Coorg Mandarin (Kodagu)
The hill mandarin of Kodagu, grown as a shade-tolerant intercrop in coffee estates for over a century. Area has fallen from about 24,000 ha in the 1960s to under 2,000 ha, so you are planting a crop that is being revived.
Quick facts
- Type
- Planting material
- Season
- All seasons
- Starts bearing
- Bearing from year 4–5 (grafted plant)
- Expected yield
- No official per-hectare figure found; trees now give about 10 kg against over 50 kg in the past
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- Susceptible to citrus greening — the same nursery-quality caution applies
- Release
- No formal breeding release. A century-old Kodagu landrace, GI-tagged (the year is quoted as 2004 or 2006 depending on the source).
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Coorg Mandarin (Citrus reticulata), grown mainly in Kodagu, Hassan and Chikmagalur in Karnataka, is a mandarin raised as a shade-tolerant intercrop in coffee-based plantations for more than a century. The NHB list describes the fruit as oblate, bright yellow and uniform, with a medium-thick rind that comes away easily, usually 9 to 11 segments, and fine-textured yellow pulp with abundant juice. It carries a GI tag, quoted as 2004 or 2006 depending on the source. Cultivation has collapsed, from about 24,000 hectares in the 1960s to under 2,000, and yield per tree has fallen from over 50 kg to about 10 kg. Reported causes are citrus greening, Citrus Tristeza Virus, Phytophthora, stem borer, powdery mildew, root rot, poor planting material, and root damage from digging in the coffee intercrop. The Citrus Die-back Disease Station at Gonicoppal and ICAR-IIHR's Central Horticultural Experiment Station at Chettalli have worked on the decline for four decades.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Coorg Mandarin if you farm in Kodagu, Hassan or Chikmagalur coffee country and want to restore a shade-tolerant intercrop with a GI name. Expect a hard start: the crop has fallen from about 24,000 hectares to under 2,000 because of greening, CTV and Phytophthora. Plant disease-free grafted plants only, in a small block first. Outside coffee country, Nagpur Mandarin, Kinnow or Khasi Mandarin are the better-supported mandarins.
Sowing & cultivation
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- A shade-tolerant fit for Kodagu's coffee estates, grown alongside coffee, cardamom and pepper for over a century, so it needs no separate orchard.
- Bright yellow, uniform fruit with fine-textured pulp and abundant juice, per the NHB list.
- A named GI product from one district, which gives a story to sell.
Things to consider
- The decline is severe: from about 24,000 hectares in the 1960s to under 2,000, and from over 50 kg to about 10 kg a tree. Coorg Mandarin today is a crop being revived, not a stable mainstream one.
- The decline has many causes, not one fixable problem: greening, CTV, Phytophthora, stem borer, powdery mildew, root rot and poor planting material have all been named.
- Digging near the shallow roots in a coffee estate damages the trees. Weed with care around them.
- No official per-hectare yield could be found, so do not budget on a number you cannot source.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Karnataka
- Kerala
Start with clean stock in a small block, not a big orchard
The numbers say why caution is right. Coorg Mandarin fell from about 24,000 hectares in the 1960s to under 2,000, and from over 50 kg to about 10 kg a tree. That is not bad luck on one farm. It is a pattern across the district.
The reported causes include citrus greening, Citrus Tristeza Virus and Phytophthora, and poor planting material is on the list too. All of these can come in on the plants you buy. So the first rule is to buy grafted plants only from a nursery that can show disease testing, and to ask what rootstock they are on.
The second rule is to keep the first planting small, say a few dozen trees under the estate's shade, and watch them for two or three years before you commit more. ICAR-IIHR's station at Chettalli has selected 20 disease-free superior clones since 2006. Ask them whether tested material is available. Be careful when weeding, because digging near the shallow roots in a coffee estate has been named as a cause of damage.
Where the planting material comes from
This variety is budded onto a rootstock, not grown from seed. Seed out of its fruit will not come up as this variety, so it cannot be kept as seed. Buy budded plants from a registered nursery or a government farm, so the plant is true to the variety and free of disease.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Orange (Mandarin) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Starts bearing | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coorg Mandarin (Kodagu)this page | A revival crop for Kodagu's coffee estates, if you start with clean planting material | Bearing from year 4–5 (grafted plant) | No official per-hectare figure found; trees now give about 10 kg against over 50 kg in the past | Karnataka, Kerala |
| Khasi Mandarin | The GI-tagged King of Oranges for the Khasi and Jaintia hills, if you can source virus-free plants | Bearing from year 4–5 (grafted or seedling plant) | About 5.91 t/ha on average (ICAR Umiam, 2025), against 10.36 t/ha for India | Meghalaya, Assam |
| Kinnow (mandarin hybrid) | A cold-hardy, high-yielding mandarin hybrid for Punjab's winter fresh-fruit trade | Fruit ripens from mid-January to mid-February | 125–150 kg per tree (PAU); Punjab average 26.3 t/ha in 2020–21 | Punjab, Rajasthan |
| Nagpur Mandarin (Nagpur Santra) | The GI-tagged Vidarbha santra, for farmers who can manage water and buy greening-tested plants | Bearing from year 4–5 (grafted plant) | No official per-hectare figure found; a central-India rootstock trial recorded 156.3 kg a tree on Rangpur lime | Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Orange (Mandarin) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Orange (Mandarin) plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Orange (Mandarin) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Orange (Mandarin) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Orange (Mandarin) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Orange (Mandarin) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Why has Coorg Mandarin cultivation shrunk so much?
Several causes added up from the 1980s: greening, stem borer, Phytophthora leaf fall, powdery mildew, root rot, poor planting material, and root damage from digging in the coffee intercrop. Together they pushed the area from about 24,000 hectares in the 1960s to under 2,000 hectares in recent decades.
How is Coorg Mandarin different from Nagpur Mandarin?
Coorg Mandarin has bright yellow, uniform fruit with a medium-thick rind and fine-textured pulp, usually 9 to 11 segments. It is a hill citrus for cooler, higher-rainfall coffee country. Nagpur Mandarin is the Vidarbha plains santra with its own GI tag and two crops a year. Choose by where you farm.
How is Coorg Mandarin grown in a coffee estate?
It is grown as an intercrop in the coffee-based cropping system of Kodagu, which it has been for more than a century. An ICAR study at Chettalli looked at a coffee, cardamom, black pepper and mandarin mixed system. It grows under the estate's shade, so it needs no separate orchard.
What did the Chettalli clone trial find?
Researchers picked 20 high-yielding, disease-free superior clones from a field survey and planted them for evaluation in September 2006 at ICAR-IIHR's Central Horticultural Experiment Station, Chettalli. The 2016 paper in the Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences names Clone-8 and Clone-20 as better for yield. Ask the station about planting material from tested clones.
Can I grow Coorg Mandarin outside Kodagu?
The NHB list gives Karnataka as its region, and the decline studies are about Kodagu, Hassan and Chikmagalur. No published recommendation covers other states. If you want to try it elsewhere, plant a small block beside a locally recommended mandarin and compare the two for a few seasons.
What should I ask a nursery before buying Coorg Mandarin plants?
Ask which rootstock the plants are grafted on, whether the mother trees were tested for citrus greening and Citrus Tristeza Virus, and which clone they came from. Ask for the answers on the bill or in writing. Poor planting material is one of the reported causes of the decline.
Sourced from: Coorg orange — Wikipedia, Coorg Orange; the pride of Kodagu — Krishi Jagran, Citrus varieties — National Horticulture Board, Evaluation of Coorg mandarin (Citrus reticulata) clones for yield and quality — Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences (ICAR ePubs). editorial policy.