Keonjhar district’s climate is known for being conducive to growing different varieties of mango. In mango production, Keonjhar’s Telkoi has a special identity.
Gone are the days when the mangoes grown in Telkoi didn’t get buyers and the farmers had to sell them at a throwaway price. This season, and in the coming season as well, Telkoi mango will be available not only across the state but also across the nation.
Telkoi MLA Premananda Nayak has taken an initiative on an experimental basis.
The mango farmers in Telkoi region are now in an upbeat mood.
Mango is grown on 3000 hectares of land in Telkoi block. The mangoes grown in this part of the district are characterised by pulpy and juicy. Those who have tasted these specific mangoes don’t regret having to wait for a year. They say the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Every year, farmers here produce tons of mangoes of different varieties like ‘Dasheri’, ‘Neelam’, ‘Himsagar’. Khirsagar’ and ‘Chausa’. Traders from inside and outside the state would camp here to buy mangoes.
“Here mango is grown on 3000 hectares. Every season, we sell the fruits to traders from Bihar at throwaway prices. If the step taken by the MLA becomes successful, we will be benefitted,” said a young mango farmer Tapan Pradhan.
Since the district is devoid of storage facility, these fruits perishable in nature have to be sold away as soon as possible or else they would go to waste. This is the reason why the farmers have to sell them to traders from out of the state at a price far below the market price. The farmers have been complaining about this.
With a view to doing away with the farmers’ problem, Telkoi MLA Nayak has linked the farmers with some companies. As of now, the farmers are receiving training on how to segregate mangoes and how the packaging should be.
“I have trained the farmers on how they would segregate the mangoes according to their sizes and how they would pack and send them to buyers,” said Ramnath Biswal of Plaza Packaging, Bhubaneswar.
“Wherever I take the mangoes grown in Telkoi, people appreciate them. Our plan is to take the Telkoi mango to the state and national levels. Once a name is earned for the Telkoi mango, farmers would immensely be benefitted,” said MLA Nayak.
Heaping praise on Telkoi mango, Director of Cashew Corporation, Sadananda Nayak said, “Telkoi’s climate and the type of soil play a significant role in making the mangoes tasty. If compared, a particular variety of mango grown in Telkoi is tastier than the ones grown in other parts of the country.”