In Sagar, Shivamogga, Karnataka, an 84-year-old man, Beluru Subbanna Heggade (B. V. Subbarao) says he has identified and preserved 120 varieties of mangoes. He had visited more than 100 villages in the last 12 years to collect the different varieties and planted them in his one-acre premises where he lives in Belur of Sagar Taluk in Shivamogga district, in the Western Ghats range.
He said, “I visited so many villages to source local varieties of appe midi (mangoes used for pickles) & collected 120 varieties,”
Mr. Heggade told the Hindu, “I would visit villages almost on a daily basis along with my wife searching for any appe midi variety…..Since I cannot climb trees, I would plead with someone to help. My wife would then make pickle out of them. If they were good, we would go back and get the scion from the tree for grafting,” he said while saying that it used to take multiple visits to get a single variety.
The one-acre land is not a huge amount of space to grow such a large variety of mangoes. He also has an Areca plantation (betel nut trees) from which he makes a living, and his house is situated in that location. He has thus developed a park around his house where appe midi trees are grown. His wife has grafted four to five different varieties on each tree so that they can accommodate more plants in lesser space,” he said.
Where there is a will, there is a way and age sweeps away all barriers for a determined person!
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