Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district has grabbed the attention of all mango lovers and horticulture enthusiasts with a unique mango tree, which can grow as many as 121 varieties on it. Known popularly across the state and beyond for its hand-carved furniture, now this city boasts of a 15-year-old tree in the Company Bagh area, bearing various types of India’s King of Fruits.
As per reports, horticulturists started this unique experiment about 5 years ago with the purpose of creating new varieties of mangoes and exploring their tastes. It is probably the second such mango tree in the state to host over a hundred varieties of this fruit, the first one being at Lucknow’s Malihabad (which has 300 varieties of mango).
The Mango Marvel Tree of Saharanpur
The Joint Director of Horticulture Experiment and Training Centre at Saharanpur, Rajesh Prasad, planted 121 varieties of branches on a single mango tree. “A separate nursery in charge was appointed to take care of the tree. Now, different types of mangoes are found on this tree including Dussehri, Langra, Chaunsa, Ramkela, Amrapali, Saharanpur Arun, Saharanpur Varun, Saharanpur Saurabh, Saharanpur Gaurav and Saharanpur Rajiv,” said a local official.
The tree also bears other kinds of mango including Lucknow Safeda, Tommy at Kings, Pusa Surya, Sensation, Rataul, Kalmi Maldah Mango, Bombay, Smith, Mangifera Jalonia, Gola Bulandshahr, Laranku, LR Special, Alampur Benisha and Asojia Deoband. The list is littered with a plethora of kinds, making this tree’s trunk a subject of fascination. Even now, researchers are engaged in developing and working on new species to further elongate this list.
Officials involved in the experiment stated that those who are fond of mangoes or gardening can now do similar experiments and develop better mango variants in the trees rooted in their own farms or kitchen gardens.
