Mango mela in Hubballi after two-year gap

HUBBALLI: The horticulture department will organise a mango mela in collaboration with the Krishi mela after a gap of two years because of the pandemic.
Mango cultivation in the district comes under the One District, One Crop scheme, a part of the Centre’s ambitious Atma Nirbhar initiative. Mangoes are grown in Kalkere, Kelgeri, Chikkamalligawad, Tegur taluks in Dharwad and in Kalghatagi and Hubballi.
The date for the mela is yet to be decided. The Dharwad Mango Growers’ Association has requested officials to organise the mela at the earliest.
Association member Pramod Gaonkar said the Dharwad Alphonso is the best quality in the state and is grown in the largest area. The mela is intended to facilitate direct contact between mango growers and consumers.
In the Dharwad district, mango is grown across 22,000 acres. Last year, the yield was high but heavy rain damaged huge quantities of the fruit, resulting in a net low yield.
“We did a meeting with officials recently and discussed organising the mela. We have submitted a request to the board in this regard,” Gaonkar said.
A mango grower said: “Our association had requested the horticulture department to make immediate arrangements for the mela so that farmers can get some benefit but the officials have not yet announced the date. Already Koppal, Karwar and other neighbouring districts have announced dates for their mango mela.”
The deputy director of the department in Dharwad, Kashinath Bhadrannavar, said the plan is to organise the mango mela with the Krishi mela, which is held by the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS). “Soon, we will hold talks with the mango board and UAS authorities to finalise the date,” he said.