I wish Modi mango grows in Gujarat, says mango man

LUCKNOW: Getting Modi mango grown in Gujarat is what the 75-year old haji Kalimullah, recipient of Padma Shree and Uttar Pradesh's mango man, dreams of. He wishes to gift Prime Minister Narendra Modi the saplings of a mango variety that he has developed and named after him.
A cross of Kolkata's Husn-e-Aara and Lucknow's Dussehri, Modi Mango debuted in mango exhibition in Ghaziabad last year.Though the tree bore only four fruits but the on `look and taste', the Modi mango scored high at the exhibition.
This year, long winters and sudden rains have hit mango crop in Malihabad but that has not deterred the mango man. "I want this variety to be grown in Gujarat and promoted there. Though I do not know how will I make five saplings that I have specially developed for the PM reach him but that is my heart-felt wish," he said.
Tree bearing Modi mango has got few flowers this season too. The hybrid Modi mango has streaks of crimson like Husn-e-Aara and elongated shape of a Dussehri. "I gifted the variety to Malihabad's ADM last year. The taste of the fruit was admired by the officer and others who got to eat the fruit," said Kalimullah.
Kalimullah's orchard is a mango-laboratory -- 300 varieties from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and even Pakistan on a single tree is a testimony to it. It has desi varieties one hasn't heard of - Ajayab, Surkha Maliyara, Aamil Lamba, Sharifa and Amrapali to name a few and also the ones named after celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Aishwarya Rai and now PM Modi.
"I know these personalities are number 1 in their field and their contribution would be recognised all through. My varieties would be known as long as these people are known."
Most of the varieties were developed by his earlier generations through grafting. Kalimullah's technique is different. "I cross flowers and then sow those seeds because every seed, even if it's of the same variety, is different." To talk of successful experiements, he said, were `very' few.
"At least 99% go in vain. But, few that survived brought me recognition," he added. A seventh standard drop-out, the man is into `mango experiment' since 1957.