West Bengal is likely to witness a record drop in mango production this year, as adverse weather conditions in the month of February has resulted in a 70 per cent drop in flowering on trees in major mango-producing districts like Malda and Murshidabad.
Last year, West Bengal produced 6,23000 tonnes of mangoes, of which Malda and Murshidabad accounted for more than 50 per cent of the total produce. This year, flowers could be seen in only 30 per cent of trees in Malda, and in Murshidabad also the situation was no different, confirmed Pijush Kanti Pramanick, director of horticulture, and mission director of state horticulture mission, West Bengal. This year mango production was expected to be on the higher side, as the year is a "on-year" for the fruit. Last year, mango cultivation in the state was 30 per cent less than normal .
Tarun Ghosh, a farmer in the Nadia district of West Bengal said, flowering had been lower by 50 per cent in Nadia too, and he expected the fruit's prices to shoot up in the months of May-June, when mangoes ripened.
In spite of a likely steep fall in mango production, the West Bengal government is optimistic of exporting the fruit to the US and European countries. Lakshmanbhog and Langra are the two prominent mango exportable mango varieties grown in Malda and Murhidabad. This apart, Fazali, Aswina, Himsagar, and Khirshapatti are some of the other famous mango varieties in West Bengal. Last year, West Bengal had started exporting mangoes from Malda to the US. "Earlier this year, in a meeting between the exporters, growers and Agricultural & Processed Food Product Export Development Authority (APEDA), exporters had shown interest in shipping mangoes from West Bengal to South East Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. The government will facilitate the exports," said Pramanick. Meanwhile, three mango varieties in West Bengal-- Lakshmanbhog, Khirshapatti and Fazli--have been registered with the department of science and technology, government of India, for Geographical Indication (GI) marking, which will help standardise the three varieties as specific to West Bengal.
Another Bengal mango variety, Himsagar, will be promoted as a brand name by the state government, in view of its high demand in north India.