Contrary to expectations, Karnataka’s mango yield drops again due to harsh weather

Karnataka mango yield drops due to weather, affecting farmers economically; Mango Mela in Lalbagh Botanical Garden to be held in May.

In a disappointing development, the mango yield in Karnataka has gone down this year as well, owing to the vagaries of weather. While the technical expert committee had earlier predicted the yield to be around 12 lakh to 14 lakh metric tonnes, now the prediction has come down to around 8 lakh to 10 lakh metric tonnes.

Mangoes, which require chill weather with dew during the flowering phase, faced the opposite this year. “The flowering was not good in January this year because of the harsh temperature of around 33 to 34 degrees Celsius in the fields. Due to this, the fruit did not set properly, while new shoots also came out. When shoots come out, it leads to food competition between fruit and vegetative growth,” C.G. Nagaraju, managing director, Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation (KSMDMC), told The Hindu. 

While in the previous year, pest infestation was a big problem, the Mango Board claims that this year, it has reduced. “The tree hoppers, which generally pose a big problem, were not there much this time. The diseases are less prevalent as we had issued technical guidelines earlier, and farmers had taken prophylactic measures. Thus, we thought it would be an on year, but due to high temperature, it became an off year again,” Mr. Nagaraju added.  

The farmers have not seen a profitable year for a long time now, at least four to five years, due to infestation and weather problems. This year’s losses have pushed them further into economic losses.  

“Our mango yield is down by almost 70% this time across the district. Temperature changes affect trees greatly as they are very sensitive during the flowering and fruit setting phase. Every year, our losses are mounting up,” said Dharanish Kumar, president, Kanakapura and Channapatna Mango Growers’ Association. 

The Sendhoora, Raspuri, Badami (Alphonso), and Banganpalli mango varieties from Ramanagara district have hit the markets, while the fruits from Kolar are expected to arrive by the first fortnight of May. The selling price of mangoes in Bengaluru is north of ₹150 per kg currently.  

The mangoes arrive in the market in three phases — early arrivals, mid arrivals and late arrivals. “The arrivals will be steady this time as the season itself has started early. The season is likely to go on till the end of July or even August,” said Mr. Nagaraju.