A 55-year-old farmer, Shri Kishan Suman, residing in Kota, Rajasthan, has developed a dwarf variety of the famous Sadabahar mango. This new variety is round-the-year and is resistant to most of the common and major mango diseases.
This innovative variety is verified by National Innovation Foundation (NIF), India. NIF is an autonomous body of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. The variety was also evaluated on-site through ICAR-IIHR (Indian Institute of Horticultural Research), Bangalore. A field testing was done at SKN Agriculture University, Jobner, Rajasthan.
NIF has facilitated the planting of dwarf Sadabahar mango in famous Mughal Garden of Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.
The variety is in the process of getting registered under the ICAR-NBPGR (National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources), New Delhi, and Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act.
NIF awarded Shri kishan Suman the 9th National Grassroots Innovation and Traditional Knowledge Award for the development of this round-the-year mango variety.
Shri kishan Suman has already received more than 8000 orders of Sadabhar graftings from the country and outside since 2017. During the years 2018 to 2020, he has supplied more than 6000 plants to farmers across the whole of North India, Gujarat, Goa, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tripura, Odisha, and South Indian states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala.
Shri kishan Suman, himself, has transplanted more than 500 plants at KVKs (Krishi Vigyan Kendras) and research institutes across Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. He has supplied more than 400 grafts to research institutes in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.
About Shrikishan Suman
Shrikishan Suman, a class 2 dropout, became a gardener (mali) and developed interest in orchard management and floriculture. His family grew wheat and paddy. Shrikishan began growing flowers to supplement family’s income. He developed various rose varieties. While doing this, he ventured into mango growing.
In 2000, he detected a mango tree that showed commendable growth pattern and dark green leaves. He observed that this tree bloomed throughout the year. He prepared five grafts from this tree. The grafted plants began to bear fruits from the second year of grafting.
However, it took Shri kishan 15 years to develop this dwarf Sadabahar mango variety.
Unique features
The new mango variety is a dwarf, so is suitable for kitchen gardening. This mango variety can be grown in pots for a few years and does fine in high-density plantation.
As per a release by the Ministry of Science & Technology, flesh of the fruits is deep orange. The pulp features less fibrous than pulp of other varieties. This mango fruit is sweeter than langra variety.
Shri kishan Suman plans to experiment on Jackfruit next. This crop takes longer to produce fruits. Shri kishan wants to reduce its yielding time.
