Extreme heat causes record loss to mango crop in Bihar

PATNA: Early onset of summer and heatwave conditions have damaged 65-70% of mango crops in Bihar, according to farmers and agricultural scientists.

“The area under mango cultivation has remained the same this year, but production has decreased drastically. More than 65% of mango crops have been damaged,” said Mohammad Feza Ahmad, associate director (research wing) at Bihar Agriculture University, Sabour.

“Never before has mango production been so low in the state in the last 50 years,” he said.

Apart from weather woes, caterpillars have also affected the crop, causing premature falling of mangoes from trees.

Bihar is known for its wide variety of mangoes, which include Digha Maldah, Jardalu, Gulab Khaas and Amrapali. Jardalu has been given the GI (Geographical Indication) tag.

Bihar state ranks fourth among mango-producing states, accounting for more than eight per cent of the total mango production in the country. The top state in the list is Uttar Pradesh, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, according to APEDA (The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority), government of India.

During normal weather conditions, the state produces more than 15 lakh tonnes of mangoes while the area under mango production varies from 1.58 lakh hectares to 1.6 lakh hectares.

Bihar has been experiencing high temperatures since March, which is the flowering time for mangos. “Maximum mango flowers got damaged due to unusually hot weather,” Ahmad said.

State’s agriculture minister Amarendra Pratap Singh said heatwave conditions in the state had adverse impact on mango and other crops this year. “We will definitely try to compensate farmers for their loss,” he said.

Ashok Chaudhary, a farmer from Bhagalpur who is known as the “Mango Man of Bihar”, said hardly 30% of the total mango production in the state will survive this time. “Heatwave conditions have caused a huge loss. High temperature also catalysed the growth of red-banded caterpillars which are still damaging the fruits,” he said.

Sanjay Sahay, chairman of horticulture department at the BAU, said farmers need to be given subsidy in packaging of products.