From cotton to chillies and now mangoes, a long crop of farmer-breeders

Kongara Ramesh in his mango orchard in Visakhapatnam. | Photo credit: PAUL NICODEMUS

Kongara Ramesh left school after class VIII. He never returned to formal education. What he has done instead over six decades of quiet, persistent research is harder to sum up: cotton hybrids, chili varieties, homeopathy and now, in a two-and-a-half-acre orchard on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, a collection of mango varieties that he believes can change what Indian farmers earn and what Indian consumers eat.

Born in Kakuman near Guntur, Mr. Ramesh grew up watching his father develop new crop varieties along with professors from Bapatla. When his father became a sarpanch and asked him to stop going to school, the boy did not fight back. Agriculture was already where his mind lived.

His early work was in cotton. Farmers traveled from all over the country to obtain the hybrid seeds he produced for the National Seeds Corporation. He then turned to chillies and developed varieties with an upward cluster that dried on the plant. This work was interrupted by a serious motorcycle accident and he moved to Visakhapatnam to recuperate. The chilli varieties were eventually registered under the Indian Germplasm Registration (INGR) with the support of NABARD.

The restoration opened a new chapter. “I started growing different varieties of mango to deal with the existing challenges,” he says. One challenge was the short mango season. Another was the widespread practice of harvesting raw fruit and ripening it with chemicals. He wanted mangoes that ripened naturally on the tree without falling off and could then be frozen and stored for months or even years.

The solution was to understand how maturation begins. In most varieties, it begins at the end of the stem, which loosens the hold of the fruit. Mr. Ramesh has selected and bred trees where ripening starts from the bottom, allowing roughly 70% of the process to take place on the tree before harvest. The result: fruit that can be frozen without significant deterioration, stored and sold year-round, freeing farmers from the pressure of emergency sales during the short harvest period.

Amrutham and Swagatham

Two of the varieties he developed have names: Amrutham, selected for its long shelf life and taste, and Swagatham, an early variety with a pleasant aroma. Both are awaiting registration under the Plant Variety Protection and Farmers Rights Authority, with ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research collecting the required field material. The testing is done at the same institution in Karnataka.

“Government support in the form of 30-year leasehold land for breeding new mango varieties will be immensely helpful”Kongara RameshFarmer-breeder

His more recent works include a variety he describes as reminiscent of Japan’s prized Miyazaki mango, known for its intense sweetness and ruby-red color, and another with around 90% flesh content. He has crossed about 100 varieties and is screening 15 to 20 that show particularly promising qualities in terms of nutrition, taste, shelf life and appearance.

At the age of 72, Mr. Ramesh continues his work as a farmer and breeder. “After reaching this stage as a subsistence farmer, support from the government in the form of a 30-year land lease to breed new mango varieties would be extremely helpful,” he says. “These mangoes can be exported throughout the year. This value should reach the Indian farmers,” he adds.

Published – 11 Jun 2026 19:57 IST