“You have to walk on the bund, else your feet and shoes are both going to sink into the mud,” Syed Ghani Khan tells me as I try hard to match his steps while navigating his mango farm on a wet day.
I am at Kirugavalu in Malavalli Taluk of Mandya district in the South Indian state of Karnataka, visiting Khan, a farmer who grows about 119 varieties of mango, many of which are unique to his paddy farm.
Mangoes from this farm would be delivered to the palaces of the Mysore maharajas as well as to Tipu Sultan
Syed Ghani Khan,
mango connoisseur and paddy farmer
These are trees that have stood the test of time, and some of which are more than 200 years old.
“As per our records, these have been conserved for seven generations. This place was called bada bagh [big garden] and we had more than 160 varieties of mangoes that I remember seeing as a child,” Khan says.
And make no mistake, these are not any old run-of-the-mill mangoes. Some of the variants taste like bananas, others like sweet lime; some take the shape and hue of apples; some have no hint of the sweetness that defines a regular mango; and others have a bite akin to that of cumin. Mini mavinakais are so small they weigh only 50 grams, while baga golas go up to 1.25 kilograms (the average mango is about 200g).
Khan, 45, has a deep connection with the king of fruits, courtesy of his grandmother.
“She told us that mangoes from this farm would be delivered to the palaces of the Mysore maharajas as well as to Tipu Sultan [18th-century warrior ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore]. Tipu had a keen interest in horticulture, and he had several imported mango varieties planted in our village and the village of Gargeshwari, where his soldiers were stationed. However, hardly any of those plants survive today.”
Once the diversity is lost, it will be impossible to see it again... the next generation needs to know about them, too
Syed Ghani Khan
Water became more readily available in the 1920s after the construction of the KRS Dam, and many mango trees were felled to make way for paddy cultivation. When Khan grew up, there was no doubt in his mind that there was a need to preserve these mango variants given their unique DNA and superior quality.
“We have mango trees that have yielded despite climate change and weather vagaries. Some variants bear fruit as early as February and as late as August, depending on the tree,” says Khan.
“I have given many of the mangoes to the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, which has conducted studies and said these are unique mangoes that are not grown anywhere else. About 60 per cent of these variants have been conserved and grown at the institute.”
Somesh Basavanna, chief executive of Sahaja Samrudha Organic Producer Company, where Khan's mangoes are retailed, says: “These mangoes are much in demand – easily the most sought after at our store.”
The farm is spread over 6.5 hectares and Khan has paddy growing below and the mango orchard above the ground. As this is an organic farm, he does not add any fertilisers.
The biggest challenge, says Khan is “the need to conserve and rejuvenate dying variants. Once the diversity is lost, it will be impossible to see it again.”
It’s what happened to amini, a type of mango that was his grandmother’s favourite.
“She would harvest the mangoes, keep some for the household and distribute the rest among the villagers. It was such a coincidence that when she passed away, the tree fell almost immediately. It really spoke of the bond she had with it. Unfortunately, I was a child then and could not preserve the variety. I have never tasted a mango like that again.”
While he has appealed to various political bodies for financial support – as yet to no avail – Khan collects mango seeds and grafts the tree branches in his quest for conservation.
“My children accompany me when we harvest and can identify the fruits. They understand the need to conserve mango variants," he says. "I feel the government must help in saving these depleting variants as the next generation needs to know about them, too.”
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Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
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England v South Africa schedule
- First Test: Starts Thursday, Lord's, 2pm (UAE)
- Second Test: July 14-18, Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 2pm
- Third Test: The Oval, London, July 27-31, 2pm
- Fourth Test: Old Trafford, Manchester, August 4-8
Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
