The Munnar wildlife division will soon have a large nursery of endangered and traditional mango varieties of the State. Mobile units, named ‘Manga Vandi Yatra,’ will tour all the districts of the State collecting mango seeds. The saplings developed at the nursery will be supplied free of cost to the public and non-governmental organisations.
Talking to The Hindu , Munnar wildlife warden G. Prasad said the effort is to conserve and promote the traditional mango varieties. Kerala has many varieties locally named and known for their unique tastes.
Many of the ‘naattumambazham’ varieties have disappeared from the local landscape owing to various reasons. A mango tree on the house premises makes the Malayalis go nostalgic about their childhood, Mr. Prasad said adding that the changes in the social life and shrinkage of public landscape have resulted in the disappearance of many local mango varieties. “When the public space shrunk and the house premises were occupied by new structures, local varieties of mango trees disappeared.” The fast-yielding hybrid varieties also have their impact on the traditional varieties.
Launch today
The project being implemented by the Department of Forest and Wildlife will be launched by Minister for Forest Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan in Kottayam on May 23.
Seeds of traditional varies to be collected
Saplings to be distributed free of cost