NELLORE: Farmers in Nellore district are expecting a bumper crop of mangoes, resulting in good exports, this year due to ample availability of water. Even though no additional acreage has been brought into cultivation, the farmers are expecting eight to 10 tonnes of mangoes per hectare.
It may be noted that five to six tonnes per hectare came to fruition due to unfavourable weather conditions under the influence of cyclones Nivar and Burevi, and poor flowering last year. Mangoes are cultivated in around 10,000 hectares in upland mandals of Atmakur, Gudur, Rapur, Naidupet, Venkatagiri, Sangam, Kaligiri, Vinjamur and AS Pet where water availability is less. Banginapalli variety of mango is cultivated in 80 per cent of the area under cultivation. This year, majority of water bodies in the region are filled to the brim and even the groundwater levels have increased.
“Every year, we supply water through tankers. But, this year, we are supplying water to our agriculture fields through borewells,” I Suresh Reddy, a farmer from Atmakur division, said. “The mangoes from other districts are imported to the Nellore markets by May-end. We are expecting a good produce this year. Mango imports have been less in the open markets for the past three years,” said NS Narayana, a farmer from Vinjamur mandal. Currently, the price of one tonne of mango is `25,000 to `30,000, depending on the variety, he added. Ulavapadu in Prakasam district is the source point that provides mango stocks for Prakasam and northern parts of Nellore district.