As drought grips the region, the price of mango saplings in Gujarat has shot up as farmers switch crops to mango production.
The Kutch, Saurashtra and North Gujarat regions are seeing demand for 5,000 new saplings per month, reported the Times of India, and the price of Alfonzo and Kesar saplings has gone from Rs50 (US$1) to Rs80 (US$1.6).
The previous advanced booking system nurseries had set up has been suspended as the rising demand warrants a ‘first come, first served’ approach.
“The advance booking system was introduced by the horticulturists as an assurance to the farmers that they would be supplied cultured saplings,” Dr TG Gohil, head of the botany department at BKM Science College and a mango farming researcher told the Times. “However, now there is uncertainty because of more demand than the supply.”
Mangoes do not require an annual investment and only need 20l of water a week during their first few years, said Thakorbhai Patel, a horticulturist from Udvada. That makes the crop particularly appealing to farmers in the drought-stricken state.
“The total land under mango cultivation has seen a four-times increase in Gujarat in the last couple of years,” Dr Ashok Shah, a biotechnologist and researcher, told the Times.
“The trend is still continuing because the farmers are attracted to higher return from exports and low cost of production.”
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