A dense thicket of dead betel nut trees forms a kind of blockade to a small mango plantation in a hilly part of Dapoli, a seaside town in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Heaps of dried leaves form a thick, squelchy layer on the ground but once you wade through this curtain of grey and brown, the plantation itself is an oasis of green, neat and ordered. There are about 300 trees, spaced out, most bursting with the fruit that is this region’s most famous produce—the Alphonso mango.

These conditions are, of course, difficult for a mango farmer to contend with. Back in Dapoli, Mistry explains that the Alphonso has always been a shy crop. A good yield one year could mean that the next two years might well be poor. “In the first year that I bought this property, I got mangoes worth about ₹6 lakh and I thought ‘This is great! You can’t get a return on investment like this from any bank.’” The following year, he got 120 mangoes from 300 trees.

These conditions are, of course, difficult for a mango farmer to contend with. Back in Dapoli, Mistry explains that the Alphonso has always been a shy crop. A good yield one year could mean that the next two years might well be poor. “In the first year that I bought this property, I got mangoes worth about ₹6 lakh and I thought ‘This is great! You can’t get a return on investment like this from any bank.’” The following year, he got 120 mangoes from 300 trees.