‘Ek Laksh Aam Vruksh’: Mahadev Gomare and The Art of Living Revitalize Maharashtra's Mango Legacy Through Sustainable Farming in Latur

“There was a time, when people would travel from one village to another, under the canopy of mango trees,” says Mahadev Gomare, farmer, seed conservationist and natural farming trainer at The Art of Living, “But today because of urbanization, we do not see mango trees lining up the borders of agricultural farmlands.”

This led to the birth of a Sankalpa or intention in 2023, which was ‘Ek Laksh Aam Vruksh’ under which 1 lakh mango trees would be planted, to encourage farmers to grow more mango trees. in Latur.

'We started appealing to farmers and residents of Latur to collect mango seeds and give them to us. Residential societies, municipal corporations, local shops, and fruit vendors- everyone has contributed and volunteered to collect mango seeds for the project. Soon enough, people started dropping bags of mango seeds at the collection centers we developed. These seeds were treated at a nursery on my farm with bio enzymes and we started making mango saplings. We also grafted them to give kesar varieties to farmers and other varieties for the societies for social forestry.”

This would boost the flora and fauna around peoples’ localities; increase biodiversity and farmers would earn more income because of the grafted mango trees.

“I have mango trees in my farm and I see it requires less maintenance, I make good profits and my family gets to eat natural mangoes as well,' shares Gomare, “I wanted more farmers to benefit from growing this fruit, and for children to again get the blessings and shades of these trees to play under.”

And so to plant over 1 lakh trees over 3 years, Mahadev successfully collected the mango seeds in 2023. The saplings are ready to be planted and will be distributed to farmers and societies in July this year, according to Gomare.

Arresting Soil Erosion and Giving Farmers A Pension Plan

Growing these fruits not only ensures they arrest the erosion of the soil and conserve water since they require much less water, but as climate change becomes a very real challenge, it will be necessary to grow fruit trees to deal with the climate extremes of flooding and droughts. To top it, once the trees start bearing mangoes, the farmers can almost look at it as a pension plan, with mango plantations yielding incomes upwards of Rs. 4-5 lakh a year.

While there is a high demand, consumers have also developed a sense of distrust when it comes to mangoes. They do not know if the mangoes have been grown using chemicals or are genetically modified. “This project will give nutritious, naturally grown, and healthy mango fruits to people instead of chemically grown mangoes” shares Mahadev Gomare. He adds, ' Today farmers are not planting a lot of mangoes as it requires space. A farmer will only plant a tree if he sees a return from it. In this case, the mango tree is the most suitable fruit to grow, as it is also suitable for the soil type here.' Gomare has the vision of planting 10 lakh trees in Marathwada area.

“In Marathwada, there is a severe water issue and farmers only make Rs.20-30k in a month because of conventional farming practices. If they grow mango trees and start making even Rs.2 lakh, that would be a big boost to their income. Also soil in Marathwada is now more suitable for mangoes and best quality mangoes can be grown in it.”

Once more farmers start doing this, it will become a sustainable cycle in the mango economy in society. “Our job is only taking the first few steps and build the confidence of a farmer,” Gomare says.