Telangana: Private farm opens gates to pluck mangoes

Hyderabad: Many remember the good old days when ripe mangoes would dangle temptingly from branches in orchards, waiting to be plucked and eaten.

Now Mr Shiva Prasad from Secunderabad wants to rewind to those wonderful days for families that miss plucking mangoes which were there for the taking. The owner of a 25-acre mango orchard at Shankarpally, Mr Prasad has thrown open his gates to Hyderabadis, who want to indulge in a touch of nostalgia by dong what few get the opportunity to do these days — pluck mangoes right off the tree. So what if they have to pay a small fee for the sheer joy of it.

The mangoes are still 40 per cent cheaper than those sold in the market. There are over seven varieties of mangoes available for sale in Mr Prasad’s orchard.

His farmhouse has a guest room. A shamiana would be provided if there are large groups.

Mr Shiva Prasad

The farm is located 8 km from Shankarpally, in a village called Mansanpally in Vikarabad district.  

Mr Prasad explained, “This is not my ancestral property, I purchased the orchard three years ago, after I returned from abroad. The idea struck me when I was in Canada. That country has many farms, which are open to the general public, we don’t see this in India. Though people love to visit farms, not many owners allow strangers to step on their property.”

He added, “Any fruit tastes best when it is directly plucked from the tree. Usually, before the fruits reach consumers, they are handled by many people. They get damaged during loading and unloading and the freshness is lost. Many have responded favourably to my idea, I have already received 10 calls for a farm visit”.

The orchard has many varieties of mangoes, including Benisha, Dassehri, Totapuri, Pedda Rasalu, Chinna Rasalu and Ponasa (pickle mangos).

Picnic spot

• The farm is open from 10 am to 6 pm, on all days.
• The owner has deployed 8 workers to accompany the visiting families.
• The owner has set certain regulations for visitors.  People are not supposed to pluck mangoes that are small in size and which are not completely ripe.
• Visitors are asked to come in groups, so that the worker can accompany a large set of people.
• The visitors are allowed to carry they own food and water.
• Visitors can spend hours at the farm during the permitted time frame, provided they don’t damage the crops.
• There are 15,000 trees at the orchard, with 10 tonnes of mangoes.