HIDDEN GEMS IN INDIAN MANGOES- WORTH HUNTING RARE TREASURES

HIDDEN GEMS IN INDIAN MANGOES- WORTH HUNTING RARE TREASURES

 Unknown AP local mangoes:

“PANDHARI VARI MAMIDI” is local name of this mango which is native to Tanuku area of West Godavari Dist, AP. This mango is small to medium size with near round to oval shape and green to yellow shade in colour. It is not an eye catching mango with great looks. The uniqueness of this local mango lies in its distinct flavour with sweetness. This mango is juicy with fibre content and the sweetness increases with more and more chewing. In fact you feel like continue to chew.  I feel it’s far superior to popular mango varieties such as Banganapalli, Alphonso, and Kesar etc.  

Hidden gems from UP

Whenever I think of mangoes, memories go back to early 80s in Delhi. Seven of us from 3^rd batch IRMA were entrusted with the challenging task of executing NDDB promoted Fruits & Vegetables product (Present SAFAL). I along with couple of batch mates happened to visit a mango orchard owned by a Muslim gentleman in Hapur, Western UP. It was very well maintained orchard with majority of dashehari, langra, chausa trees and few selective local varieties.

We were offered over a dozen varieties of local mangoes, each one is a gem with unique mouth watering taste. The impression and memories of this orchard are so strong, even after 30 years, whenever I think of mangoes; the Hapur experience is fresh in memory and always feels connected.

Mango treasury of India:

As it is gathered, these type hidden gems in mangoes are there across the nation and particularly patronage of Muslim rulers. The experts were encouraged to develop new varieties as for the likes and taste of rulers, family members and name these mangoes with their names. Popular mangoes of Hyderabad, Himam Pasand, and Jahangir are such inventions found place in premium mango markets, but many remind within four walls of the fort or mahal and not made available to public consumption. This pool of mango treasury can be traced to places like Luknow, Hyderabad, Bengal Provenance, Banganapalli and various other dynasties and Zamindaris. If someone who is passionate about mangoes can tour these areas and map the rare germ plasm still available in those belts, it’s worth your time and effort. Rataul, Anwar, Himmayat, Fazli, Dudhia gola, Dudhiya malda, Sikinder are very few among the hidden gems I recall and present here. 

  

Israel experience: 

Interactions with a good friend from Israel Mr. Abner Chin gave lot of insights into mango germplasm, their collection, preservation, propagation. He explained how Israel could become world leader in mango exports through systematic approach, despite the fact that Israel had no germplasm worth mentioning of its own; still it could become big success by identifying the right stock and importing them.

It was one particular mango tree identified as 13-1 in Israel is very popular as root stock and grafters pay premium to get this rootstock for their nursery operations.  It was the thirteenth row, first cross plant in experimenting gave all desired parameters and hence it was named as 13-1 tree. Similarly one Ongole bull which was sourced from Karavadi, Prakasam dist, AP became very popular in Brazil and its single semen dose was sold at exorbitant price of over $1000/dose.  This is the potential of Indian germ plasm which we could not trace and exploit commercially.

Mango grafting:

In mango grafting the scion (bud or piece of stem that is to be attached to rootstock) and the rootstock (seedling upon which scion is to be attached) , both are very important to produce true to type breed with characters like regular bearing, good conversion of flowers to fruits, resistance to pest, withstanding drought conditions etc. In fact except true to breed character which comes from scion, most other characters reflect from the root stock selected for grafting.

Identification true to type plants with healthy growth is basic requirement for sourcing scion.  Materials selected as scions should be taken from terminals buds (end of a branch) of a tree, at the ‘tight bud stage’ or before a new flush with buds which are swollen but have not opened. A good rootstock is very important for future production of high quality mango fruits. The rootstock provides the rooting system and part of the stem of the future mango tree. The rootstock shall be identified and sourced based on the characters like local mango tree that grows well, healthy, strong trees, other than the criteria stated above.

Root stock identification:

This whole interaction happened during a field visit to mango orchards in east Godavari dist in which our friends Gopalkrishna Garu, Partha Saradhi Garu along with Mr. Abner Chin and three scientists from IIHR, Bangalore were present. During our field visits we could identify some local variety trees, validated the information and history of the trees with farmers and we could convince our scientists about using such germplasm as rootstock.  One such tree identified by me in an orchard of Sri. Radhakrishna in Anuru village, East Godavari is selected by Mr. Abner for root stock and order is placed on farmer to supply all fully ripen fruits for further developments. The identified rootstock mango tree is presented below.

This exercise took me back to the year 1992. During peak summer months I took up car journey from Kanpur to Hyderabad. It was an interesting journey through thick forests of Katni, Jabalpur regions in MP. The sight of huge mango trees with large bearing was delight to watch and many places I got down and interacted with locals and found that the bearing is consistent and these trees are auctioned by roads department and the harvest mostly goes for amchur (dried mango powder).  These experiences were shared with Abner and scientists and confirmed that they could be the best root stock material and such rigorous travel and identification of rootstock and scion are required to produce quality grafts.

Existing practices in India:

The mango grafting farms, nurseries in India are focussing more on quantity rather than quality. They are in the competition race and engaged in price war, resulting in production and supply of poor quality grafts. As observed in Valsad, Gujarat and Chittoor, AP, invariably the root stock seedlings are sourced from pulp factories and quality criteria explained above is seldom followed. The regulatory departments are ineffective mostly due to lack of knowledge and commitment. There is hardly any support and technology transfer from research stations to nurseries in sourcing valuable germplasm and root stock seedlings.

If our seed material itself is not traceable and certified, what type of fruits we can produce and compete in international markets?  It is time for all of us to get into serious micro level business, understand the ground realities, rectify our mistakes, lacuna and move forward to compete in global markets.

We have everything available next door, which is not the case with many countries. Unfortunately we lack commitment in tapping our own potential.

How do we make these hidden gems to shine?

The local governments, NGOs, nurseries, research stations have to form a team to identify the potential local varieties of mango trees, mark the identified trees for scion collection.  Local horticulture officer shall act as nodal agency and coordinate with other stakeholders.

State/National Governments shall establish procedures for identification of root stock and promote the same through NGOs, nurseries and horticulture department and establish procedures for identification, collection and supply of certified root stock.

In fact the government shall enforce certification for scion, rootstock, grafting procedure and all marketable grafts shall be bar coded for their traceability and true characters. Once we source good grafts of hidden gems through this process, certified farms can be established with these rare species, grow them and sell the final produce with huge premium through exclusive branding.

We can position them as hidden gems of India and do selective marketing with celebrities, industrialists, high profile persons.

POTENTIAL IS ENORMOUS- ONE SHOULD HAVE WILL TO TAP IT.  

B Guruva reddy-9866889246

grbonthu@gmail.com