

“No two fingerprints are the same, and no two mango varieties are similar. In some places, they are yellow and glossy, and in others, a dark, dull green. The leaves are a patchwork of different textures and smells. Standing 9m tall, his treasured tree has a stout trunk with wide-spreading, thick branches that yield a pleasant shade against the Indian summer sun. “People will come and go, but the mangoes will remain forever, and years after, whenever this Sachin mango will be eaten, people will remember the cricketing hero,” the father of eight said.
MANGAO MAN SKIN
Another is “Anarkali,” or pomegranate blossom, and has two layers of different skin and two different pulps, each with a distinctive aroma. Others he named in honor of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cricket hero Sachin Tendulkar. One mango weighs more than 1kg, has a tinge of crimson to its outer skin and it tastes very sweet,” Khan said. “The mango is as beautiful as the actress. To this day, it remains one of his “best creations,” he said. One of the earliest varieties he named “Aishwarya” after Bollywood star and 1994 Miss World beauty pageant winner Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. However, since 1987, his pride and joy has been the 120-year-old specimen, a source of more than 300 different types of mangoes, each with their own taste, texture, color and size, he said. Growers also plant too many trees packed too tightly together, leaving no space for moisture and dew to settle on the leaves, he says.īut he still has a good life, he says."I recently moved into a new house inside the farm to be closer to my beloved tree, which I'll keep working on till my last breath.Kaleem Ullah Khan shows how he grafts different varieties of mangoes on a 120-year-old tree at his farm in Malihabad, India, on June 20. The number of varieties has also fallen, which Khan blames on intensive farming techniques and the widespread use of cheap fertilisers and insecticides.

Malihabad, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, has more than 30,000 hectares of orchards and accounts for nearly 25 percent of the national crop. India is the largest producer of mangoes, accounting for half the global output. "I can grow mangoes even in a desert," he says. Khan's skills have won him numerous accolades, among them one of India's highest civilian honours in 2008, as well as invitations to Iran and United Arab Emirates. "I will remove the tape once the joint becomes sturdy, and hopefully, this new branch will be ready by next season, and bear a new variety after two years," he explained. His method for grafting is intricate, and involves diligently slicing a branch from one variety, leaving an open wound into which a branch from another variety is spliced and sealed with tape. Nature has gifted mangoes with traits like humans," Khan said. "No two fingerprints are the same, and no two mango varieties are similar.

Standing nine metres (30 feet) tall, his treasured tree has a stout trunk with wide-spreading, thick branches that yield a pleasant shade against the Indian summer sun. "People will come and go, but the mangoes will remain forever, and years after, whenever this Sachin mango will be eaten, people will remember the cricketing hero," said the father of eight. Another is "Anarkali", or pomegranate blossom, and has two layers of different skin and two different pulps, each with a distinctive aroma. Others he named in honour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cricket hero Sachin Tendulkar. One mango weighs more than a kilogram (two pounds), has a tinge of crimson to its outer skin and it tastes very sweet," Khan said. "The mango is as beautiful as the actress. Pharma Industry Conclave Unlocking opportunities in Metal and Mining.
MANGAO MAN SERIES
