A Day in the Life of a Gogate Mango Farmer

Date: May 6, 2020Category: Gogate Mango

We’ve written quite a few blogs for our customers, enlightening them about various facts and information about mangoes, but this time we are going sincerely exclusive.

Mango farming requires relentless hard work and dedication, involving long hours and repetitive tasks that are extremely physically demanding along with a fair amount of carrying and lifting, something our farmers do day in and day out to grow the most delicious and perfect mangoes for your tastebuds.

But in the midst of the COVID 19 crisis, which is indeed a very trying time for all of us, there are individuals that are going unnoticed. Farmers everywhere are incurring huge losses and losing their livelihoods, earning no money to take home, deteriorating their family life, and themselves in the process, all due to lack of transport facilities and shortage of laborers who used to help in sorting, cleaning as well as packaging mangoes.

But it’s never too late, you can help cement this loss and help our farmers and their families by ordering your box of sweet, juicy, and delicious Alphonso mangoes, and get them delivered to your doorstep.

“You can be the change in making sure hard work pays off!”

Help Farmers. Order Today!

Ready to get a complete behind-the-scenes of how mangoes are grown at our farm and what a day in the life of a Gogate Mango Farmer looks like?

Read the full interview from one of our very own farmer, who has a unique story to tell you!

Meet
Mr. Prasanna Gogate
Our Knowledgeable & Extraordinary Mango Farmer

He was kind enough to take out the time and answered all of our questions with so much conviction. Ready to find out what he had to say? Let’s get started!

1. How Long Have You Been Growing Alphonso Mango?

I am the third generation of mango growers in my family. Previously it was my grandfather and his dad. Today it’s my dad and me.

2. What Inspired you to get connected to the Alphonso Mango?

I wholeheartedly believe Alphonso Mango is nature’s gift to Devgad. When I was doing my MSC in agriculture, I noticed the inclination and attraction of customers to mangoes and this thought kept running in my mind all day. While my family had been growing them from the past decade, it was after my MSC that I decided to continue my family’s legacy and that’s where my amazing devgad mango journey began. You could say it was love at first sight!

3. What is the best part of being an Alphonso Mango grower?

Growing Devgad Alphonso mangoes is just like parenting. You need to pay attention 24/7 all the 12 months. It’s a very big responsibility and growing them is a test of your strength, endurance, and decision making every step of the way. Mother nature is also a very important teacher in this case.

It is after the mango grows into a beautiful one and with a lot of hard work, that you get the most satisfying and grateful feeling in the world. Something that can never be put into words.

If I would try to define, regardless, I would say- “Mango keeps the body & heart of a farmer at ease”

4. Now that you’ve told us the best part, what according to you is the worst part of being a mango grower?

It definitely has to do with certain conditions that are noticed from time to time. Let me explain more briefly:

• In recent times, you can see a lot of mango in the market whose quality is not up to the mark, and the sad part is that certain other farmers are fraudulently selling these which is causing a huge mistrust of customers towards buying mangoes.
• In order to grow mangoes, you need a huge workforce, something that seems to be diminishing lately.
• Climate change & Excessive use of chemicals is another major reason.
• Increased Heights of Mango trees are also affecting the quality of produce.

5. What is the Journey Like When It Comes to Growing Mangoes?

That’s a really interesting question and there are so many elements involved. The Devgad region has a hard laterite rock layer also called Jambha Khadak (जांभा खडक) in marathi. We blast this rock layer and create a 6 feet tunnel (the cost of which is 1200-1300 rupees, only one mango tree can be planted in each tunnel and purchase soil from another area (costing us 4000-5000 rupees), one that is highly suitable for growing mangoes. The soil is then put in this tunnel. The mango plant is then put in the tunnel with the soil and water is given for a minimum of 5 years, where gradually mangoes start growing in less quantities. The water is stopped in certain cases depending on the growth of trees. Again, after 10 years, the tree is cultivated completely, giving a great yield/amount of mangoes.

6. Do You Undergo Grafting for Mango Trees?

When we initially started we used to put wild mango trees on some other tree, and then graft alphonso mangoes on it. Although, with science having made so much incredible progress, grafting is no longer required as the mango plant is readily available in the nursery.

7. At the Gogate Mango Farm the tree height, shape as well as the distance between each has been properly maintained & aligned. Is there a solid reason behind that?

