Mangoes from the Indian state of Maharashtra will likely arrive in the market 20-25 days later than normal next year, due to prolonged monsoonal rains in the region.
The India Times reported erratic weather in the state has slowed fruit development.'Rains prevailed till the end of November, which pushed the period for the vegetative growth of the fruit to November,” said Bhagwan Marotrao Kapse, the officer in-charge of the Marathwada Agricultural University Fruit Research Station. “Ideally, this process takes place in the last week of August or first week of September. In the case of most mango trees, the process of flowering takes place during the middle of December to January in normal weather conditions. This time, however, the erratic weather conditions have delayed the process of flowering while there are chances that trees may bear fewer flowers,' he told the newspaper.
Mr Kapse said many growers have induced flowering with a chemical called paclodutrazol. 'Late flowering can lead to immature fruits dropping off during the months of February and March due to high temperatures. Excessive fruit drop would mean losses to growers,' explained Mr Kapse.
Mandar Desai, a third-generation mango grower with a 283ha mango plantation in Ratnagiri told the India Times he believed mangoes would only be in the market next year from April until the end of May.
Professor and head of horticulture at Dapoli-based Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth PM Haldankar said 1500mm of rain had fallen on the 164,000ha where mangoes are grown in the region. He added that favourable weather over the coming weeks would help accelerate fruit development. “Therefore the next 15 days are very crucial,” he told the newspaper.
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