The best mangoes in South India, according to the farmers who grow them

Sankaran Namboothiri, Palakkad, Kerala

Sankaran Namboothiri – The Best of Sankaran Namboothiri | Photo Credit: Special Event

My favorite is the original variety of mango which we used to call ‘chakkarakodayan’ as children because it was sweet like chakara (jaggery). I enjoyed sucking the juicy pulp from these little mangoes. Now it is no longer found in the backyards of houses. So I eat another local variety, Moorthy 1, from a four year old tree that I named after our ancestral home, Moorthiyedathu Mana. Adapted to the local climate, this fruit grows in clusters. Each mango weighs around 100 grams with a Brix (sugar content) level of 23, which is quite high for a ripe mango.

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I have eight indigenous varieties on my 4.5 acre farm, which is home to over 700 mango varieties and several indigenous trees. Farming has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up in rural Sreekrishnapuram, Palakkad, I loved plucking and eating many varieties of mangoes from our backyard. Back then, I dreamed of growing them one day, a dream that came true when I became an organic farmer.

It was heartbreaking to see several indigenous mango varieties of Kerala being lost over the years. Determined to try to preserve what was left, I began to learn about mangoes and was eventually able to identify 443 local varieties that I planted on my farm. I found that each district has its preferred variety: kottoorkonam in Thiruvananathapuram, karpooram in Kollam and kuttiyattor in Kannur etc. I managed to collect most of them. I also have 17 of India’s 22 GI marked mangoes, including kuttiyattoor from Kerala. Aroor olor from Kozhikode, which will get GI tag soon, is next on my list.

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The variety is exciting, from flavor to leaf size, weight and shape. I have a five kilogram fruiting variety that I got from Tamil Nadu and named it Sree and another with a mango weight of only 25 grams which I call manjakadukka.

Arun Sogathur, Bengaluru, Karnataka

Arun Sogathur Photo Credit: Special Arrangements

While I grow many fruits, mangoes are my main crop. I have over 25 varieties in my farms: there are premium hybrids like Arka ambika, Udaya and suprabhath, as well as Tommy Atkins, which has a good color but less prominent flavor and aroma.

My favorite mangoes are imam pasand and Arka suprabhath (a double cross between Amrapali and Arka anmol, with firm, pulpless pulp) because although the taste of each mango is unique, these two varieties remain firm even after ripening.

I also enjoy the Appemidi mango, a GI label pickled vegetable native to Karnataka, with a very good shelf life and distinct aroma and flavor. The whole fruit is pickled, without cutting, like a mango vadu. It is an original variety that has been around for hundreds of years. Now the native trees in the Shivamogga and Sirsi range are being felled because the trees grow very large, often reaching 200 feet, and the expertise required to harvest their fruit no longer exists. We grow this variety by maintaining the height of the tree, which makes harvesting easier.

However, the variety I grow the most is alphonso because everyone seems to like it!

A fruit without a name

KS Jaganatha Raja, Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu

KS Jaganatha Raja Farm in Rajapalayam. | Photo credit: MOORTHY G

I have tasted mangoes from almost all parts of India, but the sweetest of them all is the sappattai, which grows in the red soil of Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu. I grew up eating it every mango season since childhood. The flesh is smooth and juicy and the juice runs down your hand.

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My second favorite is Panjavarnam, another variety that grows in and around Rajapalayam. I have revived by grafting several rare varieties which are native to the Virudhunagar area where my farm is situated. These include Mohandas, potalma, kovankachi. All have unique flavor profiles. One variety called theeyamavadi is crisp like an apple and is best eaten unripe; another called karupatti kaai tastes like palm jaggery.

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There’s another mango that I’ve come to love recently. It is a variety that has not yet been named. Three years ago I was called to identify a mango from a tree that is over 40 years old and grew from a mango seed that someone had eaten and thrown away. The fruit from the tree is unique. It is small, sweet and fleshy. The skin is soft and the flesh is fiberless. The landowners wish to grow a variety to market and have requested my assistance in growing 500 seedlings by grafting.

This will happen over the years and we are now in the process of sending the fruit to the lab to be tested for sucrose percentage. Last year we planted 160 seedlings, of which about 70 are alive and thriving. Once they begin to bear fruit, it will be named and we will taste a whole new variety of mango.

Under the mango tree

Asiya Khan, Chevella, Telangana

Asiya and Azam Khan | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Growing up, memories of mangoes centered on summer vacations under the tall trees in our backyard. We have grown Deccan mangoes like Benishan (Banganapalli), imam pasand, pedda rasalu and chinna rasalu. We would anxiously wait for the ‘tapakna’ (falling) season when the mangoes would be ready for plucking. We often started eating them before they were even ripe!

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The sight of mangoes being soaked in large buckets of water was common during the summers of my childhood. Mangoes are soaked in water to neutralize the “heat-producing” effect and to get rid of the sticky sap that can cause irritation. My grandmother checked the ripe fruit from the lot and kept them covered with hay at home. It was a method she followed like clockwork.

My favorite mangoes will always be imam pasand and Banganpalli. Pedda rasalu is best eaten under a tree, messy without being bothered. We also grow heirloom varieties like panchadhara and swarnarekha at our farm in Chevella, Telangana. Panchadhara is a sweet juicy variety and swarnarekha is a pink skinned mango. We want to revive and save these varieties so that our original varieties are not lost with the genetically modified ones.

Published – 17 Jun 2026 15:32 IST