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Mr.Ramesh Kestur bought a 10-year-old mango orchard in 2010. The farm is spread over 14.6 acres out of which 10 acres are mango trees. There are around 200 mature treeswhich are 3 year old, and 100 which have been planted last year. The orchard is located in Srinivaspur, Karnataka. Mr. Ramesh is a BE in Electronics. He has 16 years of work experience in the field of telecom R&D. He is a Group Manager in a leading IT firm.
Mr. Ramesh opted for growing mangoes as it is a hardy crop suitable for arid and semi-arid zones, and requires low maintenance. “I decided to go for an orchard instead of a green field setup since I cannot do a full time role in the orchard. I chose Srinivaspur for the farm location as Srinivaspur is the “mango bowl” of Karnataka. It has high night temperatures which are ideal for mango crops,”he informs.
Mango Varieties : The orchard produces 11 mango varieties: Alphonso, Thothapuri, Raspuri, Rajgira, Kala Pahaaad, Laddu, Neelam, Malgoa, Naati (DhaadiPasand), Omelet (Pickle variety) and Banganapalli. They produced 15 tons of mangoes last year.
Mr. Ramesh sells the produce at the Lalbagh Mango Mela. “All our mangoes were sold out in 3 days flat. The thothapuri variety is ideal for pulp and we sell them to pulp making units,” says Mr. Ramesh, warning, “One can never get good prices if we dump the produce in Tractors and sell them at the Mandi as 40% of the produce will go waste.”
Challenges : Monkey menace is the biggest problem Mr. Ramesh faced. “One has to be on continuous vigil during fruiting season, a troop of monkeys can cause huge damage if they monkey around for even a few minutes in the farm. The other issue is about adopting scientific methods in harvesting. It’s a challenge to educate farm employees on the perils of dropping/damaging mangoes during harvest. Harvest losses in India are as high as 40%,” he says.
There are two permanent farmers at the farm. They are trained in organic practices. Other farm labour is used at the time of harvest.
Organic Farming : The farm uses natural and organic farming methods. Pheromone traps are used against fruit flies. Neem extract is used for pest management. Panchagavya and other organic methods are used for nutrition management. Mr. Ramesh grows horse gram and other leguminous plants as an intercrop for nitrogen fixation and for regulating soil temperature. Pruning is performed to allow sunlight and to prevent hopper attacks which thrive in moist and shade environment.
“We ripen Mangoes using a special type of dry hay. This is a conventional system; the aroma and taste of the mango ripened using this technique is unique. Shelf life of mangoes ripened using this method is more than twice the normal method,” avers Mr. Ramesh.
Future Plans : Mr. Ramesh plans to take up farming full time once he builds a robust model of crop combinations. In future he plans for a minor fruit orchard. “We are working with IIHR and identified 16 varieties of minor horticultural crops. My goal is to have an arid zone diverse tropical fruit orchard,” he says.
So what are your impressions are reading this article? Feel free to ask questions and leave feedback on this article. The editorial team of AgricultureInfomation.com and Mr.Ramesh Kestur will monitor and respond to your comments.
Mr. Ramesh opted for growing mangoes as it is a hardy crop suitable for arid and semi-arid zones, and requires low maintenance. “I decided to go for an orchard instead of a green field setup since I cannot do a full time role in the orchard. I chose Srinivaspur for the farm location as Srinivaspur is the “mango bowl” of Karnataka. It has high night temperatures which are ideal for mango crops,”he informs.
Mango Varieties : The orchard produces 11 mango varieties: Alphonso, Thothapuri, Raspuri, Rajgira, Kala Pahaaad, Laddu, Neelam, Malgoa, Naati (DhaadiPasand), Omelet (Pickle variety) and Banganapalli. They produced 15 tons of mangoes last year.
Mr. Ramesh sells the produce at the Lalbagh Mango Mela. “All our mangoes were sold out in 3 days flat. The thothapuri variety is ideal for pulp and we sell them to pulp making units,” says Mr. Ramesh, warning, “One can never get good prices if we dump the produce in Tractors and sell them at the Mandi as 40% of the produce will go waste.”
Challenges : Monkey menace is the biggest problem Mr. Ramesh faced. “One has to be on continuous vigil during fruiting season, a troop of monkeys can cause huge damage if they monkey around for even a few minutes in the farm. The other issue is about adopting scientific methods in harvesting. It’s a challenge to educate farm employees on the perils of dropping/damaging mangoes during harvest. Harvest losses in India are as high as 40%,” he says.
There are two permanent farmers at the farm. They are trained in organic practices. Other farm labour is used at the time of harvest.
Organic Farming : The farm uses natural and organic farming methods. Pheromone traps are used against fruit flies. Neem extract is used for pest management. Panchagavya and other organic methods are used for nutrition management. Mr. Ramesh grows horse gram and other leguminous plants as an intercrop for nitrogen fixation and for regulating soil temperature. Pruning is performed to allow sunlight and to prevent hopper attacks which thrive in moist and shade environment.
“We ripen Mangoes using a special type of dry hay. This is a conventional system; the aroma and taste of the mango ripened using this technique is unique. Shelf life of mangoes ripened using this method is more than twice the normal method,” avers Mr. Ramesh.
Future Plans : Mr. Ramesh plans to take up farming full time once he builds a robust model of crop combinations. In future he plans for a minor fruit orchard. “We are working with IIHR and identified 16 varieties of minor horticultural crops. My goal is to have an arid zone diverse tropical fruit orchard,” he says.
So what are your impressions are reading this article? Feel free to ask questions and leave feedback on this article. The editorial team of AgricultureInfomation.com and Mr.Ramesh Kestur will monitor and respond to your comments.
