PANAJI
Mango and cashew growers in Goa are worried that the unusual climatic conditions where temperatures are fluctuating and the State witnessing sudden rains may ruin the prospects of a good crop after last year's poor harvests.
Several mango and cashew orchard owners The Goan spoke to have expressed the same fear -- interrupted winter conditions coupled with sudden rain could adversely impact flowering and pollination before formation of the fruit once their plantations have flowered.
"Some sections of my cashew plantation and also mango had flowered. However the change in weather and heavy rain we got in early December I am afraid could cause immense damage," said Nestor Rangel, who owns a 30-acre farm in Valpoi.
Rangel said, it rained very heavily in Valpoi on December 7-8 which could lead to rotting of the flowers.
Also, the showers could affect the tree vis-a-vis future flowering in the next few weeks, he said, adding that even if the winter conditions improve flowering could get delayed beyond December to January thus delaying the harvest cycle to May instead of the usual March-April harvesting season.
Director of Agriculture, Sandeep Fol Desai, admitted that the cyclone-caused heat after the winter had set in late November was a spoiler for the flowering prospects of cashew and mango.
"Initially temperatures had dipped well. But then the cyclone off the coast of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry affected the climate and it suddenly became hot. Definitely flowering got affected," Fol Desai said but pinned hopes on the temperatures which have begun to dip again.
"Now it has started becoming cold again. We are hoping that the trend continues and the winter conditions help flowering of cashew and mango again," Fol Desai said, adding that the crop will definitely be much better than last year.
Fol Desai said last year multiple heat waves were witnessed and due to this unusual weather condition the Mango crop was badly affected.
"What the heat does is that it burns the female flowers even before pollination and subsequent fruit formation. This is exactly what happened last year when we had multiple waves of heat in the December-January period," Fol Desai said.
Goa has over 57,000 hectares across the State covered by cashew plantations and the average yield (cashew nuts with kernel) is a little above four quintals per hectare. Last year, (2023-24) the total cashew production in the State was roughly 24,000 tonnes, according to Agriculture Department data.
Fol Desai said, the output this year however is expected to be above the average yield mark. Similarly, expectations for mango have also been pegged above average and definitely better than last year, he added.
The mango output in Goa where nearly 5000 hectares is covered was about 10,000 tonnes last year and the department expects to better it this year.
