A spell of unseasonal rain has brought cheers among mango growers.
The rain helped wash away pests that are a menace to mangoes around this time of the year.
Heavier rain could have had a different impact, the farmers said.
The mango flowers (mukul) would have suffered a blow that would have hampered the budding of mangoes, they said.
The spell on Thursday in Kolkata and the districts the day before was like a sharp spray that benefits mango growers.
“A mix of mist and pests creates havoc on the mango flowers around this time of the year. Most mango growers have to spray water every day to protect the mango flowers. The untimely rain has come as a blessing,” said Buddhadeb Biswas, a mango grower at Dubra in Nadia’s Chakdah.
“The rain washes away the pests and helps the stem of the mango flowers to firm up. The trees also get water that augurs well for production.”
Biswas is among several hundred mango growers in Nadia, one of the top three districts producing mangoes in Bengal. The other two districts are Malda and Murshidabad. Like most mango farmers, Biswas has invested in different varieties of mangoes — Himsagar, Langra Amrapali and the Thai Katimon.
“The flowers would have been damaged had it rained very heavily. The flowering is less than last year and if the flowers had been damaged, production would have been hit even further,” Biswas said.
Unlike Kolkata and its adjoining areas, the showers hit parts of Nadia on Wednesday night and several mango farmers said it saved them from the toil of spraying water the next two mornings.
“Apart from the flowers, the mango leaves develop a black rusty patch on them around this time,” said Kamal Dey, a senior official of the state’s directorate of horticulture.
In Malda, where the mango orchards have not yet witnessed flowering like they did last year, the rain in short bursts has kindled hope among farmers who believe this is an “off-year” for the mangoes.
“There hasn’t been enough flowering on mango trees and there is hope that the short spells will induce flowering by washing away the pests,” said Nurul Islam, a mango grower in Malda’s Sahapur.
With flowers coming late, several mango farmers in Malda and Murshidabad have had to depend heavily on spraying water and pesticides.
“The Norwesters that will come in March and April will serve a blow to the flowers and we have started talking to experts about what medicines to spray to prevent the fall,” Biswas said.