Farmer story :The Mango Man

When it is summer season and we don't talk about mango, it would be unfair. Summer is incomplete without the sweet delicious fruit which is mango, "the king of fruits". So today in this farmer story, i'll be telling you all about the mango man of our country, Haji Kalimullah Khan, who made our mangoes famous worldwide.

This is picture of the mango man smiling with his mangoes

 

Technique used :-

He is an Indian Horticulturist. With his knowledge and experiments, he has grown a variety of mangoes. Among these, one of his most popular experiments is of growing 300 varieties of mangoes on a single tree. Yes, I know ,you all must be surprised that how's that possible. But it is true, and this is possible with a technique known as grafting. With the use of this technique he developed variety of mangoes.

Grafting is a horticulture technique in which tissues of plants are joined to grow together. The upper part of combined plant is called the scion and the lower part is called the rootstock .For successful grafting ,vascular connection is required between the grafted tissues. This technique is most commonly used in asexual propagation of commercially grown plants. 

Early life :-

The mango man was born in Malihabad, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He was not too fond of studies .He failed in class 7 and then dropped out of school. He then decided to follow his true love i.e  farming and growing fruits ,especially mango. Following his passion ,he succeeded in growing about 1600 varieties of mangoes, in approximately 8 acres of land.

Mangoes

Since 1987,he has been growing mangoes using the technique of grafting. The varieties he grew, he named some of them on the names of prominent public figures, as a gesture to appreciate their work in their respective fields. He developed a special variety of mango, named - ANARKALI after the famous anarkali act performed by Madhubala. This mango is special in a way that, it has two different skins and two different layers of pulp, each having different taste.

Current work & awards 

In this corona pandemic ,the 80 year old farmer has come up with two new flavours of mango(Aam) and named them ,'POLICE Aam' and 'Doctor Aam'. He named them so ,to appreciate them  for their dedication, selflessness and amazing work for our society.

Recognizing his work , the Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of The Padma Shree, in 2008 for his contribution to horticulture. 

At last a beautiful line said by him,taken from thebetterIndia-"My goal has always been to spread a bit of sweetness in the world, and what better way to do so than with mangoes!". 

Conclusion

The mango man - Haji Kalimullah Khan is among one of the most famous mango growing farmer. He is very popular for his mangoes, which has been grown using scientific techniques. With the techniques he learned from the experiments with mangoes, he had grown more 1600 varieties of mangoes.  

He is also a Padma Shree awarded farmer. In 2008, he got recognition at central level, for his works in the field of horticulture.

You will fall in love with his mangoes, especially the names he has given to his mangoes are more fantastic. Just go, and enjoy eating various varieties of mangoes.

To read my other posts, click on the links given below:-
Farmer story: The locust
Farmer story : A pandemic
Farmer story:Two Brothers
Farmer story:A land
Farmer and Agriculture