If there is one thing I would like to say to individuals it’s that sunlight and water are absolutely crucial when farming. I would even go as far as giving an example of how food increases blood in our system, the same way sunlight & water give trees the ability to create their own food. In olden times, farmers were not particularly aware of how important a role structure of the farm and shape of the tree play.

When it comes to trees, they grow a certain way/shape after a few years, something that’s beyond our control. However, cutting them right is what makes a huge difference in this case. If the cutting is done properly, the tree gets sunlight from all the edges. When sunlight is ample on trees, diseases in trees are rarely seen, insects don’t sit there and the growth of fungus, bacteria is minimal so the use of chemicals to get rid of them is diminished. When we use no chemicals, the taste and quality of fruits is amazing. Completely organic farming is something we dearly hold on to at the Gogate Farm.

8. What’s a Major Difference in the Old Way of Farming and the New Way?

I would say that the old method of farming used to take a lot of time, such that one had to grow the tree & then grafting had to be done, while the newer process takes less time and there is no need for grafting, thanks to the advances in agricultural science.

9. When mangoes are ready to be picked, packed, and distributed, how is this stage handled?

Depending on the circumstances, mangoes are either picked when they have completely matured or sometimes even when they are 70%-80% done.

When the mangoes have not ripened, we apply the hay method, which provides heat to mangoes. This method ensures that mangoes ripen in the best way which is inevitably seen in it’s taste, sweetness and aroma. The keeping quality of mangoes ripened from this method is also extremely good.

When we want to quickly ripen the mangoes, depending on demand, we use the second chamber method, where mangoes are put in a chamber filled with ethylene gas, providing them the required amount of heat. But with this quick method, comes a disadvantage which is noticeable in the taste and keeping quality. The keeping quality is only 48 hours, after which these become rubbery and also sometimes inedible.

The perfect use case for this method is when it comes to family events (immediate requirement) that want aamras, where most of the customers demand chamber mangoes.

10. There are certain misconceptions people have when it comes to mangoes, like- “one needs to keep mangoes in water for 20 minutes to reduce heat or people with diabetes should not eat them”. What do you have to say about these?

Yes, a lot of individuals have these misconceptions and I would be more than happy to clear it. The good news is that there is no such thing and mangoes can be had by everyone.

Other quick tips I would like to give is if one has unripened mangoes, they can quickly ripen by putting them in a box of dried grass. In case they want to have them in intervals and not right away, paper radhi works wonders!

11. What is the secret ingredient you have to grow delicious mangoes?

If there is one thing I preach over and over again it’s the practice of organic farming. A lot of farmers grow mangoes with excessive use of chemicals nowadays and sure , they might get a temporary good revenue out of this, but they forget the repercussions this can have on their customers in the long term. I have witnessed firsthand the same farmers coming back after 1-2 years completely distraught with the terrible adverse effect of mango growth in their farms after using chemicals. What I continue to suggest the majority of them is that opting for organic pesticides such as cow dung or use of natural compost such as dried leaves instead is best.

If you notice the practices our older generations used to carry out years ago, they never used chemicals and it was for a solid reason- Certain bacteria in soil is good for trees as well as earthworm is a farmers best friend. A lot of farmers seem to have forgotten & ignored this fact and they continue to do so, to this very day.

“ When I was a child, the fruit used to be big, when I look at it now, such mangoes are seen in 1%-2% ratios. That time usually every farm had mangoes that weighed about half a kg that is 400 grams, now it’s a rare sight. It reminds me of a phrase my grandfather also used to say at the time- If the land of your farming and soil is alive, the tree is alive and the leaves are shiny and huge, helping with photosynthesis, which makes your fruit look like a naturistic masterpiece”

What you see in markets nowadays is the use of fruit sizer (a type of chemical to increase the size of fruit). The full potential of a tree is not being used by today’s farmers, shortcuts are being taken, excessive chemicals used are affecting us and will affect us in the time to come, showing the inability of current generations of farmers. The mistakes today’s farmers are making is not understanding what the tree needs.

My take is that- “if you take care of trees, they will take care of you”. The tree will yield good mangoes and you don’t have to worry about its quality or size.

It’s like a journey, it’s all connected to one another, that’s what we, the farmers of Gogate believe”