ABSTRACT
This chapter describes three practices that have evolved in Malihabad: tradition of maintaining heritage orchards, establishment of seedling types in marginal environments and along land borders and the practice of organizing mango festivals to facilitate taste and trait evaluation and the exchange of knowledge and grafts of preferred seedlings for further multiplication by farmers and nurseries. The historical background of mango production in Malihabad has accumulated in several socio-culturally embedded good practices in the management and use of mango diversity that have contributed to the informal seed system in Malihabad. Despite the prevalence of the Dashehari variety, some farmers retain an interest in old farmer varieties or seedling types as the market for Dashehari seems saturated and prices have declined in the last few years. Reinvigorating old planting practices could help ensure conservation of these varieties and facilitate access to them, and could form the basis for the exploration of niche markets for mango diversity in Malihabad.
