The mango season is sort of right here, and it’s time to get pleasure from some freshly harvested “king of fruits.” India is the world’s largest mango producer, accounting for over 45% of world manufacturing with an annual output of roughly 20–22 million tonnes. India can be residence to 1,000 types of mangoes grown throughout the nation.
Whereas all of us love our mangoes, not everybody has the posh of plucking recent, juicy fruits from their very own yard. A Kerala-based startup is making an attempt to alter this by permitting individuals to select their very own mangoes, even with out proudly owning a tree.
Lease your individual mango tree
Hire A Tree is an agri-startup based by Umesh Damodaran, a mechanical engineer-turned-entrepreneur. Because the title suggests, Hire A Tree permits customers to “lease” mango bushes for a season and harvest the fruits when they’re prepared, whereas the startup takes care of the plant’s maintenance.
Umesh, who grew up on a farm within the Kottayam District, ran an edtech startup in Bengaluru between 2018 and 2023. In line with him, the thought of leasing mango bushes emerged from a random dialog with a neighbor.
“As soon as, whereas I used to be travelling to Bengaluru, I received some Alfonso mangoes from Dindigal, Tamil Nadu. I shared some with my buddies and teammates in Bengaluru. I additionally gave one to my neighbours. She favored it very a lot and requested me if I might get her extra of it the following time. Later, she requested me if she might get your complete fruit from a tree. It’s this query that opened my eyes to a brand new enterprise concept,” Umesh advised LiveMint.
Began with 5 acres
That’s how, in 2023, Hire A Tree was born, with the purpose of permitting non-farmers to lease a mango tree for a season and luxuriate in its harvest.
Hire A Tree began with a small, leased five-acre farm in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, seeing its first harvest season in 2024. In line with Umesh, the primary season was successful, which inspired him to lease one other 100 acres the next yr. Immediately, Hire A Tree’s Alphonso mango farms unfold throughout 250 acres in Ratnagiri (Maharashtra), Dindigul (Tamil Nadu), and Palakkad (Kerala).
Naturally ripened mangoes wherever in India
“We began itemizing wholesome bushes on-line for particular person tree leasing. Anybody can take a single tree for lease for a season, and your complete harvest of that tree will probably be theirs. What we provide is the promise of recent, tree-ripened mango. In contrast to massive farms, the place mangoes are harvested at 70-75 per cent maturity and ripened utilizing chemical compounds, we choose them totally ripened. We additionally enable our clients to reap the mangoes themselves, or we are able to ship the fruits to them, wherever in India,” he stated.
30 kg mangoes assured
Umesh stated Hire A Tree ensures a minimal of 30 kg of mangoes from a tree per season, which is the bottom bundle. Clients also can select packages starting from 45–75 kg to 60–90 kg of mangoes a season, based mostly on their wants. The packages begin at ₹7,500 for a season.
Hire A Tree additionally offers free supply and common updates to clients, together with movies exhibiting the situation of their leased bushes. For these unable to reap the mangoes themselves, the startup handles the delivery.
“The mango harvesting window is a forty-five-day interval between April and Might. We predict like 3-4 tranches this season, and the harvest will probably be shipped to the purchasers in two-week intervals,” he stated.
Plans enlargement throughout India
At present, Hire A Tree has round 200 clients, and Umesh says they obtain dozens of inquiries day by day. Working with a 10-member staff, Umesh is upbeat about the way forward for the mannequin and is on a path to increasing the startup’s footprint to extra components of the nation.
“We now have a imaginative and prescient board for as much as 2029 proper now. We’re additionally getting numerous enquiries from farmers, particularly from Maharashtra and Gujarat, who need to be a part of us. Previously few months alone, we’ve got acquired affords for greater than 2000 acres of mango orchards,” he stated.
Advantages for farmers
In line with him, such initiatives assist native farmers safe higher, assured costs whereas giving clients one of the best, naturally ripened mangoes out there.
“The farmers see what we provide, and they’re prepared to affix arms with us. From July to December, we plan to journey throughout India and meet farmers, check their produce for high quality, earlier than making them out there to our clients. And for patrons, our promise will at all times be recent, tree-ripened mangoes,” he stated.
Key Takeaways
- The startup mannequin encourages native farmers to safe higher costs whereas offering shoppers with high-quality, naturally ripened mangoes.
- Hire A Tree’s strategy affords a sustainable method for non-farmers to interact with agriculture and luxuriate in recent produce.
- The rental mannequin has the potential to develop to different fruits or crops, selling native farming and buyer involvement.