Mango man of india: Kalimullah Khan failed in the seventh grade and then left school and spent the whole day walking in his mango orchard. His house is in Malihabad, Uttar Pradesh. 84 -year -old Kalimullah Khan is awarded the Padma Shri today. He is known as ‘Mango Man of India’. His name is also recorded in the Limca Book of Records and his mango garden has become a ‘living lab’. Actually, his garden is the house of a tree on which more than 350 different types of mangoes grow.
Kalimullah tells The Better India, ‘Today I am old, so probably not the strength to talk, but I will definitely tell you as much as possible. There is a lot to say about my tree. It has been watered with great love and has memories of my whole life in it. He said, “People should come to my garden and look at this tree and understand the varieties of mangoes, each of which has its own different feature.”
Disappointment was found in the first attempt
He said that inspired by a sudden idea in 1957, he decided to do something that no one in his family had thought. He planted a tree on which seven different types of mangoes were grown. But luck had something else approved. That year the tree was destroyed in heavy floods that year. Despite this shock, he started experimenting with grafting and conducted intensive research on it. By 1987, he started grating different mango varieties on a tree on a huge plot of 22 acres. It was the beginning of a long journey of innovation. As the years passed, Kalimullah kept doing new experiments with the mango tree. His tireless passion made some extraordinary. There is one such tree in his garden that today has more than 300 varieties, each of which is different from the taste, color and fragrance.
How to make a 350 variety unique tree?
The unique way of grafting of Kalimullah Khan has given him a national and international recognition. Actually it is an ancient technique in which the branch of one tree is connected to the rootstock of another tree, has been used in farming for centuries. With his research and hard work of years, he has made a mango tree on which 350 different types of mangoes look.
Kalimullah explains, ‘The process of grafting is an art. It is like a puzzle. You will be able to see the fruits of your hard work to choose the right varieties, connect them carefully and take care of them for many years. Over time, the grafts get involved, so that the varieties develop into a tree. Nazimullah explains, ‘It is not just about adding different varieties. You have to make sure that they are compatible, and each variety has enough space to grow. ‘ The result is a tree that produces unique taste, shape and common mangoes from the same root system.
Amitabh Bachchan ‘and’ Sachin Tendulkar ‘mangoes on trees
Some varieties on the tree include Alphonso, Langa, Saffron, Dussehri and Chausa. There are even hybrid varieties developed by the father-son pair, such as ‘Dussehri Kalim’, a hybrid of Dussehri and Sindhuri varieties, and ‘Sachin Tendulkar’ in the name of the great cricketer. The tree has its own different features of every mango variety, from size and color to taste and texture. Some are small and sour, some are big and sweet. There is also a long, Totapuri mango and a mango called ‘Narendra Modi’ called ‘Amitabh Bachchan’, which becomes orange before ripening.
84 -year -old horticulture expert Kalimullah explains, “I have named these mangoes after the people who have inspired me or who are somehow important.” Even their favorite varieties, ‘Anarkali’ and ‘Aishwarya Rai’, are also unique hybrids that have been grafted on the famous Alphonso mango, which serves as the Mother Plant.