He Planted Mangoes Where No One Believed They’d Grow — Today, His Farm Earns Rs 50 Lakh a Year
Photo Credit : The Better India, Sunday Farmer
In drought-prone Antral village in Sangli, Maharashtra, Kakasaheb Sawant planted mango trees when most farmers grew grapes, pomegranates, maize, jowar, wheat, and pulses. Mango cultivation was rare.
After nearly a decade working in automobile workshops in Pune and teaching technical courses, Kakasaheb returned to manage his family’s land and began exploring mango farming.
In 2010, he planted a mango orchard. Now, half of his 20 acres is planted with Kesar mangoes, while the other half has chikoos, pomegranates, custard apples, guava, and tamarind, among other trees.
Alongside the orchard, he started Shri Banshankari Rop Vatika. The nursery produced thousands of mango saplings each year, helping farmers begin orchards without having to travel long distances.
Sawant hired highly skilled malis from Dapoli, 225 km away, to work at his nursery. From June to August, they graft saplings while living with his family and sharing daily meals.
Water from the Krishna river reached Sawant’s farm through pipelines stretching nearly four kilometres, while a holding pond stored water for dry months. Within 10 years, mango farming fetched him Rs 50 lakhs annually.
“When I planted mangoes, people laughed at me because they thought mangoes could only be grown in the Konkan,” Sawant said. Over time, his orchard encouraged neighbours to rethink farming in dry regions.
A special feature on Sawant’s farm is a mango tree grafted with 22 varieties, including Alphonso, Sindhu, Amrapali, and Baramashi — a living showcase of his grafting experiments.
Farmers regularly visit Sawant’s farms and nursery to observe mango cultivation and grafting methods. What began as a personal experiment slowly turned into a place where growers exchanged knowledge through everyday work and conversations.