When it comes to fruits, mango is regarded as the King of Fruits. This King of Fruits has always been a crop that has earned good profits for the farmers of Srinivasapur taluk in Kolar district. Unfortunately, of late, mango seems to be giving farmers sleepless nights.

Generally, mango trees flower early in January and it is a pleasure to see mango trees covered with sweet smelling flowers, all decked up to welcome spring. However, this time around, the trees in Srinivasapura flowered very late, sending signals that the fruit may happen even later. The farmers of the district are a worried lot.

Agriculture is the main occupation of the people of Kolar district. A district with not many water resources to boast of, manages to grow both agricultural and horticultural crops.

Mango, a horticultural produce, is one of the main crops grown in Srinivasapura taluk. In fact, Srinivasapura is well-known in the entire country for its mango produce, so much so that it is even known as the treasure house of mangoes.

On an average, mango is grown in over 44,000 hectares of land in Kolar district, a major portion of which is in Srinivasapura.

Farmers who reaped rich profits out of mango yield till a few years ago, are faced with many problems in the last 4-5 years. First of all, the yield was low and to compound their problems, they did not get a good price for their yield. The demand for the fruit from various parts of the country also saw a downslide with many states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh too growing mangoes.

Going by the look of the bloom, farmers fear the yield this year would be very low, almost less by 50 per cent. Farmers blame their problems on inclement weather conditions and the lack of sufficient rains. Drought-like situation has led to insufficient rains, the result of which is seen in the late flowering of the mango trees, say the farmers of the taluk.

To add to the farmers' cup of woes is the many diseases that have hit the mango trees. Flowers of pest-ridden trees wither away, as also the hopes of farmers. According to R Chowda Reddy, a farmer who grows mangoes regularly, every effort should be made to retain the bloom pest-free. An opinion seconded by Horticulture Department Asst. Director K Dhanaraj too.

Common mango diseases including anthracnose, powdery mildew, alga spot, and verticillium wilt are a cause for concern. Rather than put up with premature fruit drop, black rotting spots on fruits, and rapid decay of picked fruit, it is best to prune diseased branches as a precautionary measure before the onset of monsoons, say experts. The alternative is to spray a mixture of fungicides even before the trees begin to flower as a preventive measure, they add.

But, the bottomline is that farmers in Srinivasapura taluk are just not looking forward to the mango season because of the problems they are already faced with.

Translated by Chethana Dinesh