India: Now relish mangoes in winter!

The long wait for relishing the irresistible mango might soon end. If things go right, the farmers in the Malda district of West Bengal will soon produce off-season mangoes for the winter.

The farmers are planting new varieties which hopefully will bear fruit in the winter season.

Malda is famous for mango groves and the farmers there plant trees which yield fruit in summer and often go without much earning in winter.

"Varieties such as Baramasia, Dofala, Topala, Vastara and China Vastara are being promoted after farmers in Adisaptagram and Bandel in Hooghly district got very goods yield last winter," district mango development officer, Samarendranath Khanra said.

For these varieties of mango trees blossom in June-July and the fruits ripen in winter. With the high price of mango, the farmers expect to reap good economic benefit. The farmers of the district have shown keen interest in planting these new varieties.

Malda district has 26,355 hectares of mango orchards on which there are about 15 lakh trees.

Source: fnbnews.com

Publication date: 12/1/2009