The mango crop this year in areas hit by Sunday evening’s storm is likely to adversely affected. Kesar mango crop is likely to be just 50% of the total production last year, feel experts. Last year, Kesar mango yield was about 7 tonne per hectare. This is likely to come down to around 4 tonne per hectare.
However, no major damage has been caused to cumin or wheat as their crops have already been harvested and, in many places, they have already reached the market yard. Only crops which were lying in the open have been affected.
Officials said the storm and unseasonal rain on Sunday had caused extensive damage to the mango crop in several parts of Saurashtra. In South Gujarat, however, damage to the mango crop was minimal as no area was lashed by unseasonal rains.
In February also rains in parts of Talala and Dhari had caused damage to the mango crop.
H H Jharsania, secretary of the Talala market yard, said that in Talala not much damage had been caused by Sunday’s hailstorm. “In February, rains had caused some damage top the crop. We were expecting the yield to fall to half of last year’s. Sunday’s rain will adversely affect mango yield in parts of Amreli and Junagadh,” he said.
Dr R S Chovatia of Junagadh Agriculture University, who has been conducting extensive research on mangoes, agreed with Jharsania’s assessment. He said the hailstorm had damaged this year’s mango crop in several areas.
“Strong winds brought down mangoes in some parts of the state. Last year, the yield per hectare was 7 tonnes but this year there will be a marked decline in production,” said Chovatia. He further said that they are expecting the crop this year to be about 50% of the total produce last year.
However, Prof N I Shah of Navsari Agriculture University who is in-charge of Pariya farm in Valsad district, was more optimistic in his assessment of the impact of the storm on mango output.
“The mangoes are ready for plucking and they are big enough to have survived the strong winds. We in this region did not have the high intensity winds experienced in other parts of the state. Hence, there are no reports of loss of mangoes from Valsad, Navsari and Surat districts,” Shah said. The storm had lasted barely 15-20 minutes in Navsari region and it was not followed by rain. “Hence, there was no damage to the crops,” he said.
Source: Times of India