Nurpur: Hybrid mango varieties bear fruit after 3 years

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, May 6

The state Horticulture Department, had developed a progeny-cum-demonstration orchard (PCDO) by growing 605 hybrid and regular mango plants at Jachh, near here in August 2021. The orchard has started bearing sample fruits after three years of plantation as per expectations of horticulture experts.

The mango plants have started flowering and fruit setting and have become an attraction for fruit growers in the sub-tropical zone of the lower Kangra region. The department had also established a front-line-demonstration orchard in 1 hectare land of three fruit growers at Ghoran in neighbouring Indora horticulture block, by planting 1,111 saplings of the hybrid mango varieties in August last year.

As per information, the hybrid mango varieties — Pusa Arunima, Pusa Lalima, Pusa Surya, Pusa Shreshtha, Malika and Chausa — are cultivated as high-density plantation (HDP) and start bearing fruits in three years, whereas traditional varieties take six to seven years for bearing fruits. The 1,111 plants of these hybrid varieties can be grown on one hectare as against only 100 plants of traditional varieties. Moreover, the growers can also resort to inter-cropping for cultivating seasonal vegetables in their orchards.

The Rs 1,135-crore World Bank-funded project had been approved during the previous BJP government.

In 2020-21, the Horticulture Department had procured scion wood of these varieties from Pusa Institute, Delhi, the Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CSIR), Lucknow, and Department Of Horticulture, Kashipur (Uttarakhand), for further propagation. After successfully growing the mango varieties through the HDP method, the Horticulture Department is all set to attract fruit growers, who have been growing traditional mango varieties, to switch to the hybrid mango varieties.

Interestingly, these mango varieties will be introduced in the market between August 20 and September 10, when all other mango varieties are exhausted. The state government, under a Centrally sponsored scheme–mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, offers a subsidy support to the farmers for adopting the HDP method of fruit cultivation.

As per the department sources, farmers are required to approach their nearby extension or horticulture block office to know the methods and techniques for the HDP cultivation of mango and to know about the subsidy benefit and formalities.

Dr Kamal Sheel Negi, Deputy Director (Horticulture), Kangra, told The Tribune that mango was the main fruit crop in the sub-tropical area of the state, but the production of traditional varieties was very low.

“The standard plantation in fruit crops at a wide space (10-12 m) is unattractive, particularly on small holdings, because of the long gestation period before yielding returns.

The HDP allows growers to plant more trees per unit area and is, thus, becoming popular to increase production and productivity of best quality fruits. The adoption of such plantations in mango makes maximum use of available land to achieve high yields in the early period of orchard life,” he added.