Suresh Pal of Bhangaiyachat village in Nighasan tehsil of Kheri district stood desolately in his orchard, staring at his mango trees that had promised a bumper harvest this year.
“Among the 35 mango trees in my orchard, I expected a good crop as all the trees bore a rich blossom, or ‘baur’, this season,” he said, tracing the soot-like residue on a withered branch. “However, for reasons I don’t know, all the ‘baur’ withered and darkened, shattering my hopes of a good harvest,” he added.
Suresh Pal’s experience is not an isolated case.
“A similar trend is being reported across the mango belts of the Terai region and other parts of north India this season, where an initially promising bloom has largely failed, affecting yields. The phenomenon has been widespread,” agro-scientist Dr Pradeep Kumar Bisen of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), affiliated with Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, told Hindustan Times.
“Mango trees typically follow an alternate bearing cycle, but this year even those that were due did not bear fruits due to unusual climate changes,” he said.
Dr Bisen explained that a sudden spike in temperatures during the delicate flowering stage caused heat stress, disrupting pollination. This was compounded by unseasonal humidity from untimely rain, storms and hail, which created favourable conditions for pests such as mango hoppers and diseases like powdery mildew.
“These factors together disrupted the nutritional flow to the blossoms, causing the ‘baur’ to shrivel and darken, ultimately leading to poor fruiting,” he said.
He added that indigenous, or ‘desi’, mango varieties have shown relatively better resilience. “In Baharganj village in the Bankeyganj area, I saw a desi mango tree laden with fruits, while many hybrid varieties failed under the same conditions,” he noted.
The phenomenon is likely to affect consumers as well.
Referred to as the “king of fruits”, is expected to see a production shortfall this season due to heat stress and pest attacks. Experts say popular varieties such as Dussehri and Langda, which typically dominate summer markets, may be in limited supply, pushing prices higher.
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