Weather, pests sour mango farmers’ yield expectations

Surat: After bountiful flowering of mango trees at the end of Nov and the beginning of Dec, farmers in the mango belt of South Gujarat were optimistic about a bumper mango harvest. Their hopes have been dashed by weather adversities, resulting in fewer female flowers than males and an attack of the mango hopper pest.
Temperature fluctuations have also led to fungus and thrips attacking mango crops. The situation is such that farmers are expecting 25% to 30% of the usual mango crop this year.
D K Padaliya, deputy director of horticulture for Navsari district, told TOI: "After bumper flowering last year, the female flowering was not enough compared to male flowering due to the continuous cold in Jan. Generally, 15 to 18°C is good for flowering and fruit setting. However, temperatures fell in Dec and Jan. After that, mango hoppers (colloquially known as degha or madhiyo) attacked the crop. Almost 60% of the crop could not turn into fruit after Jan 15. We issued an advisory for farmers on insecticides and treatments to be used. We are also constantly visiting mango orchards."
Milan Naik, a large mango grower, who sold 70,000kg last year and 1.30 lakh kg in 2023, expects only 25% of the usual crop this year. "If I take 1 lakh kg as my average, I think I will get only 25,000 kg of mangoes. This is because the male-female ratio of flowers was disturbed due to the low temperatures. The hoppers' attack was so intense that many farmers could not control them. Whatever fruit setting we got was disturbed by mango hoppers. After the hoppers, anthracnose and powdery mildew attacked the crop. Thrips also recently attacked the crop. For many growers, the situation is out of control, and some could have lost their entire crop if they did not use pesticides in time."
Ashok Nayak, who takes care of 6,000 mango trees, is also expecting a 30% harvest this year. Nayak, who has been a mango grower for 40 years, does not remember a similar scenario happening in the recent past. "I have not seen such a sensitive situation for the crop in at least the last 10 years. The kesar crop will be massively hampered as it is a very sensitive variety. Farmers who did not control mango hoppers in time might have lost their entire crop. For them, this season will be nothing less than a disaster."
Farmers believe mangoes will start hitting the markets around April 20. Prices will be high initially this season. The season will peak only after May 20. "With a smaller crop likely this year, prices may go up as the weather adversities have not ended yet," said Nayak.
Tushar Dhameliya, director of a farmer producer organization (FPO) with 200 mango growers, said, "Flowering was very good, and we were optimistic about a bumper crop. Our hopes vanished with the sudden increase in temperature in the last two weeks. Because of the large fluctuations in day-night temperature, the flowers did not result in fruit settings as expected and a disease also affected the crop in the kesar belt — Talala, Una, Dhari, Gir Gadhada and Mendarda."
(With inputs from Nimesh Khakhariya)
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