Damaged mango blossoms. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, March. 4: After the vagaries of weather, a pest problem. Nothing seems to be going the mango growers? way this season.

The orchard owners said it would take a miracle for the trees to bear a bumper fruit while the food processing department and horticulture corporation of the state are struggling to tide over the prospect of another bleak year in the highest mango producing district of the state.

?There is great demand for the mangoes of Malda in foreign countries. We had set a target of exporting 500 tonnes of quality mangoes. But by the looks of it, we will fall drastically short,? managing director of the corporation Nikhilendu Hazra said.

According to Hazra, Himsagar, Mallika and Lakshmanbhog mangoes are very popular export in foreign countries.An order for 30 tonnes of mangoes has already arrived.

Last year as it was an off year.

In the parlance of mango cultivation, when the production is less, it is called an off year. An on year, which follows an off year, is expected to give a bumper crop.

?Mango hopper, that is what the pest is known as, has infested the orchards. The flowers are withering,? district mango development officer Samarendranath Khanra said.

Khanra said the orchard owners were being advised to spray insecticides. The warm breeze after winter helps the mango blossom. But it did not happen this year. The weather has been cruel to the mango growers.

Mango orchards are spread over 25,000 hectares in the district. Fazli is cultivated in 40 per cent of the orchards.

?More than 50 per cent of the Fazli has not blossomed,? Khanra said.