Mango

 Mango is king of fruits in India.

 Mango is important Tropical and Sub-tropical fruit.
 Most ancient fruits known to mankind.

Food Value and Uses

 It is rich source of vitamin A (4000 IU) and Vitamin C.
 Ripe fruit is highly invigorating, laxative and diuretic.
 Ripe fruits are a delicacy for the table.
 Unmarketable and inferior fruits can be converted into squashes, juices, syrups, nectars,
jams and jellies.
 Canned mango slices and pulp are very popular products.
 Stones serve as a good stock feed for cattle.

Area and Production

 Area under mango in India is 1.56 million ha with total production of 10.64 million
tonnes.
 Mango occupies 26% of the total area under fruits in India.
 Uttar Pradesh has the largest area which is about 33% of the total area under mango in the
country followed by Bihar and AP (13% each).
 In Punjab, mango occupy 6210 hectares with the total production of 62100 tonnes.
 In Punjab, commercial cultivation of mango is done in sub-montane tracts of Gurdaspur,
Hoshiarpur, Ropar and Patiala.
 India is the largest mango producing country i.e. 66% of world production.
 Mangoes are exported to about 20 countries.
 Canned mango slices and bottled mango juice are exported to about 40 countries.

Origin, History and Distribution

 Mango originated in Indo-Burma region.
 Chinese travellers in 7th century during visit to India described mango as superior fruit.
 Life like images of mango were found in Budhist and Hindu Temples.
 Travelled to West after the sea-rout was discovered. Alexander saw first mango tree in
Indus Valley.
 Portuguese took mango fruit to South Africa and Brazil in 1700 A.D.
 Spanish people introduced mango in Phillipines and in Tropical America.
 In Jamica mango introduced around 1782.
 Introduced in Florida during 1833 from Maxico.
 Grafted mango were taken to Florida in 1869 from India.
 In Isreal mango was introduced in 1929 through seeds brought from Egypt.

Countries Growing Mango

India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cylon, Pakistan, Indonesia, Phillipines, Malaya, Egypt, Sudan,
South Africa, West Indies, Hawai, USA (Florida & California).
Indian States Growing Mango
Uttar Pradesh, A.P., Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, M.P.,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu region.
Systematic Description
Genus: Mangifera, Sp: indica, Family: Anacardiaceae.
Species in India
Mangifer indica: It bear edible fruit. It is cultivated sp.

Mangifera sylvatica: Wilp sp. in north east India. Not edible.

Mangifera coloneura
 Mango is evergreen tree.
 Inflorescence is large panicle – Terminally. Sometimes axillary.
 Flowers small. Male & female flowers born in same flower i.e. Hermaphrodite. Flower
diameter 6-8 mm.
 Stamens 4-5, only 1-2 are fertile, others staminodes.
 Ovary is one celled structure.
 Botanically mango is drupe. Edible portion is Mesocarp.
 Panicles per tree 200-300. Each panicle have 300-1000 flowers.
 Panicles of male & harmaphrodite flowers varies 1:4, 1:1, 2:1.
 Perfect flowers in Dushehari 78%, in Langra 67%.
 Grafted plants have more hermaphrodite flowers than seedling plants.
 Flowering time in North India is early February to end March.
 Flowering continue in 2-3 flushes in 6-8 weeks.
 After flowering to ripening mango takes 5 months.
 Produce flowers & bears fruit mostly from terminal buds.
 In Punjab 5 flushes are produced from April to August, April-May flushes are heaviest.
 In UP, first flush is produced in March-April and second flush in July-August.
 Normally 8-10 months old mature shoot produce flowers.
 Flower-bud differentiation time is August & September in Punjab. First indication of
initiation of flower bud is in internal structure of bud. Before initiation apical end of
vegetative shoots become dome shaped. When FBD start, main axil of panicle elongate
slightly.
 FBD in UP (Saharanpur) takes place in December.

