Where to find mangoes this year in Tamil Nadu

Susmera Cholayil has been patiently waiting to harvest mangoes. While the harvest is usually in the third week of April, this year, there has been a delay of over four weeks at her family-owned, 90-acre mango grove in Vengal village in Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu.

“In 2022, the yield from our farm was average, and last year it was good. But this year, the yield is less than average due to drastic changes in climatic conditions,” says Susmera who offers a variety of kathergoa, Kalapad, swarnarekha, senthuram, arka aruna, imampasand, alphonso and Banganapalli mangoes at the Farm to Table store in Anna Nagar.

Erratic climatic conditions and drastic changes in climate has hit the mango yield this year. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Native variety mangoes harvested at the Spirit of the Earth Farm at Majakudy, Thanjavur | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Whether it is organic or commercial farming, mango farmers are disappointed by the plummeting yields this year, a result of South India being hit by insufficient rains and extreme heat waves.

“My 35-acre mango orchard yielded just three % (17 varieties including native varieties), while last year we had an above average harvest and the reason for this is unseasonal rains and extreme fluctuations in climate,” says Jayanth Kaliappan, an engineer-turned-organic farmer, whose farm is located in Bodynayakanur, in Theni.

Jayanth Agri Farms, Theni | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Jayanth says that they will be harvesting mangoes only during the first week of June. “Though the yield is low, the quality and the taste of the fruit is good,” says Jayanth adding that due to less produce available in the market, the rates of the fruits are higher than usual.

“We sold the Bengalura variety of mango at ₹10 per kilogram last year, but this year we are selling it at ₹50. As the yield is less, the season also will be shorter this year,” says Susmera, who has just started harvesting and distributing to customers, who placed orders much in advance. Though the cost has tripled this year, the mango lovers seem undeterred.

According to Gopi Devarajan of Safe Food, an organic store in the city, the procurement from farmers has reduced by almost 75% this year, which explains the reason for the higher price. “We source imampasand from a small farm in Salem and normally they would harvest 200 kilograms during the season but this year it was less than 20 kilos,” he says.

Co-founder of Organic Farmers Market and ReStore ), a volunteer-run, non-profit organic retail outlet in Chennai, Anantha Sayanam says, “The overall yield in mango is just 10 to 30%, or I would say the farmers harvested no more than three or four tonnes this season. At OFM, we stock a few varieties such as Kalapad, banganapalli, imampasand, alphonso and malgova.

Co-founder of The Organic Shandy, Hari Sethuraman, who manages a 70-acre orchard with over 6,000 mango trees in Punnamai village in Cheyyur taluk, says that based on his experience as an organic farmer for the past 28 years, he observes that the yield this year has been lower than normal, though he adds that their farm has had an average yield compared to other farms in the neighbourhood. He says that yields vary from farm to farm depending on soil quality and how well the trees are nurtured.

At the Cholayil Farms in Vengal Village near Thiruvallur, the yield has been hit drastically this year | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Also read: The mangoes of India | Visual story

Treasure hunt

There is a wide variety available — if you look in the right places. Spirit of the Earth, which has been popularising heritage rice varieties, has also been focussing on the revival of native mango varieties this season. At their farm in Manjakkudi in Thanjavur, the harvesting is being planned for June. Priyanka Navneeth of Spirit of the Earth store in Chennai says, “Though the mango season is going to be brief, the quality and taste of the fruits are excellent, especially gulab khas, panchadhara kalasam, kesari and Kalapad.” At their store they have stocked kesar, Banganapalli, Kalapad and imampasand.

Prasanna Venkatarathnam of Mango Point, which offers single origin, carbide and chemical-free mangoes sourced from Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chengalpet districts of Tamil Nadu says they cover 9,000 hectares of mango groves and source 50,000 metric tonnes of mangoes. Though the yield has dropped by 25 percent this year, he has a range of popular mangoes on sale. The best sellers are Imampasand, Kalapad and Senthura, though other varieties such as Banganapalli, Alphonsa, Neelam, Mallika and Rasalu are also available. He adds that the consumers seem to prefer Senthoora and Imam Pasand to Banganapalli over the last few years.

Nirupama Reddy of Hanu Reddy Raghava Farms near Chengalpet in Kanchipuram district, says that the yield from their farm which has over 2,000 mango trees, has been reasonably good compared to the previous year. They predominantly grow the Banganapalli variety by using traditional farming methods and bio-pesticides. They sold 15 tonnes of mangoes last year, are positive about selling the same amount this year.