STD 6 Pass Padma Shri Recipient Takes Mango Cultivation To Unimaginable Level

One doesn’t necessarily has to be highly educated from prestigious educational institutions to attain success and create a name for themselves. What matters is how hardworking you are and how efficiently you can use your brain. It is the passion and determination that needs to be put in a simple idea to make it extraordinary.

As the king of fruits takes place in the market in this season, we tell you how a man made an identity for himself from this fruit. Meet Haji Kalimullah Khan, a 76-year-old man from Malihabad, a small village near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, who grew over 300 varieties of mangoes of different shapes, colours, and sizes all on one tree.

Malihabad is well-known for its Dusseri mangoes and Kalimullah is known for producing some its best quality. Mango cultivation runs in his family since 300 years. Since childhood, he saw his father, a famous mango cultivator in the region, growing different hybrids. Kalimullah was not inclined towards studies so he quit schooling after he flunked STD 7.

“At the age of 17, I first cultivated a mango tree, which had seven varieties of mangoes and all had different tastes and flavours. Since then, I have been trying to grow new hybrids every year to show that it is possible to introduce newer varieties,” he tells to a website.

Known as Mango Man, he uses Grafting technique to generate varieties of mango breeds. He would explore varieties of mangoes with different taste and looks and grow on the mango tree using grafting technique. Gradually, Kalimullah grew 300 different varieties of mangoes in a single tree, making a world record.

From his 14-acre orchard, varieties of mangoes packed in crates and sent in the market across the country and also in Gulf countries. “I hope to live on even after my death through my flourishing mango tree which I have cultivated carefully. It’s a tree like no other,  over 100 years old, which I began cultivating in 1987 with imagination,” he says.

Kalimullah is also known for giving unique names to his mango breeds. He dedicated a mango variety to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was named as NaMo Aam. “I dedicate the names of mangoes to only those who I feel are doing great in their field of work,” he tells. He named two hybrids after actresses Aishwarya (Rai) and Nargis (Fakhri). One mango tree is dedicated to Sachin Tendulkar.

“I want to associate these big names with mangoes so as that these names keep shining throughout the world for their great deeds,” says Kalimullah.

The Indian government has honored Kalimullah with the prestigious Padma Shri Award for his special talent. He also received the Udyan Pandit award from the Uttar Pradesh Government.

Kalimullah has kept his ancestoral property alive. Even though he is not educated enough, he has done something that no one can even think of, showing that you need to be curious and hardworking to implement the ideas. We wish that he forever keeps on reaping the fruits of his hardwork.

If you like this story, share it. Tell us your views by writing in the comment box below. We read each one of them.