Fri, 20 Feb 2026

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 How do you modernise mango farming?

India's mango farmers are being urged to innovate as climate change makes cultivation "unpredictable".

* Almost 700 varieties of mango are cultivated across India, but few are resilient enough to withstand erratic weather conditions.
* Researchers are developing new varieties that can tolerate wider temperature ranges and resist pests and disease, but the process is slow due to the heterozygous nature of mango trees.
* Genetic science has helped speed up the breeding process through genome sequencing, which has reduced the time needed for mango breeding from 10-20 years to a few years.
* Modern cultivation techniques such as "bagging" and "girdling" are being adopted by farmers to improve crop yields and quality.
* Covering trees with greenhouses is also seen as a way forward to control temperature, pests, and disease.
* Climate change has become a major risk factor for mango exports, with unpredictable rainfall patterns leading to increased pest infestations.
* India's biggest producers of mangoes are experimenting with innovative techniques such as protected cultivation and greenhouse farming to improve crop yields and quality.
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