Sweet tidings: Kesar mangoes get a new lease of life, thanks to Israeli technology

“The Israeli rootstocks are resistant to salinity, which has become an issue for mango cultivation in Saurashtra. In fact, Junagadh’s Mangrol taluka, the original home of Kesar (officially Gir Kesar) mango, has seen orchards disappearing due to salinity ingress. With the new plants grafted onto Israeli rootstocks, mango cultivation should hopefully revive in Mangrol as well,” says Karmur, who is also assistant director of horticulture in Junagadh.

The Rs 4-crore Talala centre is expected to produce around 20,000 Israeli root systems-based Kesar grafts every year from 2020, and supply these at token rates to farmers. Such grafts are also suited for high-density plantation: 400 trees per hectare at 5 metrex5metre spacing, 420 trees at 6mx4m and 800 trees at 5mx2.5 m. More number of trees would result in higher mango yields than from existing orchards in Junagadh and Gir Somnath, some of which are even 100-years-old with traditional low-density plantation of about 12mx10m or 100 trees per hectare.

With low-density plantation, the leaf canopy from fully-grown trees prevents all the branches from getting enough sunlight. The shade from the dense canopy also leads to high soil moisture retention, making it more conducive for pest attacks. “In high-density plantation, the canopy isn’t allowed to grow beyond four metres through regular trimming. That reduces labour cost, as harvesting fruits from tall trees takes more time. Also, application of pesticides is easier with less canopy cover,” explains Karmur, who has visited Israel to study mango cultivation there as part of the CEM project.

However, converting over 23,000 hectares — the area under mango orchards in Gir Somnath and Junagadh alone — into high-density plantations at one go is obviously not feasible. The Israeli experts have, instead, suggested rejuvenation of old orchards through three methods: heading-back, centre-opening and side-opening.

In heading-back, the entire canopy is cut down and only the trunk remains. The pruned tree, then, rejuvenates and starts bearing fruits after three years. In the meantime, the space opened up is used to plant new trees, converting the low-density plantation into a high-density one. In the centre-opening method, the central vertically-developing branches — mango trees exhibit “apical dominance”, wherein the main/central stems grow more strongly than the lateral/side stems — are chopped off, to open up the tree and enable sunlight to penetrate. In side-opening, one side of the canopy between tree rows is trimmed to increase sunlight and air flow.

“We (horticulture department) were already working on rejuvenation. But there were issues with post-trimming management, such as mango stem borer insect attacks on the chopped trunks and the branches on rejuvenated trees not being able to take the weight of fruits. The Israeli experts have helped us meet these challenges through application of the right insecticides and fungicides, while also advising not to allow the rejuvenated trees to bear fruits in the first three years,” notes Kamur.

According to him, over 250 farmers of Gir Somnath and Junagadh have already adopted high-density plantation in 300-odd hectares during the last three years. But only a dozen or so have opted for conversion of existing orchards through rejuvenation in around 15 hectares. “Farmers fear their income will get affected if they cut trees. Even the limited few have mainly chosen the centre-opening method, with only three going in for heading-back,” he adds. Among those three is Sanjay Vagadiya, who has 500 trees in his 28-year-old orchard, spread over three hectares.

“Till about six years ago, I was harvesting an average 800 quintals of mangoes annually. But when it started falling heavily, I knew something was wrong. On the advice of the CEM experts, I went in for rejuvenation through heading-back method. I heavily trimmed 90 trees in late-2016 and managed to harvest 300 quintals during 2016-17. While below the 340 quintals of the previous season, the fact that there were 90 less trees now bearing fruits, however, pointed to higher yields. I am confident of increasing production to 800 quintals again through rejuvenation in a phased manner,” states the 39-year-old, who earned around Rs 27,000 by selling the timber from the trees cut trunk upwards. The Gujarat government also pays Rs 20,000 per hectare as one-time assistance to farmers for rejuvenation of 20-years-plus mango orchards.

Vallabh Kamani, a 67-year-old farmer from Haripur village in Junagadh’s Mendarda taluka, opted for high-density (3.66mx4.57m) plantation of new mango trees on three hectares in 2014. He also has an existing 30-year-old orchard in five hectares, with traditional low-density plantation of 10mx10m.

“I visited an orchard near Junagadh city and seeing the yields there decided to go for high-density plantation. Also, Israeli experts came to my farm and gave proper advice on managing the canopy. They told me not to allow the trees to grow beyond four metres and ensure that the canopy of one did not touch the other. Farmers normally start harvesting from the fifth year after plantation. But good canopy management practices have resulted in better growth of my trees and I expect a full harvest in this season itself,” declares Kamani.

Yields, too, are likely to be higher. Kamani harvests roughly a quintal of mangoes per tree from his old orchard, which works out to 100 quintal per hectare. The 510 trees planted per hectare in the new orchard, he estimates, will give at least 153 quintals, even if per-tree yields are only 0.3 quintals. Besides, there are labour cost savings from the lower tree heights.

Between 2005-06 and 2016-17, mango cultivation area in Gir Somnath-Junagadh has risen from 15,720 hectares to 23,010 hectares, with production also doubling to about 20 lakh quintals and farmers realising an average Rs 1,000-plus per quintal. Yields have, however, stagnated at 85-95 quintals per hectare. “Production has been falling in many orchards over the last 5-6 years. The Israeli intervention has the potential to salvage the situation,” points outs Harsukh Jarsaniya, secretary of the Talala agricultural produce market committee, one of the biggest mandis for Kesar mango.

Kesar mango is also grown in Amreli, Bhavnagar and Kutch, while Valsad, Navsari and Surat districts in south Gujarat mainly produce the alphonso variety. Gujarat today is India’s fifth largest mango producer after Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana, with an output of 1.42 crore quintals in 2016-17. Gujarat exports a lot of mangoes, mainly to Europe and West Asia. Last year alone, about 5.32 lakh quintals got exported, fetching Rs 445 crore.