Desi mangoes to yield sweet dividends

LUCKNOW: Mango growers of Malihabad have decided to diversify their business. The move will serve two purposes. One, it would bring additional income to them, and secondly, help save the 'desi' varieties of mango, most of which are on the brink of extinction.
The growers, who have been traditionally growing 'desi' varieties, have found the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which has imparted specialised training to them in making mango products.The farmers now want to put it to commercial use by opening a unit selling mango products. "We plan to open a unit where we can sell mango products. This will also fetch us extra income," said a Malihabad-based farmer Surendra Kumar Rawat.
Since indigenous (desi) mango varieties are not as popular as the commercial ones like Dussehri and Safeda, growers are fast switching over to economically profitable varieties. This does not augur well for already threatened 'desi' varieties.
To conserve the mango diversity, the Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISH) has helped famers from four villages of Malihabad -- Kasmandi Kalan, Mohammadnagar, Sarsandi and Gopramau - to register a society to grow indigenous mangoes. More than 120 farmers from these four villages are members of the society.
Apart from CISH, the UNEP is also helping farmers to conserve the threatened varieties of mango. UNEP has been training growers in making products using the pulp of 'desi' varieties like Zard ameen, Surkha, Chand gola, Tuhru, Mujjad ameen, Ramkela, Seb Jannat, Desi bambai, Zardalu, Tukami heera, Deshi mitthu and hundred others. Most of these are of suckling variety and used for making mango pickles and mango powder.
During the four-day training programme held in May last week, farmers learnt the ways to diversify the use of suckling varieties. "We were being told to make drinks like 'panaa' and other mango soft drinks which are popular in the market, besides making 'aamchur' (mango-powder)," said Rawat.
The poor commercial prospects of 'desi' mangoes have forced farmers to abandon them. The varieties do not fetch more than Rs 8-10 per kg and are hardly known in the market, even though some of them are much easier to grow as compared to the commercial varieties. Most of the times, they grow out of discarded seeds. But, most of these mangoes remain confined to orchards as they are not popular.
However, efforts of UNEP and CISH can help preserve the indigenous mangoes.