“I have never witnessed such a phenomenon in my life”, exclaims 91-year-old Sarasamma, a native of Othara near Chengannur on seeing the mango and cashew trees blooming in the field near her house, this week. Locals find it usual that fruits and vegetables like mango, cashew, drumstick and rose apple bloom in the month of Karkkidakam which is normally drenched in rain.
But the climate is different this time with rain remaining a distant dream in the state particularly in the area which falls between the borderlines of Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts.
“We have noticed this after some persons pointed out a peculiar situation wherein mangoes and cashews flowered last week,“ said Vinod Mathew, subject matter specialist at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Pullad.
Experts see it as a result of change in climate. “The phenomenon is caused by an advanced dry spell. Normally this could happen in the third week of August after a two week dry spell followed by a rainy season. Both these fruits belong to the same family.
A dry spell of 7 to 15 days results in bud break and then flowering of these fruits. Normally, days with less than 5 mm rain are treated as dry spell,” says Dr Prasada Rao, professor and head, Department of Agricultural Meteorology, Kerala Agricultural University.
Cashew and mango are notable plants in the Anacardiaceae (the cashew or sumac family), a family of flowering plants bearing fruits that are drupes. According to Rao, this phenomenon is not good for the crop as rain in the coming weeks may ruin the flowers and eventually the crops.
Incidentally, the area experienced a very low rainfall from June 1 to July 18. According to the statistics published by the Thiruvananthapuram centre of the Indian Meteorological Department, Pathanamthitta district got only 395.9 mm rain compared to a normal 897.6 mm.
It recorded a -56 per cent deficiency which is second in the state after Wayanad. Alappuzha district got only 436.3 mm rain compared to a normal 929.8 mm. It is a deficiency of -53 per cent. It is much higher than the state average in deficiency which is -37 per cent.