Nuapada: The tribal community of Nuapada district has made an identity for themselves by widely cultivating mangoes, making them self-sufficient and empowered during the summer.
The community identified the demand for mangoes in the nation and has taken up mango farming as their primary source of income.
The tribal population of Haldikhol village in Sinapali Tehsil backed by State and central government schemes for the promotion of Horticulture had created several mango orchards 15 years back which has made them self-reliant today.
With more than 60 mango orchards, each producing mangoes worth 40-50 thousand rupees annually, have contributed handsomely towards the sustainable development of the people involved.
People have benefited from the lift irrigation schemes of the Central government providing uninterrupted water supply making the region suitable for cultivating mangoes.
Santosh Majhi, a farmer from the Haldikhol village said, “The mango farming has given us more benefits than growing conventional vegetables. With financial assistance from Nabard Bank nearly 60 farmers of our village have planted mango trees. I have planted 50 mango trees, whereas farmers with more than 2-3 acres of land have planted about 100-150 trees. On an average farmers of our reason are earning about 50,000 rupees per year depending upon the quantity of production.”
The farmers are also beneficiaries of the Wadi Scheme, under which they have received financial assistance from the World Bank for further development of the irrigation facilities in the region.
Meanwhile, the farmers are optimistic about their return from this year’s produce, many of them have found alternative methods to cultivate paddy in minimal water by planting mango trees in low lands.
Being a seasonal fruit, people especially Odia folks wait for the summers to have their hands on fresh, luscious, and aromatic mangoes, known as ‘the King of fruits’.
Nearly 1,500 varieties of mangoes are grown in India, out of which 1,000 types are commercially used. Some of the prominent varieties of mangoes include Alphonso (Maharastra), Totapuri (Karnataka), Banganpalli (Andra Pradesh), Himsagar (West Bengal), Kesar (Gujarat), Chausa (Himachal Pradesh and Bihar), Suvarnarekha (Odisha, Andra Pradesh), and Dasheri, Langda (Uttar Pradesh).
Every variant of mango has a distinctive taste, aroma and appearance complimenting the taste buds of people with different appetites. But, what matters the most is the mutual admiration of people for the fruit.
Apart from all the distinctive features, the best part of mangoes is affordability. People from every section of society can have their hands on most of the variants of mangoes without thinking about the burden on their pockets.
