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Red mangoes, a major attraction at the Lucknow Aam Mahotsav
“Now, there are about 100-varieties of red colour mangoes in the market like Tommy Atkins, Eldon, and Sensation,” said Shailendra Rajan, former director of Lucknow’s CISH.
Red coloured mangoes were a big attraction at the Lucknow Aam Mahotsav that concluded at Avadh Shilpgram on Thursday.
Virtually everyone stopped at the stalls where such mango varieties were on display.
“Till about three decades ago, there were only a handful of such varieties on display but now there are many,” said Shailendra Rajan, former director of Lucknow’s Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISH) and a mango variety exhibitor for 36 years.
He said earlier coloured variety of Indian mangoes largely meant few varieties like Husnara, Vanraj, Surkha, Surkha Verma, Siduriya, and Mussarat Shah and these were mostly presented at mango fairs.
“Now, there are about 100-varieties of red colour mangoes in the market like Tommy Atkins, Eldon, and Sensation,” he said.
“The CISH, Lucknow and the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi acquired these varieties from the United States in the 1980s. Plants of these species were distributed by various government organisations and private nurseries, giving rise to exotic plantations. These types were also used to create new variations. Coloured hybrids were created by crossing these exotic mangoes with Indian species such as Amrapali, Dashehari, and Alphonso,” Rajan said.
He said varieties like Tommy Atkins and Sensation aren’t as sweet as other Indian mangoes but their longer shelf life and their attractive colour, attracts many.
“Along with these, their pricing is also reasonable. Since they are in demand, the farmers also find these varieties profitable. The biggest plus is that these mango plants start bearing fruits in just about two years,” mango growers said.
More than 100 varieties
Pusa Arunima, Pusa Pratibha, Pusa Shrestha, Pusa Lalima and Pusa Arunima developed by IARI, Pusa Ambika and Arunika from CISH. Arka Aruna, Arka Anmol, Arka Puneet from ICAR-IIHR (Indian Institute of Horticulture Research), Bangalore, and exotic ones like Tommy Atkins, Sensation, Oesteen, Lily.
Traditional coloured varieties include Husne-Ara, Vanaral, Surkha Matiyara, Nazuk Badan, Yakuti, and Gulab Khas.
“Initially, plants of new coloured varieties were only available at the institute where these varieties were developed, but due to high demand plants are now being multiplied and made available through private nurseries too. The practice of supplying spurious varieties under the guise of colored varieties is also prevalent,” Rajan said.
