When Suvina OV from Chunda in Kannur thought of constructing a house, she felt bad that they would have to cut the huge native mango tree on that plot. But she soon found a solution. All she had to do was inform Call Before Cut, a campaign of Kannur-based Nattumanchottil, a collective that has been protecting and propagating unique and rare native and indigenous varieties of mango. Thus even before the foundation of her new house was ready, a grafted sapling of the same tree was planted in the same compound.

The team from Call Before Cut collected scions of the tree before it was cut and joined them with the rootstock to create grafted saplings.

“We launched this campaign in 2023 and have so far attended over 100 such cases. Although this is an all-Kerala initiative, we have got the most number of calls from in and around Kannur district,” says Shyju Machathi, who founded Nattumanchottil or Indigenous Fruit Plant Conservation, Education and Research Trust a decade ago.

Feasting on mangoes

Nattumanchottil has been conducting a mango festival on the first Sunday of May every year at Kannapuram for 10 years now. Invited mango enthusiasts, farmers, students and experts turn up for the fete. They move around the area and collect mangoes, taste them and relish a sadya featuring dishes made with mangoes. Discussions around conserving mangoes are also held. This year’s edition saw the participation of children as well. “We are discontinuing the current format. From next year, the festival will have a new framework that will involve all the participants,” Shyju says.

The festival has seen participation from other states and even from abroad. “Our work has inspired some of them to organise mango festivals, like the ones at Mananthavady in Wayanad district and Hosur in Tamil Nadu. Our work has also saw conservation activities being undertaken in Karnataka, where a group is growing around 400 varieties.”

Kerala is rich and diverse in terms of native mango varieties, which usually have higher Brix (total sugar content) than regular varieties. Since these varieties are found in individual homes or private plots not many people know about these trees unless those people talk about them. Some of these trees eventually are cut down, either while clearing off a plot for construction work or during road widening.

Shyju recalls that the idea for launching the campaign was born when 1598 trees along Thalappady-Kozhikode stretch (240 kms) were cut down for national highway development. “Among them 488 were mango trees. The efforts by environmentalists and individuals that saw the revival of 20 rare varieties out of them was what eventually inspired the launch of Call Before Cut.”

One can inform the team if the tree is going to be cut or if it has fallen down during heavy downpour. “However, we do not intend to protect all mango varieties in Kerala. Our focus is on rare or unique mangoes. So if we get a call we first ensure if the variety needs to be protected or not,” he says.

For this a questionnaire seeking details about the mango — its size, taste, nature of the pulp and skin, shape, colour, pest attack, frequency of fruiting etc — is sent to the caller. “If the fruit is in season, we either ask for a photograph of the fruit or the fruit itself. Once we are convinced it has to be protected our team will come and collect the scion. If we are unable to go in person, they can courier the scions.”

The regional station of National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) at Thrissur, and College of Agriculture, Padannakkad (Kasaragod) under Kerala Agricultural University have been providing the support for the same. While a couple of grafted saplings are handed over to the caller, the rest are preserved for propagation at progeny orchards at NBPGR, the Police Academy, Thrissur, and farms at Kalargode in Alappuzha and Kollengode in Palakkad district.

Call Before Cut has several success stories to share. In 2024, they grafted saplings of a rare mango tree at the Kaleelil family property in Kollam. The tree fell due to heavy rain and the family had sent across the scions for grafting. “Another example was saving the grand old tree on the premises of Kottila Puthiya Bhagavathy Temple in Kannur. The fruit is as big as a tender coconut,” Shyju says.

When Chinthithara family in Parassinikkadavu, Kannur, had to cut down a tree because it was posing threat to the house, Call Before Cut was informed. “We have named the sapling, now kept at Padannakkad College, as Chinthithara Manikyam, combining the name of the family and the grandmother of the family who had planted the tree,” Shyju notes.

A recent example is from Kayaralam near Mayyil in Kannur. The particular mango tree, which will soon be cut for road development, is rare in that it fruits thrice a year — during April, which is the regular mango season, August-September, when Onam is around, and then towards the end of the year, usually during Christmas. “The sapling is growing well at the progeny orchard at Padannakkad College.”

Nattumanchottil’s claim to fame was when it identified over 200 native mango varieties in and around Kannapuram panchayat in Kannur. It was declared an Indigenous Mango Heritage area in 2020. The number of native varieties has crossed 500, with many of them located at nearby panchayats as well, such as Chunda, Kavinissery, Ezhome, Kunhimangalam, Ramanthali, Cheruthazham, Mayyil, Kuttiyattor, and Kolachery.

“We know that more mango trees will be cut in future and we know that there are more varieties waiting to be saved. We will be doing our best to conserve them,” Shyju says.

Contact Call Before Cut at 9496787872