Monoembryony and Polyembryony

 When mango seeds contains only one embryo and give rise to only one plant is
known monoembryonic mango.
 When the mango seed contains several embryo which give rise to several plants and
can be separated from one another on germination and planted independently termed as
polyembryonic mango.
 In monoembryonic mango, embryo is the product of natural crossing of flowers of
two trees of different varieties grown under same environment. The offspring does not
look like the parent tree and usually are not true-to-type.
 In polyembryonic mango, out of several embryos in the seed only one embryo may be
produced by the crossing of flowers of two different varieties. Such seeds give rise to
several plants which breed true to the parent.
 In India, almost all the varieties are monoembryonic. They do not breed true to type
when grown from seed. They have to propagated through vegetative mean.
  Polyembryonic type of mango are not found in India except in Malabar. Olour
variety grown in Malabar is propagated from seed. Such mangoes are found growing in
Malayasia, Phillipines, South East Asia and Indonesia.

Recommended varieties
Bombay Green (Malda)
 Early variety ripens in June end.
 Fruit medium in size with lettuce green colour.
 Pulp deep yellow, firm and fibreless.

Langra
 Mid season variety ripens in first fortnight of July.
 Fruit large in size with lettuce green colour.
 Pulp lemon yellow, moderately firm, juice, creamy and fibreless.
 Has sweet taste and a fine blend. Irregular bearing habit.

Dusehri
 Mid season variety ripens in first week of July.
 Fruit small to medium in size with attractive primuline yellow colour.
 Pulp is very sweet, firm and fibreless.
 Tendency of bearing regular.

Alphonso
 Mid season variety ripens in first week of July.
 Fruit medium in size.
 Average yield 50-70 kg/tree.
 Stone is very small.
 TSS in fruits is 17.5%.

Samarbahisht Chausa
 Late variety ripens in end July and early August.
 Fruit medium to large in size with yellowish colour.
 Pulp soft, fibreless and yellowish creamy in colour.

Fajri
 Late variety ripens in middle of August.
 Fruit large in size remain green from outside even on ripening.

Amarpalli
 Cross between Dusehri x Neelam.
 Very drawf, regular and late ripening variety and suitable for high density.

Mallika
 Cross between Neelam x Dusehri.
 Regular bearer, mid season variety.
 Fruit medium in size with cadmium yellow colour.
 Sucking mangoes
 Seedling mangoes with good sucking qualities, abundant juice and less fibre.
 GN1 to GN7 and GN12, GN19 are promising varieties at Gangian.

Climatic Requirements
 Grow best in dry regions which receive good rainfall in hot months (June-September).
 Annual rainfall of 125 cm during monsoon is considered suitable.
 Rain during flowering and fruit-setting (February –April) is harmful because it
interfere with the activities of pollinating agents (flies, bees).
 Strong and high velocity winds during fruiting season cause heavy damage by
shedding the fruits. Windbreak of tall and hardy trees can reduce the damage.
 Temperature above 115oF and falling below freezing point is harmful for mango.
 Temperature ranging between 0-45oC is suitable but ideal temp. is 24-27oC alongwith
low atmospheric humidity.

Suitable Soil
 Deep and well drained soils of loamy texture are the best.
 Soils lacking proper drainage are not suitable.
 Soils with a hard pan or compact canker layer underneath or with a high water table
are not good.
 Sub-soils below up to 6-8’ depth should be selected.
 PH of the soil should be within 5.5 to 7.5.
 E.C. of the soil should be < 1 mmhos/cm.
 CaCo3 of the soil should be < 10%.
 Lime concretion should be < 20%.

Propagation
 Mango is propagated sexually and vegetatively.
 Side grafting, veneer grafting and inarching are the common methods of propagation.
 Forkert method of budding is also employed for multiplication of plants.
 Side grafting can be carried about from March to September but success during hot
period(May) is low. It give 100% success.
 Veneer grafting gives 80% success and inarching gives 70% success.
 In Punjab, end July to first week of August is best for inarching when sap is flowing
and plant is in active growth condition.

