In India's mango ‘capital’, climate change is disrupting the prized fruit's supply and taste

In the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the impact of climate change is evident. In a particularly tragic incident in May 2026, powerful unseasonal storms, rain and lightning killed at least 111 people. The heavy rains, accompanied by strong winds and thunderstorms, uprooted trees, damaged transmission wires and houses across 26 districts in the state. State authorities said that casualties resulted from falling trees, flying objects and wall or roof collapse. 

The growing unpredictability in weather patterns and the increase in both frequency and severity of extreme weather events have a huge impact on human livelihoods – including those of mango farmers.

In Malihabad, India’s so-called mango capital, mango farmer Haji Kalimullah Khan is increasingly concerned about the yearly decline in produce from his mango orchard. ‘The climate is changing, the water table is falling, the size of the fruits is decreasing, even the leaves are getting smaller, the taste is also changing,’ Khan told FairPlanet in a phone interview. In a region where irrigation often depends on groundwater, a declining water table has become a source of strain. Untimely rain has only added to this issue. 

Malihabad is known in India and globally for producing the famous Dasheri mangoes, which earned a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2009 for its juicy pulp and unique sweetness. Khan is one of many mango farmers in the region. He is better known by his nickname ‘mango man’ and is famous for growing over 300 varieties of mangoes on his 22 acres of farmland.

Mango, like other tropical fruits, requires continuous sunshine and low relative humidity during the blooming phase. But rising temperatures, irregular rainfall and unseasonal pre-monsoon showers are disrupting these conditions.

Erratic rains threaten India’s mango harvest

The growing unpredictability of weather patterns, an increase of extreme weather events and especially unseasonable and erratic rainfalls are disrupting the delicate flowering and fruiting cycle of mango orchards.

‘We are increasingly seeing rainfall during flowering and fruiting. That is completely harmful for mango crops, because rain at this stage causes flowers and fruits to fall,’ Dr Parag Haldankar, a former professor at the Department of Horticulture at Dr Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth in Maharashtra told FairPlanet in a phone interview.

Khan and other farmers told FairPlanet that erratic rainfall and changing weather patterns have been increasingly hurting mango yields, delaying development and affecting the taste of Dasheri mangoes. A noticeable change, according to the farmers, is the pulp getting less sweet and no longer carries the rich flavour that once defined Dasheri.

‘The taste of Dasheri mangoes has changed so much with time. Now, the fruit looks hard from the outside, but the pulp inside is melted. The sweetness is no longer there. Most of the fruits lack the distinct taste,’ Khan said. 

He attributes the changing taste and loss of sweetness to erratic rains and changing weather patterns.

‘Mango is a fruit of summer. The heat waves of May and June are required for a good harvest. But the sudden rain and sudden drop in temperature have ruined everything,’ Khan said.

Untimely rain during this crucial phase can also increase the risk of pests and diseases. In a written response to the Lok Sabha, India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare noted that wet conditions can exacerbate mango diseases such as anthracnose, powdery mildew and blossom blight. Early rains, meanwhile, can worsen pest infestations and delay flowering.

Smaller fruit, shrinking harvests

A few hundred kilometres from Khan’s orchard, mango farmer Shazaib Hasan Khan also grows Dasheri mangoes and exports about seven to ten tonnes of them to Gulf states every year. He told FairPlanet in a phone interview that his main concern is the size and weight of the fruit.

‘The mangoes are less than what we had last year. The size of the fruits is not getting bigger. It is taking a lot of time. Leaving them on the tree would make them fodder for pests. Harvesting it early would make it unfit for export,’ Khan said, blaming uneven weather patterns for this loss. ‘Last year we only had 70 per cent of the total produce. This year, it may be as low as 50 per cent or even 45 per cent,’ he told FairPlanet.

A 2012 study by Shailendra Rajan, the former Director of the ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (CISH) in Lucknow, found that climate-related changes brought widespread disruption to the flowering and fruiting patterns of mango, adversely affecting fruit production.

‘Mango production is not only affected by untimely rains, but also by the temperature peaks during the flowering. The crucial time in horticulture is when the pinnacles emerge. The changing weather doesn’t leave a window for proper pollination and fertilisation,’ Dr Shailendra Rajan told FairPlanet in an interview. 

A study from 2025 on climate change’s impact on mango productivity in India found that a one-degree-Celsius rise in average minimum temperature during the mango maturing phase was associated with an eleven per cent decline in yield.

Recent state data also points to rising peak temperatures in parts of Uttar Pradesh: the 2024 heat wave action plan of the Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority showed that maximum temperatures in Lucknow, of which Malihabad is part, rose from 41.9 degrees Celsius in 2021 to 43.2 degrees Celsius in 2023.

A prized sweetness under strain

Beyond shrinking yields and smaller fruit, farmers and experts say the quality of Malihabad’s famous Dasheri mangoes is also under pressure. Its distinctive sweetness, aroma and rich flavour are central to the fruit’s identity and to its appeal in premium and export markets. 

In June 2026, the Indian Embassy in Iceland and the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) held a first Indian mango promotion event in Iceland, showcasing the Dasheri variety alongside three others. The varieties were promoted for their flavour, aroma and quality – precisely the traits that growers in Malihabad now fear are being affected.

According to Rajan, mangoes’ taste and sweetness are mainly dependent on dry conditions during fruit development: ‘The taste will be more when there is a dry period during fruit development, then the fruits will be sweeter. If there is too much rain or irregular patterns, the fruits become insipid and watery. For instance, in the case of watermelon or muskmelon, when they are in dry condition, they are very sweet. But too much rain reduces their quality,’ he told FairPlanet. 

Haldankar, however, offered a different explanation to FairPlanet. He argued that flavour is primarily linked to the ripeness of the fruit and said that some farmers would harvest mangoes too early in order to secure better prices on the market.

A study in Experimental Agriculture on Cogshall mangoes found that harvest maturity was a key factor in determining the fruit’s potential quality once ripe. Although not specific to Dasheri, the finding supports Haldankar’s warning that harvesting mangoes too early can affect final fruit quality.

However, early harvesting is not simply a matter of impatience. For growers who are facing uncertain weather conditions, pest infestations and fluctuating market prices, it can be a difficult decision: they must choose between leaving the fruit on the tree, which could result in damage, disease or infestation, or harvesting early, which could result in a loss of the sweetness and flavour that make Dasheri so valuable.

As Rajan argues, climate-related stress during fruit development can affect sweetness and quality. Harvesting before the fruit is fully mature can also affect its eventual taste, as Haldankar warns. The result for farmers in Malihabad is the same. ‘Now the mangoes are losing their taste, the fertilisers are getting ineffective. The entire balance of nature has gone haywire,’ Mango Man Khan told FairPlanet.

Bearing the brunt of climate change and its resultant factors, farmers like Shazaib have resorted to ‘bagging technology’, which helps minimise the effects of adverse weather. The method involves covering fruits with plastic bags to shield them from environmental factors like wind and rain, and also helps in ripening and preserving the taste. 

‘Covering fruits (bagging technology) means more effort for farmers and putting in additional resources. It does help protect fruits from pests and gives them texture. But depending on this alone will not protect our yield,’ he told FairPlanet. 

For Khan, the bagging technology is a short-term measure, which does not help with decreasing harvest or losing taste. ‘A larger government-intervention is required,’ he said, adding, ‘Or Malihadad won’t have dasheris.’