P. Manohar Upadhya of Mangaluru purchases 5.4 acres of land at Kukkila to conserve local mango varieties under threat and create a mango gene bank.
A veterinary doctor and surgeon in Mangaluru has begun conserving varieties of “naada mavu” (local mango) of the coastal belt by planting their grafted saplings on 5.4 acres of land at Kukkila in Dakshina Kannada.
P. Manohar Upadhya purchased the unused land only to conserve the local mango varieties which are under threat owing to various factors in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Kasaragod (Kerala) districts. Kukkila, about 38 km from Mangaluru, is in Vitla Padnur village in Bantwal taluk.
“No commercial interest is involved in the initiative. Once the plants are stable and start yielding, anybody can use their scions for multiplication to save the varieties for future,” Dr. Upadhya told The Hindu.
The planting of the saplings with drip irrigation facility began this September 17. So far, 382 plants, with 300 odd varieties, have been planted. The saplings planted included 90% local varieties and 10% hybrid and exotic varieties.
In all, the doctor wants to conserve 475 varieties by planting their grafted saplings within the next one or two years. The doctor has named the mango gene bank as “Maavu Mantapa”.
Why local mango?
Unlike hybrid and exotic varieties, the “naada mavu” in addition to table purpose can be used to prepare a variety of delicacies like “gojju”, “tambuli”, “beratti”, “payasa”, “rasayana”, “mamubla”, and pickles. The hybrid and exotic varieties are mainly meant for table purpose (for only eating). The taste of each local mango variety differs.
“The types of taste which hybrid and exotic varieties provide are limited. While local mangos offer a number of flavours,” he said, adding that the characteristics of the local variety are not lost when they are grafted for planting purpose. The grafted plants yield early and the canopy of the tree is also not vast when compared to the ones raised through seeds.
Jackfruit conservation too in the offing
In addition to the mango, Dr. Upadhya wants to cultivate 75 varieties of local jackfruit of the coastal belt on the same land in the next two years.
“So far no jackfruit saplings have been planted. We may plant 20 to 30 saplings this year,” he said.
The use of local jackfruit varieties differed. Some are best suited to prepare only “dosa”, while some are meant for making only chips. Some are suited to make “payasa”, while a few are meant to be used as vegetable.
Dr. Upadhya said that like him many others are also conserving local mango/jackfruit varieties in their own way. Some of them are Maaphalathota Subrya Bhat of Markanja, Deva Rao of Mittabagilu, Venkatakrishna Sharma of Muliya, Shivaprasad Varmudi of Perla, Chandrashekara Udupa of Kenchanur, and Kukkemane Shivakumar of Madikeri.
The doctor said that the scion collection for his initiative was done by NaaMaami Group, an informal group of like-minded people involved in the conservation of local fruit and other varieties.
Many local mango, jackfruit varieties in the coastal belt have been lost while widening local roads and highways and building infrastructure projects and constructing buildings.
source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)
