Farmers of north-coastal Andhra Pradesh are worried that the low temperatures across the region could affect the mango crop. With day and night temperatures hovering between 15°C and 21°C, farmers are keeping their fingers crossed.
According to the growers, the sharp drop in temperatures could hamper the flowering of mango in the plains of Visakhapatnam. Mango is the main horticulture crop and is grown across 20.000 hectares land in the district.
The yield was poor last year too. owing to drought-like conditions. This year. if the low temperatures sustain for much longer, it could hamper the flowering in mango trees which is supposed to happen around this time. R. Srinivasa Rao, deputy director of horticulture. Vizianagaram said, "The problem is not so much with the cold weather, but with mango hoppers (a pest) which thrive in cold weather conditions and cause a drop in flowering."
Assistant director of horticulture K Sailaja told: "The flowering happens during winter. But pests manage to damage flowers in case of a long and sustained cold spell."
Farmers point out that mango plantations have come down in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram over the last few years owing to the dry spell between 2017 and 2019. Now the cold spell has become a major cause of concern, they say.
