It has been raining since mid-May, and whether it was the monsoon or pre-monsoon showers, one thing is certain: it has been raining. While the rains bring a welcome respite from the blistering summer heat, they come with their own set of problems.
With the arrival of the rains, fruit flies emerge and fungus thrives in the resulting humidity. Both issues need to be addressed.
Last week, we discussed the use of fruit fly traps to prevent maggot infestations in Manga Hilario and Monserrate (Mussorat) mangoes. However, with the rains setting in, this method may no longer be effective, and so it's time to consider alternative solutions.
One of the simplest methods is to dip cooled mangoes into hot water at 50 to 55°C for five minutes after harvest. This denatures the proteins in fruit fly eggs — much like partially boiling a poultry egg — preventing them from hatching into maggots.
One of the simplest methods is to dip cooled mangoes into hot water at 50 to 55°C for five minutes after harvest.
DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM
The hot water treatment also helps eliminate young maggots. However, it’s important to cool the mangoes after harvest, as applying heat to warm fruit can worsen spongy tissue — known as saka in Hindi, Marathi, and Kannada, and lashem or laxem in Konkani — which appears as a white patch of unripened pulp in an otherwise ripe mango.
Temperature control is crucial — it must be hot enough to destroy fruit fly eggs, yet not so hot that it cooks the mango or damages the enzymes responsible for ripening. In other words, don’t get overenthusiastic and end up cooking your mangoes instead!
Dipping mangoes for five minutes in a 0.05% Carbendazim 50 WP fungicide solution — made by mixing one gram of the powder in one litre of water — helps prevent rot during the ripening process. Stalk-end rot, which commonly occurs at the point where the mango is detached from the tree, can be effectively controlled this way.
Mango growers in the Konkan region (Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri Districts of Maharashtra) harvest individual fruit along with a piece of the stalk to reduce infection. This is not possible if one is using the traditional harvesting basket, called koblem.
An improved version of the koblem, sporting cutting blades, is available in Goa. Quite a few have been sold at the Konkan Fruit Fests since 2003.
In Maharashtra, trees are kept short by annual pruning, and harvesting is done with pole-mounted clippers.
Normally, this time of year would bring hot summer days, but we've had continuous rain since May 20, 2025 — making fruit fly infestation and fungal issues inevitable. So, I turned to the method (mentioned above) which I learned from mango grower and exporter, Bhooshan Nabar, at his orchard in Kudal.
Organising the Konkan Fruit Fest has been an invaluable learning experience for me — and now, you can benefit from that knowledge too.
(The author is the former Chairman of the GCCI Agriculture Committee, CEO of Planter's Choice Pvt Ltd, Additional Director of OFAI and Garden Superintendent of Goa University, and has edited 18 books for Goa & Konkan).