The Hindu : Mango crop hit by excessive heat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 06, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Mango crop hit by excessive heat

By Our Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA JUNE 5. Thousands of mango trees are withering in the extreme heat in West Krishna district. The worst affected area is Mylavaram, the Assembly constituency of Agricultural Minister, Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao.

The mango gardens on either side of the Vijayawada-Mylavaram road make a pathetic sight. The foliage of the tree has completely dried up and the tips of the branches have become brittle snapping at the slightest pressure. About 75 per cent of the trees in the gardens lining the Vijayawada-Mylavaram road from Chovuturu are in this condition. Gardens in Venkatapuram, Kuntamukkala and Gurrajapalem village limits are badly affected.

If the gardens are not watered within the next few days, all the trees will be dried up and the district will lose the position of being the largest producer of mango in the State. Andhra Pradesh accounts for the largest yield of the mango, most of which is grown in Krishna district.

Mango growers in Mylavaram constituency blame the Agriculture Minister for their plight. While MLAs of the neighbouring constituencies like Nandigama and Nuzvid ensured that tanks in their constituencies were filled to capacity, there was nobody to do the same for them, they said. When the Minister visited the Assembly constituency on April 26, he said that water would be released from the Nagarjuna Sagar to the Mylavaram Branch canal. The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, also gave such an assurance when he visited West Krishna on May 8. Since then, mango farmers have been waiting for water to be released into the Mylavaram Branch Canal. Ironically, the water has to pass through the Mylavaram constituency to Nandigama and Nuzvid, which are the tail-end areas. When water was released, the irrigation and revenue authorities monitoring the distribution said tanks in Mylavaram would be filled after tanks in the tail-end areas were filled. When it came to the turn of Mylavaram, there was not enough water to fill the tanks to the requisite level. Officials said water will be released soon, but just a few days ago, they said there was no water for Mylavaram.

Farmers alleged that political bigwigs in Khammam district were also preventing the release of water to the third zone from the Paleru reservoir. This again reflected on the indifference and incompetence of the Minister who was not able to safeguard the interests of farmers in the Assembly constituency.

A mango farmer, Sunkara Mohan Rao, who owns a three-acre garden in Pulluru village limits, said that he was hit twice this season.

Because of the very good crop the farmers could not get more than Rs. 2,000 per tonne. The farmers had to spend about Rs. 1,000 per acre for harvesting and other smaller expenses. The lorry owners charged Rs. 4,000 per truckload (seven tonnes) to transport the fruit to Hyderabad besides the 12 per cent commission they had to give the shop-owner. Mr. Mohan Rao said the returns were poor this year and with the trees dying due to the heat, there would be no crop next year also.

Mr. Komati Sudhakar, mango grower and Congress leader, said the Collector Mango trees were drying faster than Bangenapalli variety. There was no return for a mango farmer for the first five years. From the fifth year, the yield of the tree would gradually increases. By the time the tree is 20 years it produces maximum fruit. Most of the trees that dried to the heat were in their prime, he said.

The Horticulture Department sources say farmers would lose money in the range of Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.5 lakhs on every tree that dies. Mango is cultivated in about 12,000 acres in Mylavaram constituency.

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