying on the goodness of mulch and compost, he hardly uses pesticides. Instead, he uses neem oil and neem cake to keep insects away. Gautam, who had adopted the drip irrigation method, is looking forward to a rich harvest this year. “Last year was a disaster. Just when the fruits were ready to be harvested, the rains played spoilsport. They will take another three weeks to ripen,” he says.
Three generations of Gautam’s family have been passionate about farming. While they do not sell their produce, they merely reap the benefits of a great harvest with friends and family. “We bought the saplings from Sangareddy. But many people get theirs from Railway Gudur in Andhra Pradesh too,” he says. Gautam grows various varieties of mangoes — Banganapalle, Himayat or the Imam Pasand, Totapuri and some local varieties too. He had to wait three years for the first crop to bear fruit.
Raghuram Vemula, another Hyderabadi who is passionate about organic farming, takes us through the process of growing mangoes. The vice-president of strategy and operations at Organo (a company offering alternate living experience through eco-friendly farmhouses and villas), says, “To begin with, we identify our eco-habitat with good root penetration. We decide on the soil density were looking at, conduct a thorough soil analysis and finalise the soil profile. We sometimes have to replant too, but that’s rare.”
Ask an expert or someone with an agricultural background, and they would say that the ideal distance between each mango tree should be five-six feet. But, Raghuram has tried to reduce that for better produce. It all depends on the choice of species, he says.
It takes three to five years for a mango tree to reach full bloom, he says, adding, “We don’t use chemicals unless there’s severe infestation. We spray the trees with eco-friendly pesticides on a daily basis.” He says that this year’s produce has been disappointing, not just on their farm, but throughout Hyderabad. “Most trees did not flower on time. Usually by Ugadi, we get good mangoes. This year, it’s pretty late. Probably, climate change is to blame,” he says.
Josh Govada, a businessman who fell in love with organic farming, started cultivating organic mangoes for personal consumption. After a few years and mastering the art of growing the King of Fruits, he went commercial. “We have an organic farm in Bidar (Karnataka), where everything grown there is purely organic. We sell a little of our produce to supermarkets and small stores too.” Josh makes his own eco-friendly manure/pesticides. Called Jeeva Amrutam, it is made of neem, curd and dung. He expects the first crop of this year to be ready by May.