 "Karnataka set to reap bumper mango crop")
Karnataka is in for a bumper mango harvest this year, with production expected to more than double at 700,000-800,000 metric tonnes, compared to 300,000 tonnes last year.
"Despite drought in a majority of the growing regions for the past two years, the state is set for a bumper crop this year as mango is a dry-land fruit and does not require irrigation. The moisture levels were good in most of the areas, though there was drought. However, the fruit size will depend on the rains in March or early April," S V Hittalmani, additional director (fruits and flowers), department of horticulture said.
He said the year 2012 was an 'Off Year' and so the production was around 300,000 tonnes, leading to a huge rise in the prices. However, this year, he expects prices to come down due to a bumper crop. The bumper crop is expected in view of widespread flowering in December and January this year.
Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Dharwad, Belgaum, Ramanagar, Haveri, Tumkur and Mysore are major growing districts in the state. Kolar and Chikkaballapur together contribute half of the total.
Alphonso, Mallika, Raspuri, Bainganpalli, Sendhura, Totapuri are major varieties grown in the state. Of these, Alphonso contributes about 30 per cent of the total production.
Considering the bumper crop this year, KSMDMC is planning to organise direct market linkage programmes for growers in 10 districts. It is also planning to promote the Totapuri variety as a table fruit this year. "The sugar content in the Totapuri variety is considerably less when compared to the Alphonso. Even diabetics can consume this variety," Hittalmani said.
He said for the first time, mango 'melas' (farmer to consumer initiative) are being organized by KSMDMC instead of the horticulture department.
"We will organise mango melas in 10 major district headquarters and many taluk places this year to provide direct market access to growers. We are looking at selling at least Rs 20 crore worth of mangoes through these melas as against fruit worth Rs 10 crore sold last year," he added.
KSMDMC is setting up a forward linkage centre in Chintamani, which will provide post-harvest training to farmers and entrepreneurs. The backward linkage centre will be set up at Srinivisapura, which will provide knowhow for production. It will have a germ plasm station and laboratory for testing and training centres. About 50-100 varieties of mango germ plasm will be stored in this centre, Rudresha added.
The state government has earmarked a budgetary allocation of Rs 5 crore for the two-year old corporation in the next financial year.
"Despite drought in a majority of the growing regions for the past two years, the state is set for a bumper crop this year as mango is a dry-land fruit and does not require irrigation. The moisture levels were good in most of the areas, though there was drought. However, the fruit size will depend on the rains in March or early April," S V Hittalmani, additional director (fruits and flowers), department of horticulture said.
He said the year 2012 was an 'Off Year' and so the production was around 300,000 tonnes, leading to a huge rise in the prices. However, this year, he expects prices to come down due to a bumper crop. The bumper crop is expected in view of widespread flowering in December and January this year.
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K Rudresha, deputy director, Karnataka State Mango Development and Market Corporation (KSMDMC), said the area under mango has gone up by about 10,000 hectares this year. The total area under mango is now estimated at 160,000 hectares.
Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Dharwad, Belgaum, Ramanagar, Haveri, Tumkur and Mysore are major growing districts in the state. Kolar and Chikkaballapur together contribute half of the total.
Alphonso, Mallika, Raspuri, Bainganpalli, Sendhura, Totapuri are major varieties grown in the state. Of these, Alphonso contributes about 30 per cent of the total production.
Considering the bumper crop this year, KSMDMC is planning to organise direct market linkage programmes for growers in 10 districts. It is also planning to promote the Totapuri variety as a table fruit this year. "The sugar content in the Totapuri variety is considerably less when compared to the Alphonso. Even diabetics can consume this variety," Hittalmani said.
He said for the first time, mango 'melas' (farmer to consumer initiative) are being organized by KSMDMC instead of the horticulture department.
"We will organise mango melas in 10 major district headquarters and many taluk places this year to provide direct market access to growers. We are looking at selling at least Rs 20 crore worth of mangoes through these melas as against fruit worth Rs 10 crore sold last year," he added.
KSMDMC is setting up a forward linkage centre in Chintamani, which will provide post-harvest training to farmers and entrepreneurs. The backward linkage centre will be set up at Srinivisapura, which will provide knowhow for production. It will have a germ plasm station and laboratory for testing and training centres. About 50-100 varieties of mango germ plasm will be stored in this centre, Rudresha added.
The state government has earmarked a budgetary allocation of Rs 5 crore for the two-year old corporation in the next financial year.