Mango farmers cut trees to explore other crops in Mancherial

Mango farmers in Mancherial district are cutting down orchards due to poor yields caused by unseasonal rains. Cultivation has drastically reduced over the past few years, forcing many to shift to alternative crops or sell land for real estate.

Mancherial: Mango farmers of the district are facing a severe crisis with poor yields caused by unseasonal rains over the last few years. In the latest worrisome trend, many are cutting down the mango trees to replace the crop with alternatives.

The district is one of the largest producers of the fruit in Telangana. As per official data, the mango crop is grown in 13,000 acres this year as against 17,538 acres in 2025, 18,000 acres in 2024, reflecting a significant decline.

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Nearly 1,000 farmers from Nennal, Jaipur, Bheemaram, Bellampalli, Thandur and Mandamarri mandals have been growing the orchards for many decades.

However, some distressed farmers are forced to cut down the fully grown mango trees to explore other crops mainly due to losses. They reasoned that they were left with no option but to cut down trees aged above five years that were not yielding fruits. They stated that they were resorting to the act to explore other crops. Some of them are selling out the farms for real estate ventures.

Lachi Reddy, a farmer from Nennal mandal said that he had cut down mango trees raised in 3.5 acres of land following dip in yield.

“Mango farming was a profitable field in the past. The trees were not flowering and fruiting due to unseasonal rains and gales occurring every summer. I was unable to earn the cost invested on the crop. Felling trees is painful, but I can’t help it,” he said with regret.

The farmers are selling the mango trees to traders from Andhra Pradesh for Rs 1,000 per tree. The traders in return are mango timber to hotels and wood manufacturers.

Hotels are purchasing the timber to cook dishes in the wake of shortage of commercial LPG cylinders caused by West Asia conflict. The timber is used to produce plywood, wall panelling and flooring as well.