Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | The area on which 'Kesar' variety of mango is grown has gone up by almost five times since 2022 in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, an agriculture official said on Sunday.

It has seen a rise of 2,741 hectares from 729 hectares in 2022-23 to 3,470 hectares in 2024-25 here, the official said, adding a similar trend was being observed in Jalna and Beed districts as well.

"Due to good yields and returns, farmers have turned towards Kesar mango plantation. The saplings grow and start giving fruits in just 4-5 years. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar is included in the Kesar cluster," district superintending agriculture officer Prakash Deshmukh told PTI.

The region also exported around 1,500 metric tonnes of the variety last year, he added.

Mango expert Bhagwanrao Kapse told PTI that the use of ultra high density technology method is accommodating 580 to 622 trees per hectare.

"Mango saplings were earlier planted at a distance of 33x33 feet. Now, this has come down to 14x5 feet. I saw this method in South Africa earlier in 2005. Now, farmers get 6-14 tonnes per acre with this high density method, whereas average productivity in Maharashtra is between 3-4 tonnes," he said.