Vijayawada: Continuous rains delay mango flowering

Vijayawada (NTR District): Mango crop will be delayed in the erstwhile Krishna district during this season due to continuous rains. Mango is grown in over 70,000 acres in Eluru, NTR and Krishna districts. Major chunk of the crop area is in Eluru district with a crop area of 40,000 acres and the crop area in NTR district is over 20,000 acres. Compared to Eluru and NTR districts, mango crop area is very less in Krishna district.

Generally flowering starts in November/December. But even after three weeks passed in November, there is no sign of flowering in Nuzvid region. Mango crop depends on weather conditions and flowering. Warm climatic conditions are suitable for the flowering in November and December. But depressions and cyclonic storms in Bay of Bengal several times this season triggered continuous rains. Besides, monsoon season is also very active since July 2022. All these factors badly affected mango gardens, said J Jyothy, Krishna district horticulture officer. She said mango trees need warm weather conditions for flourishing and good yield, but continuous rains are delaying the flowering.

Generally, cold weather begins in December across the State, but this year cold temperatures started in November itself. Due to the impact of rains and depressions, temperatures in some areas dropped to seven degrees. Thick fog and cloudy weather condition at the time of flowering results in poor setting of fruits and less yield. The adverse conditions also favour pest and disease incidence that will ultimately affect the mango growers.

Krishna district horticulture officer J Jyothy said 32 degrees Celsius is the ideal weather condition for mango crop. If the rains continue in December also, the mango growers will suffer huge loss and there will be no mango crop in summer, she added.

Mango farmers have been incurring loss since Covid pandemic. In 2020, labourers did not attend farm works due to fear of Covid and villagers also at many places did not allowed strangers. But this year, mango farmers are hopeful of good yield, but fog and cold weather conditions are pouring cold water on their hopes.