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Mango Man Padma Shri Kalimullah Khan names his new variety after Operation Sindoor
For over a decade, Kalimullah Khan, a farmer and horticulturist from Uttar Pradesh, has been creating hybrid mango varieties and naming them after celebrities
For over a decade, Kalimullah Khan, a farmer and horticulturist from Uttar Pradesh, has been creating hybrid mango varieties and naming them after celebrities. Actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan, former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and even politicians like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Sonia Gandhi have all got mango trees that produce a deliciously special fruit that’s named after them.
After the success of Operation Sindoor, the 85-year-old created two new types of mangoes that he has named after India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the missile strikes against Pakistan called Rajnath aam and Sindoor aam. The Padma Shri awardee says. “These fruits are for people who’ve done extraordinary work. From the moment the Indian army’s operation was a success, I wanted to grow a mango that was dedicated to this feat and the architect behind it. For these two mangoes, we mixed chausa, amigudarsha, langda and dasheri in different proportions to create a tasty variety of the fruit for this season and it will be available till the month of July.”
"We felt compelled to dedicate a special mango to this act of bravery. From the moment the army operation was successfully completed, it was in our minds that this year a variety should be dedicated to the victorious force, along with the architect behind it. So we came with the variety," shares the second son of Kalimullah, Nazimullah Khan, who along with his father previously bred the 'Namo aam' in 2014 and the 'Yogiji aam' in 2017.
These mangoes are a rare treat that can be relished by visitors to the farm: “We don’t sell the fruits but distribute it for free to visitors. They are a tribute.”
While the farmer prefers using dasheri mangoes in his passion project, he is secretive of the varieties used to grow these mangoes. “Many kinds of mangoes are used in this process till we get the right flavour,” says Kalimullah, whose favourite is the Aishwarya aam.
