MP farmer grows Japanese mango, can sell it for ₹21,000 apiece

A chance interaction with a stranger on train gave this Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) farmer a special Japanese variety of mango, which now bears fruits and command a market value of ₹21,000 apiece.

Sankalp Singh Parihar, the proud owner of ‘Taiyo No Tamago’ mango tree is in no hurry to sell his produce though. He wants to develop an orchard with 500+ trees. While he is not keen to make money right now, his immediate concern is security of his prized possession because mango thieves are on the prowl.

The VICE reported that ‘Taiyo No Tamago’ is a special Japanese variety which is grown in controlled conditions at Parihar’s farmhouse on Chargawan road in Jabalpur.

The fruit can weigh up to a kilogram and, as per local traders, can fetch a price of up to ₹1 lakh apiece. The ₹1 lakh tag may sound exaggerated, but a Mumbai trader definitely offered for ₹21,000 per piece. In the international market, it was sold for ₹2.70 lakh per kg last year.

The fruit of ‘Taiyo No Tamago’ is special because of the unique red and yellow shades on the fruit and its rich taste, which makes one ask for more. In Japan, it is called ‘Egg of the Sun’ because of these rare and beautiful shades.

It all started with Parihar’s journey down south. He was looking for coconut seeds to develop saplings. On the way back, he befriended a man in the train who offered to sell him a special mango sapling for ₹2,500. Parihar bought it.

Also read: ‘Noorjahan’ mango, priced Rs 1,000 apiece, is the toast this season

“I did not know what the mango breed was but I named it Damini after my mother and I planted it,” Parihar told VICE. “I grew it [the sapling] like an ordinary mango plant, but a few months later, saw that it had developed a beautiful red colour.”

Parihar’s orchard now has 14 hybrid and unique mango varieties, including ‘Mallika’, which is the costliest Indian mango. He now have 150 ‘Taiyo No Tamago’ trees, but only four bear fruit.

The security cover for the orchard though attracts a lot of attention. A total of six guards, accompanied by trained dogs, guard the trees all through the day.