Unseasonal rains hit Chittoor mango

Poor flowering is attributed to moisture in the soil.

Poor flowering is attributed to moisture in the soil.   | Photo Credit: K.V. Poornachandra Kumar

Yield may fall by as much as a third of the normal three lakh tonnes

Farmers usually eagerly await good rains, but not the unseasonal ones like those that lashed Chittoor district last November. It was unusually heavy and unseasonal, thus hitting the yield in the mango-rich middle and eastern Chittoor district.

The continued downpour last year-end wreaked havoc on mango orchards by severely impacting trees at the flowering stage. Scientists aver that the rainy season that prolonged up to November increased moisture in soil and the air and aided vegetation, with the growth of new shoots. As the vegetative phase prolonged, the reproductive phase got shortened, hitting the flowering and fruiting stages. The trend is uniformly found from Buchinaidu Kandriga in the east up to Punganur in western Chittoor.

Big investments

Farmers were wondering as to how the flowering phase, which should have ended by January-end, continued till February. “There is no crop. In spite of our heavy investments and personal care, we expect only 20% of the regular yield this year,” says S. Damodarachary, who owns an orchard in the mango hub of Pakala mandal. On the flip side, the farmers are hoping for higher prices due to the low yield.

Market analysts estimate that the yield this season could be as low as one lakh tonnes, compared with the normal three lakh tonnes.

Generally, mango requires dryness for two to three months for flower induction, which technically, is available during the ‘water stressed’ months after the rainy season and before the onset of summer. Similarly, low night temperature of 15-16 degrees Celsius for 15 days is also essential to stimulate hormones in flowers. “In late flowering seasons like this, the female to male sex ratio is lower, which is clearly visible this year. Hence, the likely fall in yield”, says P.S. Sudhakar, a horticultural scientist at Rashtriya Seva Samithi Krishi Vignan Kendra, Tirupati. The delayed flowering is attributed not only to the prolonged rainy spell but also to the unprecedented levels of fog this year.

Traders are equally disheartened over crop arrivals in the market. “The Totapuri Bengalura and Khadar yield seems to be okay, but Benisha may be a let-down. We expect only one-third of our normal arrivals,” says a worried M.S. Gulabjan, a senior trader in the Damalacheruvu market.