The campus of an institution set up by Mahatma Gandhi in 1921, as part of the Non-Cooperation Movement, is home to 250 Digha Malda mango trees.

A nursery for Digha Malda variety of mango has come up on the 15-acre campus of Bihar Vidyapeeth - set up by Mahatma Gandhi - near Sadaquat Ashram in Patna. The variety was hardly available in Patna after trees were felled during a real-estate boom.

The nursery will sell the saplings to residents after the officials add more trees and wait for them to bear fruit. Residents can expect to enjoy the mangoes not before a year from the time the saplings are planted.

"The regular Malda variety of mangoes sells for Rs 50-60 per kg when in season, but the Digha Malda variety is available for anything between Rs 150 and Rs 200 per kg," said retired IAS officer-cum-chairperson of Bihar Vidyapeeth Vijay Prakash. "Residents are often duped into buying the regular variety, as very few Digha Malda mango trees remain in Patna."

"The nursery is being developed on two acres on the Vidyapeeth campus (now a vocational training centre). Last year we planted around 2,000 Digha Malda saplings, and plan to plant at least 25,000 more in 2017," Prakash said, adding that the non-profit organisation had sought assistance from the Bihar government and Bihar Agriculture University, Sabour, for the initiative. They have not yet got any response.

Former President Rajendra Prasad's granddaughter Tara Sinha said the mangoes were her grandfather's favourite. "Baba even professed his love for the variety in a letter to Nathni Singh, a Bihar Vidyapeeth official when he was President," said Tara, a retired Patna University teacher.