This Karnataka Farmer Grows Rare Mango Variety Worth Rs 3 Lakh Per KG On His Terrace But Chooses Not To Sell Them.

“We come to this Earth with nothing. We will leave it with nothing. What will remain is just our name.”

This is one of the first things that Joseph Lobo, a farmer in Karnataka, tells Startup Pedia during an exclusive interview.

Joseph Lobo comes from the Shankarpura village in Udupi, Karnataka. The village is extremely popular for jasmine plants and is a major exporter of the same.

But Joseph is known for something else. On his terrace, he grows the Miyazaki variety of mangoes. These are some of the most expensive varieties of mangoes in the world and sell for an approximate price of Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per kilogram.

Now, you would think that he must have made a business out of it. But, he only grows and consumes them for himself, his family, and distributes them for free in his neighbourhood.

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HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Almost 35 years ago, Joseph Lobo completed his education up to the 10th grade from Shankarpura and then moved to Mumbai.

He took up various odd jobs – from working in a hotel and supervising the service staff to delivering magazines to doorsteps.

“I didn’t find satisfaction in anything that I did in the city. Ultimately, I decided to come back to my village. I took up a part-time job in catering. For the rest of the time, I would engage in agriculture,”Joseph Lobo tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview.

Although coming from a farming family background, he didn’t have much land to practice farming on. There was an ongoing conflict.

So he decided to turn to his terrace and try growing plants and vegetables there. This was back in 2010.

He initially began by growing jasmine plants, potatoes, and some green vegetables.

“I was always interested in having my own kitchen garden. The market is filled with produce that has been chemically treated. I didn’t want to consume that or let my family do it either. When my terrace garden started blooming, I was able to feed my family fresh fruits and vegetables,” the farming entrepreneur says.

Eventually, he decided to expand his farming venture. By then, the conflict over the land had also been resolved.

“In total, now I have 1,250 square feet of land outside my house, which I use for cultivation. Then, my terrace spans 45x45 square feet in space,” Joseph explains.

By 2015, Joseph Lobo decided to adopt a hydroponic style of farming and use grow bags for fruits and vegetables.

For those unfamiliar, hydroponic farming involves growing plants using nutrient-rich water instead of soil. It is a modern and efficient way of farming that saves soil and space.

“I took the help of YouTube videos and online resources to understand how hydroponic farming works. It takes away the woe of not having enough land space. The plants in this setup can be stacked vertically and do not need large land plots,”Joseph Lobo tells Startup Pedia.

Joseph adopted the modern way of farming and prepared mixtures using cow dung, sheep manure, homemade curd, and vegetable waste. To prevent insect buildup and attacks, he sprayed his plants with neem oil.

Ultimately, he started growing more varieties of jasmine plants, chikoo, gulf berries, and mangoes using hydroponics. He would get the plants from a local seller and grow them in a 100% organic way.

Joseph’s total investment for setting up the hydroponics and terrace farm initially came to Rs 1,60,000.

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THE MIYAZAKI MANGO STORY

Having successfully harvested fruits like chikoo, berries, and even some mangoes, Joseph Lobo decided to cultivate the Japanese variety of mango called the Miyazaki mango. He obtained the plant from a local seller.

“I knew it was a rare mango, but did not know that it was that special. I treated it the way I treat my other plants,” he says.

In a grow bag, Joseph mixed two things in equal parts:

• His homemade mixture of cow dung, sheep manure, vegetable waste, and curd

• Soil

After three and a half years, the plant had a yield of 15 to 20 mangoes. Since he didn’t know much about the variety, he harvested the yield and gave it to his family to consume.

Since then, in his terrace garden, the Miyazaki mango kept growing.

One day, almost two years ago, a reporter from the Times of India was visiting Joseph Lobo to cover his terrace farming and hydroponic venture.

“I told the reporter about how much space I save because I am able to grow on three-fourths of an acre what most people grow on a full acre. He was looking at my terrace garden and suddenly told me that the Miyazaki mango variety that I am growing is one of the most expensive mango varieties in the world. He informed me that it sells for Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per kilogram,” farming entrepreneur Joseph Lobo shares.

What followed was a barrage of news reporters from other news websites and portals. Overnight, Joseph Lobo’s mango story became extremely popular.

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THE DECISION TO NOT SELL THE FRUIT

Despite understanding the mind-blowing potential of the Miyazaki mango, Joseph Lobo decided to not sell it.

His reasoning? “We come to this Earth with nothing. We will leave it with nothing. What will remain is just our name,” he says.

Instead, whenever he harvests the rare, expensive mangoes, he consumes them himself, gives them to his family, and distributes them for free in his neighbourhood.

“God has given us nature, and in return, he expects us to have an open heart when it comes to sharing our harvest with people. I did not feel like making a business out of the Miyazaki mangoes and instead wanted my friends and family to enjoy consuming expensive, nutrient-rich mangoes,” Joseph Lobo says.

However, ever since his story got popular, Joseph has received a lot of requests to teach how he grows the Miyazaki variety of mango.

According to him, the only thing he has to teach is his homemade mixture that he combines with his soil. He has also started grafting the Miyazaki mango plants and sells them for Rs 3,000 per plant to people who want to try growing them.

Additionally, he provides training to farmers and farming entrepreneurs in the space of hydroponics farming methods.

“I don’t just offer training. I take over their farming land and equip it end-to-end with everything that is needed – from grow bags to the kind of mixture that is needed, natural insecticides, and everything else,”the farming entrepreneur says.

Currently, he charges Rs 6.5 lakh per acre of the land converted into a fully-functioning hydroponics setup. This includes the material costs that are required.

“My take-home earnings from each farm that I provide consultation to are roughly Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. I am satisfied with that. My greater purpose is to bring people closer to nature and reap the fruits of their labour. Quite literally,” Joseph Lobo tells Startup Pedia.

For his modern technological efforts in the realm of farming, Joseph Lobo has received the Rajyotsava Award from the Karnataka Government. On June 28th in 2025, he also received a Doctorate certificate in farming from the Southwestern American University.

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