Bad weather dashes hopes of mango growers in Kangra

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, April 20

Bad weather conditions and untimely rain have not only damaged rabi crops, but also dashed hopes of mango fruit growers in lower Kangra district comprising Nurpur and Jawali sub-divisions.

In normal weather conditions, the flowering of mango crop begins in February and ends in March, but it got delayed due to inclement weather.

According to a rough estimate, around 30 per cent crop has been damaged due to attack of blossom blight which has blackened the flowering of mango crop. The fruit setting which begins in early March has been delayed by over a month.

Daljeet Pathania and Mukesh Sharma, fruit growers of Bassa Waziran, said: “The undersized mango fetches poor remunerative prices in the market. Moreover, if such weather persists in the days to come, growers can lose the entire mango crop.” They apprehended the attack of mango hopper, an insect on the fruit crop.

As per an estimate, the cultivation of mango fruits is done on around 10,650 hectares and it is a cash crop linking financial status of growers in lower Kangra areas.

Meanwhile, Dr ML Bhardwaj, Associate Director, Regional Horticulture Research Station, Jachh, Nurpur, said inclement weather and untimely rain would cause loss to the fruit growers. “In order to cope with the attack of mango hopper, growers are advised to resort to spray of monoprotophos insecticide on mango crop,” he asserted.