Mango Farming Archives - Progressive Farmers

Rajasthan Based Farmer Developed a New Mango Variety through Grafting Which Is Available In All the Seasons

When it comes to fruits then there would be hardly any person who doesn’t like mangoes. So this is the story of a Rajasthan based farmer – Kishan Suman, 52, who discovered a new variety of mango – Sadabahar, which is available in all the seasons. Well, this is a good news for all those fruit lovers who crave for the mangoes even in the off-season.

After completing his education, in 1995, Kishan Suman followed the footsteps of his father and started farming at his ancestral farm. In the beginning, he ventured in the agriculture field with cereals and grains, but for him, it was loss-making crops due to price exploitation from the merchants and impulsive weather. Therefore, Kishan Suman shifted to Jasmine cultivation. Besides this, having a crave to learn something different, made Kishan Suman learn about the grafting method in the rose plant from which he cultivated different coloured roses from the same plant. Well experimenting with the rose plant just boosted up the confidence of Kishan Suman and the next plant was mango on which grafting was performed.

The reason behind Kishan Suman choosing mango for grafting procedure was that usually mango fruit is only available in 2-3 months and he wanted it to be available in all the season so that the mango lovers can relish it when they want.

In 2000, Kishan Suman observed a mango tree with good growth trend and dark green coloured leaves in his orchard, so with consistent efforts of 15 years in Mango grafting, Kishan Suman finally created a new variety of dwarf mango and named it Sadabahar, which starts yielding fruit in just two years. Because of dwarf characteristics, Sadabahar mango variety is ideal for high-density farming and ultra-high density farming technique.

“I have put my full determination and efforts to develop this mango variety – Sadabahar. Although the plant starts giving fruit in the second year, it is recommended to let the plant grow till four years properly to enable it to gain proper strength. Moreover, Sadabahar is a disease resistant variety and is also unaffected by the climatic changes. After four years fruit can be harvested but till then let the plant grow well.” – Said, Kishan Suman

Some of the Salient features of Sadabahar Mango Variety are:

• Higher Yield (5-6 t/ha)

• Fruiting throughout the year

• Mango peel is deep orange with a sweeter taste

• Pulp has very less fibre

Presently, Kishan Suman has 22 mother plants and 300 grafted mango plants in his orchards. With the assistance of National Innovation Foundation, Mr. Kishan is selling the grafts and plants of Sadabahar Variety. Many farmers have visited his farm from Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana region to buy his developed variety and have also appreciated him after seeing the results. Even the saplings of Sadabahar are also planted in the Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

For all his efforts and innovation in developing a mango variety that can yield fruit throughout the year, he has been awarded in 9th National Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge award function.

Although Sadabahar is resistant to all the major diseases still Kishan Suman believes that prevention is better than cure and that’s why he prepares natural pesticides from neem fruit, crown flower, and cow urine, it provides excellent protection to the plant from any kind of diseases and pest.

In future Kishan Suman is planning to experiment on Jack-fruit, as it takes longer to yield fruit so Kishan Suman is planning to reduce that time.

Message
“Horticulture is a very interesting field and farmers have various opportunities to experiment with their creativity on different plants and earn good profit.”

Gujarat based farmer fetching good fortune by cultivating diversified mango varieties

Today, if we take a dive in the fact pool of progressive farming and farmers, then there is a clear indication towards technology. Technology has its own supreme role in sculpting the farmer’s success and his farm too. This is the story of a Gujarat based farmer- Deepakbhai Bhavanbhai Patel, he chose to pair modern farming techniques with his optimistic behaviour to obtain better farming productivity. And with his efforts, he overcame all the hurdles that his father and forefathers used to face while practicing agriculture.

