Mango lovers have reasons to rejoice - they can soon enjoy Jardalu mangoes till July end.

The fragrant and juicy Jardalu mangoes are usually available from May to June in east Bihar. Even though it is popular with mango connoisseurs, the short production time means it cannot be enjoyed for long. But that will soon change if "Mango Man of Bihar" Ashok Choudhary (called so because of being honoured with the Bihar government's Mango Sri award in 2012) has his way.

"The Jardalu variety of mangoes are produced in Bhagalpur and its adjoining areas in abundance," said Amit Kumar, a mango farmer in Sabo-ur, around 8km east of Bhagalpur town. "Perhaps because it is only available from May to June, it cannot match up to the market competition."

The popular Jardalu loved for its sweet pulp and light peel is sent every year to the President, Prime Minister and other senior dignitaries as gifts from the Bihar government.

Farmer Choudhary devised the new variety in his nursery Madhuvan at Mahishi panchayat of Sultanganj block in 2012.

"I started developing this variety before 2012 and named it Basant Bahar," he said. "In 2014, I distributed some of the saplings to farmers in the area. Last year was the first production of this variety. This year, there have been more mangoes since last year."

Madhuvan has close to 50 of these modified Jardalu trees, which have started to produce ripe mangoes while it still grows.

Chaudhary claimed Basant Bahar has been developed from the original Jardalu and has the same essence and is as juicy as the original. "Now, mango farmers in this region can market the Jardalu variety in the country as well as abroad with the extra month," he said.

Bhagalpur resident Subir Sen, a mango fan, is as glad with the prospect as Choudhary. "We have been having the Jardalu for years and love it. But at the same time, it should have a wider market so that more people can enjoy it," he said. "Someone who has had a taste of the Jardalu once would not want to miss out on it during the mango season."

While Choudhary is developing his modified Jardalu and distributing saplings to the farmers around for fruition in the next four-five years, a district administration and Bihar Agriculture University, Sabour, team is at work examining its properties.

The team went to the Madhuvan nursery, around 16km west of Bhagalpur, on Tuesday evening to select mangoes to be sent to Delhi as gifts.

Senior BAU scientist Rabati Raman Singh, district agriculture officer Arvind Kumar Jha, district horticulture officer Bijay Kumar Pandit, sub-divisional agriculture officer Surendra Prasad and joint director, agriculture, Rabindra Kumar Mahato went to the nursery and were delighted to see the new variety of Jardalu mangoes.

Singh said BAU scientists and experts would examine the new variety for the next six to seven months. "We would minutely check every aspect of these mangoes before giving the type the recognition of a Jardalu variety," said Singh. "If required, some more features would be genetically included. The name will also be fixed later."

He added that mango production has been affected because of less rainfall and excessive heat. "This time, the Jardalus have been comparatively smaller and we doubt its quality too. But we expect the variety developed by Choudhary to compensate such losses," said Singh.