Drought cuts luscious Salem mangoes production by 50 per cent
Early fall of fruit in orchards also reduces its size.
Salem: Persisting drought and lack of rains have severely impacted mango production in composite Salem district, which has fallen by 50 per cent this year, say growers.
Widely sought after for their taste, nutritional richness and variety, ‘Salem Mangoes’ as they are generically known, have taken a big hit
this season (usually from March to July) compared to last year, said J Sreenivasan, president of the ‘Federation of Small Farmers and Traders for Advancement and Protection of Salem Mangoes’.
The erstwhile composite belt including districts of Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Erode, has been the traditional home of the ‘Salem Mangoes’ grown in orchards to an extent of over one lakh acress in all by growers. The varieties including export quality types include ‘Imampasand’, ‘Malgova’, an Alphonso variety called ‘Gundu Mambazham’, ‘Nadusalai’, ‘Banganaapalli’, ‘Sendhura’, ‘Salem Bengulra’ and ‘Gudath’ among others, total an impressive 60 varieties of mangoes, a horticulture specialty of this belt.
However, this year, Mr Sreenivasan explained, “though the flowering on the mango trees was good and unripe fruits sprouted in good numbers, the lack of rains and a severe drought led to the mangoes dropping prematurely.” Their size had also diminished, disappointing farmers a lot who banked on a good harvest.
Consequently, the mango production by the orchards this year has also halved in this belt, dropping from 40 per cent last year to 20 per cent this year and the fruit size has shrunk, he said, adding, farmers were losing heavily on their investments this year. “if it rains now, it will be good but there is no scope for mango production to increase this year though the fruit size could get larger,” he said. The demand for tasty ‘Salem Mangoes’ has always been good, but “we only hope things will improve in the coming weeks,” he said.
Mr Sreenivasan said the federation could arrange for bulk transport of mangoes to various parts of Tamil Nadu from Salem through couriers if buyers could also place their orders online at the email id,www.salemmangoes.com and added that online bookings saves wholesalers and retailers from a lot of logistical hassles.