Every mango season, which usually runs from late May to early October, Chef Niven Patel collects a surplus of succulent mangos from his two-acre Homestead farm and stores them in his restaurant's freezer.
But this year, he's got no surplus following a poor growing season and, as a result, will have a hard time making mango lassi, an Indian yogurt-based beverage, and green mango chutney at Ghee Indian Kitchen in Kendall.
“Usually this time of the year you’re still getting those really nice big mangos that are just getting ready now and they are pretty much nonexistent,” Patel told WLRN. "We haven't been able to freeze anything."
He is not alone in experiencing the scarcity of mango. Local growers across the South Florida region reported earlier this summer being disappointed with the year's mango crop. It is in marked contrast to last year's abundant season.
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Jonathan Crane, a tropical fruit crop specialist at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences in Homestead, said this year’s poor showing is likely caused by the colder weather the area experienced during the blooming season of the tree, which happens from January to March.
“We had consistently cool temperatures in the mid to low 40s,” Crane said. “Those cold temperatures actually damage the embryo of the seed and damage the flowers, so it doesn’t set fruit.”
The cold weather also may have prevented mango pollinators such as different species of flies not being able to fly to move the pollen to the female plant parts, he said.
Another contributing factor: mango crop production tends to be lower the following year after a large crop.
Crane added that crops in the areas of West Palm Beach and Lee County didn’t seem to be as dramatically affected by the weather events.
For now, Crane advises growers to keep their trees as healthy as possible as all mango lovers wait for better weather next year.
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