Not an 'aam baat': This tree in Uttar Pradesh grows 121 types of mangoes

Want to taste over one hundred varieties of mangoes in one place?

One only has to visit this mango tree at the Company Bagh area in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur town, about 500 kilometres from Lucknow, where as many as 121 different varieties of mangoes are grown.

One can taste the delicious 'Dussehri' or 'Langra' and even 'Alfanso' (all varieties of the mangoes) among others grown on this tree, which has become a centre of attraction for the people from not only the town but also from the nearby villages. They, of course, do not get to taste the mangoes.

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It was not easy to grow the tree if one were to go by the horticulturists. ''It took five years to grow this tree.....it was an experiment'' said Bhanu Prakash Ram, a joint director at the Horticulture and Training Centre, Saharanpur.

He said that the researchers kept making experiments on the tree, which had been there for the past 15 years.

Ram said that a common ten-year-old mango tree was chosen for the experiment. Later, different varieties of mangoes were grafted on its branches. ''We had to monitor the tree regularly and a man was specifically appointed for this purpose,'' he added.

The researchers are not satisfied by growing 121 varieties of mangoes on the tree. They want to grow more varieties.

India is home to around 1,500 different varieties of mangoes of which around one thousand are commercial varieties. India is the biggest producer of mangoes in the world.