JOIN USFrom a mango dedicated to Sarabhjeet to one named after Delhi's CM Sheila Dikshit, the 25th Mango Festival was as elaborate as could be expected! Organised by Delhi Tourism, the festival took place at Dilli Haat, Pitampura to bring the festive spirit closer to North Delhiites who enjoyed every slice of this king of fruits.
Innumerable varieties of mangoes were on display across three massive halls. While names like Dussehri, Langra, Chausa, Ramkela, Alphonso, Safeda, Tota Pari and Kesar were common, little known varieties like Rataul, Husnara, Fazli, Vanraj, Sirki, Suwarn, Jahangir, Neelashwari, Royal SP, Raddy Pasand, Himasagar, Kensington, Mallika, Amrapali, Neelam, Bangan Palli, Bombay Green and Aishwarya, to name some were also on display.
These were exhibited by Horticulture institutes mainly from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Tanvir Ahmed, a researcher at Nausari Agricultural University, Gujarat informed Metrolife about the superior qualities of mango and their various
usage.
“Kesar is mostly used in the industry for pulp extraction for mango drinks since its physiochemical process is slow and is widely preferred by consumers even in the international market," he said adding that Rajapuri is used for canning purposes. "One Rajapuri weighs between 1.5 to 4.5 kg and grows mainly in the Deccan region." Looks like one Rajapuri would be capable of satiating your hunger for mangoes in one season!
Even the hybrid varieties such as Arunika (a combination of Vanraj and Amrapali) and Ambika (a combination of Amrapali and Janardhan) were displayed. And so were the South Indian varieties such as Fernandin, Suvarnarekha and Najuk Badan alongside, foreign varieties such as Tommy Atkins from South Africa and Sensation from Mexico.
The experts also informed that they are trying to revive the local varieties. “Bhoodia, Yakuti are varieties which used to grow in stray plantations earlier but with the growing concrete jungle, these are nearing extinction. We have 750 such varieties listed in our institute,” said Dr Ajay Verma, principal scientist at Central Institute for
Suntropical Horticulture, Lucknow. He added that the exotic varieties like Edward, Eldon and Bride of Russia are used for research work and cross-breeding.
What caught the attention of many visitors was the variegated mango Sunchitta due to its white and green colour. However, this mango has “a sour taste and is not of much use apart from its distinctive colour,” said Dr P K Saxena from HETC, UP and showed Peach and Karela varieties of Mango. While the Peach mango is shaped like peach, the leaves of Karela mango smell like that of bitter gourd. There were also mangoes from Sri Lanka and Malaysia at this stall.
The most intriguing, however, was the sight when Nafisa Ali from Mustaffa Orchads showed the Angoor Dana and Shan-E-Hind, ie the smallest and the biggest mango. While an Angoor Dana weighs around one gram, a baby Shan-E-Hind weighs 1.5 kg and a piece can go upto whopping three kgs!
While the display was humongous, the sales were brisk too. Visitors preferred to buy Lucknow’s Dinga mango and try a piece of Hathi Aam available for sale at the counters. And few even took up the challenge of gulping down the maximum pulp and participated in mango-eating competition to win cash prizes!