Mango is the fruit which made Deepakbhai king of orchards in his village Kachiyawadi of Navsari district in Gujarat. With 20 acres land that Deepakbhai inherited in 1991, from his father, he started mango revolution by planting different varieties of mango like Jumbo Kesar, Langra, Rajapuri, Alphonso, Dasheri, and Totapuri. Slowly with the time, he expanded the farming area and today his mango orchard sit on 125 acres with 3000 to 3200 mango trees, out of which 65 acres land is his own and 70 acres is on the lease.

Earlier farming practices and implementation:

Well, the beginning path was a bit stony for Deepakbhai. He started his farming venture by inter-cropping vegetables and mangoes; but due to labour shortage and decreasing revenue, he decided to give his full attention to mango farming only.

“Deepakbhai Says – I improved my farming practices, wherever I felt that I was wrong. Due to lack of knowledge and experience, I used to over water the mango trees, give fertilizer and pesticide in large amount, and didn’t used insecticides in the orchards. But once I came in contact with the research and agricultural centre, I was enlightened with the knowledge and right farming practices. ”

After receiving the results of following the right farming practices, Deepakbhai honed himself to become the mango farming expert, and that was the time when he decided to make mango farming his main source of income. He started reading books, following instructions and advice that were given by agricultural institutions.

“I took part in various events to increase my knowledge base, some of them were organized by Sugarcane Research Centre of Aurangabad, Delhi Agriculture Research Centre, Jaipur Agriculture University…etc., from these events I captured huge knowledge about the farming practices of different fruits, vegetables and other crops like Banana, Pomegranate, Mango, Chikoo, Guava, Amla, Cereals, Wheat and vegetables.”

Deepak did not only became more organized and informed about his agriculture practices but also with his money management, which is the most important part every farmer has to track. He started keeping the record of his income and expenses and became more economical. Whatever Deepakbhai used to save as an income, was later used for buying new land.

Marketing:

Marketing was a bit difficult in the beginning because Deepakbhai had no market for mango business. Middleman and traders use to give very less price for the mango production which was not acceptable to him. But after some time, Deepak came in contact with Sahakari Mandali and then he decided to tie up with the co-operative federation for packing mango juices. They offered right value of the produce to Deepakbhai which gave a great boost to his income.

Along with mango, Deepakbhai also planted banana, 250 kalipatti chikoo, and coconut trees along the border of the farm, and this gave a good rise in his income.

“Mango tree need great care which includes the right amount of water, fertilizer, and insecticides. Moreover, this time I have planted good quality mango trees, recommended by the university to achieve good production. In order to control the diseases, I follow all the medications instructed by the universities. Timely I also prune the fruit branches to give proper structure to the trees. I also get the water tested and all the defects are reformed.”

After seeing the success of Deepakbhai Patel, many farmers visit his farm to know which modern technology and methods he implements in his farm. Many farmers take guidance from Deepakbhai.

Deepakbhai gives a major credit to Navsari Agriculture Department and Atma Project for their support and guidance. With their help, Deepakbhai has implemented modern and scientific methods of farming on his farm. He has left not even a single source of information to gather farming knowledge.

“Drip irrigation in one of the water-saving farming method that I have established in my farm and it helps in saving water to a greater extent. Now unnecessary expenses are reduced and land has become more fertile and moist.”

During all this time, there also came a down moment in the life of Deepakbhai Patel. In 2013, Deepakbhai came to know that he was suffering from tongue cancer. He underwent an operation to recover from it and during the surgery, his main vocal part, his tongue was removed…he lost his ability to speak.

“But he never let his disability turn into his life’s inability.”

In 2017, he went under second operation in which the cancer was completely removed from his body and today he is a fine healthy man with strong determinations to achieve his dreams.

Award & Achievements:
In the year 20014- 15, Deepakbhai was awarded as “ATMA Best Farmer of Gujarat”.
Well, this is just one award to mention, his success in the field of horticulture has made him win around 19 awards, certificates, cash prize, and trophies on the state level.

Message

“Horticulture is a good source of income if done by following the right method as suggested by the universities. Farmers must invest in horticulture if they want to have a good future ahead.”