Ahmedabad, 22 July (Hindustan). National Mango Day is celebrated every year on 22 July in India. As soon as mangoes are mentioned, Gujarat is definitely talked about because more than two lakh farmers are involved in mango cultivation in Gujarat. Mango production has a significant contribution in the state’s economy. For this reason, the state government has implemented several schemes to encourage mango production. Gujarat has sold 6.13 lakh metric tonnes of mangoes worth an estimated Rs 26,850 lakh during the mango season of 2023-24, which represents a contribution of 7.13 percent of the total mango sales in the country.
Different varieties of mangoes are produced in Saurashtra, Central Gujarat, Kutch and South Gujarat regions of Gujarat. These include Kesar, Rajapuri, Langda, Amrapali, Hafus, Sonpari, Dasheri, Totapuri. In this too, the saffron mango of Talalagir is very famous all over the world. Due to its quality, this mango got GI (Geographical Indication) tag status in the year 2011. Due to this, the mango of Talalgir of Gujarat has got a different identity at the global level. It is very much liked abroad. About 15 percent of the total mangoes produced in Gujarat go to other states of the country. Apart from this, Gujarat’s mangoes are also exported on a large scale to foreign countries.
In the first season itself, more than two lakh kg of saffron mangoes have been e-irradiated and exported to countries like America and South Africa from the Gujarat Agro Radiation Processing Facility established at Bavla, Ahmedabad. Due to this plant, promotion of quality of mango has become easy, spoilage of mango has stopped and transportation cost has also come down. In the past, for exporting fruits like mangoes, farmers in Gujarat had to go to Mumbai to undergo gamma e-irradiation of fruits, which resulted in spoilage of fruits and increase in transportation cost. Due to the functioning of this unit, farmers now export fruits by getting gamma e-radiation done at Bavla in Ahmedabad itself and have started getting the best prices for their crops. The USDA-APHIS approval to the Gujarat Agro Radiation Processing Facility is considered an important step. This step will give a big boost to Gujarat’s mango exports.
Farmers are getting fair price through ‘Kesar Mango Festival’
In order to provide carbide-free mangoes to urban citizens and fair price to farmers for their mangoes, the state government organizes ‘Kesar Mango Festival’ every year in the summer season since 2007. In this festival organized last year, in front of the sale of about 92 thousand kgs of mangoes by the farmers, this year more than 2.94 lakh kgs of Kesar mangoes were sold by the farmers in a period of one month. In this, farmers have received 30 to 35 percent more income than the average. Apart from this, by adding value to mangoes, farmers have started earning double income by preparing dishes like pickle, jam, mango papad, mango powder and mango kalpa.
What was the mango production in Gujarat this year?
In Gujarat, mango crop is mainly grown in the districts of Valsad, Navsari, Gir, Somnath, Kutch and Surat etc. Of these, 1.81 lakh metric tonnes of mangoes have been produced in Valsad, 1.19 lakh metric tonnes in Navsari, 1.05 lakh metric tonnes in Gir Somnath, 84 thousand metric tonnes in Kutch and 50 thousand metric tonnes in Surat.
Special assistance to farmers for horticulture crop production by the state government
• Scheme for Renovation of Old Mango Orchards, • Scheme for Closely Sown Fruit Crops for Mango Crops, • Scheme for Closely Sown Fruit Crops, • Assistance for Fruit Crops sown at normal spacing in fruit crops other than fruit crops requiring high agricultural input, • 90% assistance in planting material for sowing Horticulture crops, • Special assistance in planting material for sowing Mango Fruit crops
