Most farmers in this region prefer to lease their mango trees rather than to cultivate and harvest them on their own. After that, farmers become mere 'tree owners'. Given this scenario, it will be clear that traders are more experienced than farmers. Over the years they have gathered considerable knowledge regarding both cultivation practices and the mango varieties best suited to local conditions. Through business contacts the experienced wholesalers are also well-informed about mango cultivation techniques developed elsewhere.
Traders know about both the most marketable and the most ecologically suitable mango varieties.
They usually recommend planting early-yielding varieties that fetch comparatively high prices. They advise farmers to grow four or five different varieties, in order to reduce the risks represented by weather conditions, pests and disease, and to lower dependence on individual terminal markets, which often have particular preferences regarding fruit varieties. Farmers who do not lease their trees often rely on the seedlings provided by the governmental projects. However, those projects distribute only two varieties, neither of which is popular in the market. Under the two centrally sponsored schemes, farmers benefited from cultivation subsidies.