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MALIHABAD, India – No fruit in India is more universally loved and highly anticipated than the mango, which briefly cools and sweetens the long days of summer each year.

Mangoes are added to kebabs, used to sour the dishes, and mashed with mint to make refreshing drinks. Experts fiercely debate which is the best of India’s dozens of varieties, each with a distinct taste, color, and texture, and disagree politely on the right way to eat the fruit: by cutting it into slices or by directly sucking the juice. top.

This year, however, this age-old ritual is in jeopardy. As scorching heat hit northern India weeks earlier than usual, mango crops have been devastated and threatened a way of life for the thousands of small farmers who grow the fruit and the millions who consume it.

The heatwave is a vivid example of the challenge India faces in securing food as the effects of climate change worsen, compounding its challenges in raising agricultural productivity to international standards to feed its growing population of nearly 1.4 billion.

The dangers of a warmer future are painfully apparent on a small farm in Malihabad, a key mango-growing region in the north, where Mohammed Aslam grew some 500 trees.

A few months ago, mango trees were the picture of health, their deep green leaves shimmering on well-moistened soil, and their branches had clusters of perfect white flowers. Then, India experienced its hottest March on record in 122 years, with an average of 92 degrees Fahrenheit and temperatures as high as 104. Mango flowers withered and died without fruiting.

Almost none of Mr. Aslam’s four-acre trees produced mangoes. In a normal year, they would yield more than 25,000 pounds of fruit.

“I have never witnessed this phenomenon before in my life,” he said as he looked at his farm in the state of Uttar Pradesh one afternoon recently, mourning the thousands of dollars he was about to lose in the failed harvest.

Aslan is one of the hundreds of farmers who helplessly watch the intense heat of March continue until April, the hottest month of the last 50 years, and then continue until May. climate scientists, report released on MondayHe said the likelihood of such a heatwave in India has increased at least 30 times since the 19th century.

Dheeraj Kumar Tiwari, a scientist at an agricultural university in Uttar Pradesh, said the heat goes far beyond the optimal temperature (77 degrees Fahrenheit) for fertilizing mango trees.

India world’s largest mango producer, accounting for about 50 percent of the global crop. Most are consumed domestically, but the country exports tens of millions of dollars’ worth of mangoes each year to the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States. In the last ten years, India has trying to enter markets in other European Union countries additionally.

In the past, export growth was limited by the higher costs of Indian mangoes compared to countries such as Brazil, Peru, Israel and Pakistan. India is trying to increase productivity which will reduce costs.

Even before the extreme heat, India’s mango exports were badly damaged by the pandemic’s supply chain disruptions and overseas shipments. shrinks by almost 50 percent last year. India’s largest export organization hoped for a big comeback This year as the governments of India and the US relax their trade rules.

Instead, severe weather conditions damaged the crop not only in northern India but also in the south hit by heavy, untimely rain.

In northern mango-growing powerhouse Uttar Pradesh, a government agriculture official has predicted that mango production in the state will fall close to 20 percent this year. The Mango Growers Association said that the yield in the northern mango growing belt will drop by close to 70 percent.

In Andhra Pradesh state, in the south, heavy rains delayed the flowering of mango plants by a month. It was very hot when the fruits appeared and many fell from the branches prematurely.

B. Sreenivasulu, deputy director of the horticultural department of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh, said that during the heavy rains that swept the area in November and December, when blooming occurred, farms were flooded and many riverside trees were uprooted.

Mango cultivation in the county, which is the most productive county in the state, has decreased by at least 30 percent this season. “This time the impact of climate change has been very visible,” Mr. Sreenivasulu said. “Like never before.”

The harsher conditions threaten mango-growing cultures whose roots go back hundreds of years.

The Malihabad area in Uttar Pradesh is known for delectable varieties such as Dasheri, named after a village in the area. The district is home to numerous families that have been cultivating fruit for at least three generations. Most farmers in Malihabad own small plots and depend solely on mangoes for their livelihood.

Jyotsna Kaur Habibullah, who runs a farmers’ market, launched a mango festival in Malihabad in 2013 to revive the tradition of eating mangoes directly from the orchard so consumers can communicate directly with farmers.

“Food is intrinsically linked to a people’s culture, and mangoes play an important role not only in the food of the region, but also in art and textiles, in the form of motifs and poetry,” said Habibullah. “The emotional and psychological bond of mangoes is not just with the taste, but also with the culture of that place, and it’s a legacy that we can’t let die.”

Against the backdrop of the serene beauty of mango orchards lining both sides of a straight highway in Malihabad one recent afternoon, farmers gathered at a roadside stand to voice their concerns about the future. They discussed diversifying into other fruits and vegetables or selling their land.

Nadeem Ahmad, a third-generation mango farmer, took a long breath as he walked to his small farm by the highway. He pointed to trees that normally bear fruit at this time of year.

“With a heavy heart, I’ll have to start cutting down these trees if this pattern continues,” he said. “A farmer’s soul shudders to see these fruitless trees.”

Across from Mr. Ahmed’s farm, Mr. Aslam said he was living in “acute tension” over a mango crop that was only 5 percent in previous years. His 14-year-old son said he didn’t want to continue the family business when he grew up.

“There won’t be enough fruit even for my children,” said Mr. Aslam, wrinkling his square forehead in the strong afternoon sun. She noted that difficulties forced her to postpone her daughter’s wedding.

“No mango, no life,” he added, his words fading in a small voice.

Karan Deep Singh contributed to the news from New Delhi.