BY TC News Desk
Agartala, June 14, 2023: Not only West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, but also in this state now the production of delicious mangoes has started. Farmers have now started commercial mango cultivation in various parts of the state. Already they have started to see the face of profit, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare minister Ratan Lal Nath said on Wednesday.
While addressing at the Mango Diversity Exhibition organized by the Horticulture and Soil Conservation department at the premises of Horticulture Research Centre, Nagicherra in the city outskirts on Wednesday noon, Nath expressed optimism about the future of mango cultivation. He said, mango tree is known as Kalpa tree. Mango is a delicious fruit, which is found in all countries of the Asian continent. Mango is also the national fruit of India. Mango is also called “king of fruits” because of the popularity of mangoes among people.
“Already commercial cultivation of different varieties of mangoes has started in Tripura. Different varieties of mangoes are grown in Nagicherra. Among them there are 13 developed Indian varieties. Besides, there are 22 foreign varieties such as Miyazaki, Haribhanga (Yellow Banana, Japanese All Time) Thai Himsagar etc.”, he claimed.
Minister said, “Different varieties of mangoes are available in India, such as Alphonso, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. Kesar mango is found in Gujarat, Dasheri mango – Himsagar in Lucknow, Kisan Bhog – West Bengal. Chosa, found in Uttar Pradesh, Badami-Karnataka. Different varieties of mangoes have different taste and smell. Among them, Alphonso – incomparable in form, taste and aroma. Alfonso is also called the king of mangoes. Mangoes are rich in vitamins A and C.”
“In the financial year 2022-23, the production of mangoes in the country is approximately 21 million metric tons. In our country, Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of mangoes, which is about 23% of the total production. Different varieties of mangoes are also cultivated in our Tripura. Namely: Amrapali, Himsagar Ambika, Arunika etc. About 10357 ha of mango is cultivated in Tripura, with an average yield of 5.09 MT/ha. For this purpose “Mango Variety Exhibition” has been organized at Horticulture and Research Centre, Nagicherra”.
On this day, Minister Ratan Lal Nath also said that an initiative has already been taken to give 15 lakh saplings to 1 lakh families under the Chief Minister’s Svanirbhar Parivar Yojana. (lemon, papaya, betel nut, banana and mango). For palm oil, the government has taken a target of cultivation of 2000 hectares of land. This year 1300 hectares have been targeted for mango, jackfruit, orange, pineapple and banana separately. 295 hectares of land has been increased for coconut. “Besides, our traditional fruit cultivation will also be increased. We will distribute seedlings of such as jam, litchi, guava, kul, etc. An initiative has been taken by the Department to distribute 2 lakh 95 thousand saplings in Urban Horticulture Scheme. This is a new scheme. Through this, coconut, mango, hybrid vegetable seedlings and flower seedlings will be distributed”, Nath told reporters.
Secretary of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare department Apoorba Roy, veteran journalist Shekhar Datta, Agartala Press Club President Jayanta Bhattacharya, senior journalist Sanjib Deb and industrialist Ratan Debnath spoke at the Mango Diversity Exhibition in Nagicherra on this day.
The minister visited the Nagicherra agricultural and horticultural research centre along with the journalists.