Raising of Rootstock
 Stones of seedling trees are used for raising rootstock.
 For this purpose, fruits from vigorous, high yielding and disease free seedling mangoes
are collected during July-August.
 Stones loose their viability very soon, therefore, sown immediately after fresh extraction
from ripe fruits.
 Stones should be immersed in water before sowing. Stones sink in water are considered
viable and should be sown.
 Stones are sown in beds in lines 45 cm apart and distance of 60 cm should be left after
every two rows to facilitate cultural practices and grafting of seedlings.
 Stones are sown at 15-20 cm distance within the line at the depth of 5 cm.
 Stones are placed in the soil with the plumule up as it avoids distortion of seedlings.
 Stones are covered with a mixture of sand and FYM.
 Mulching the beds with Sarkanda or rice straw increase seed germination.
 Beds are irrigated immediately after sowing the seeds.
 Germination of stones starts after about 3 weeks.
 Seedlings become ready for grafting when they have attained the height of about 45 cm
and thickness of 0.75-1.5 cm (in April).
Preparation of Scion
 Mother tree for scion should be healthy, vigorous and must be of heavy bearing.
 Healthy shoots of last mature flush having plump terminal buds are selected.
 These shoots are defoliated 7-10 days before they are detached from the mother tree for
grafting.
 At the time of defoliation, small petioles are left intact.
 Drop of these petioles and swelling of terminal buds in a week’s period is the best way of
preparation of scion wood.

Orchard Cultural Practices

Training and Pruning

 Training of mango plants at early stage is essential to give them proper shape.
 Lower 75 cm mango stem should be kept free from branches and first leader of main
branch should be allowed after that.
 Select 4-5 main laterals at equal distance of 20-25 cm.
 During first 4-5 years only corrective pruning is required alongwith removal of dead or
diseased branches.

Irrigation
 Young and non-bearing trees need to be irrigated more frequently in order to grow rapidly
and vigorously.
 Young plants during first 4-6 months must received 2 irrigations in a week during hot
months.
 In bearing trees, fruit development period is from April to June. 50 plants should be
irrigated at 10-12 days interval during this period.
 No irrigation is needed from October-December.
 During winter months irrigate the plants at monthly interval.
 One irrigation is needed at fertilizers application.

Manuring and Fertilization

Off Year
Tree age FYM N P K
Years Kg/tree g/tree
1-3 5-20 50-100 40-80 100-200
4-6 25-50 100-200 80-100 200-400
7-9 60-90 200-250 120-160 400-600
10 & above 100 250 160 600
FYM + P ∧ December, N + K ∧ February
ON Year
Add additional ½ Kg urea, ½ N ∧ Flowering time, ½ N ∧ June.
Deficiency Symptoms
Nitrogen: Severe retardation of growth, yellow and under-sized leaves. Fruit set reduced.
Mature leaves become yellow. Symptoms first appear near the base of current growth and
progress toward the tip.
Phosphorus: Stunting of growth, premature defoliation, dying back from the tips. Younger
leaves become green and slightly smaller than normal. Wood of main trunk become thin.
Potassium Foliage necrosis. Leaves near middle or below middle of current season’s
growth are first affected. Scorching of leaf margin and proceeded by dark purple
discolouration.
Sulphur: Plant growth gradually reduced. Sever defoliation. Leaves turn very dark green,
along the margin necrotic areas develop and abscise soon after.
Zinc: Stunting of growth. Leaves turn pale yellow but less pale than those suffering from N
deficiency. Zn deficiency first appears on terminal flushes with upper part of the tree. Can
be corrected with 1% ZnSo4 at the beginning of the growing season.

Intercropping
 During non-bearing period cultivation of harmless types of intercrops like vegetables,
pulses, fodders and farm crops should be cultivated.
 Vegetables like onion, tomato, radish, beans, cauliflower, cabbage, leafy vegetables and
leguminous crops like moong, green and lentil can be grown.
 Crops like sugarcane and bajra should not be grown in mango.

Harvesting and Handling of Fruits

 Mango is climacteric fruit and should be harvested when they have attained full maturity
but are not ripe.
 Characteristic colour and typical flavour of a variety develop at appropriate stage of
maturity.
 Fruits of early variety become ready for harvest by the end of June and ripening time of
late varieties goes up to end of August.
Criteria of fruit maturity
 When a few ripe fruits have fallen on their own accord from the tree, the rest of the fruits
are considered sufficiently mature. However, it is not dependable cirteria.
 Development of characteristic colour of spots and appearance of bloom on the skin are
also important criteria of fruit maturity.
 Specific gravity and starch content of the hard fruit are also associated with maturity.
 Pressure test (1.75 – 2.0 kg/sq cm) is also employed to determine the fruit maturity.
 TSS should be between 12-15 per cent at maturity.
Picking
 Fruits should be picked up with the help of a step ladder.
 Avoid knocking down of the fruits or shaking the trees need to be discouraged.
 Fruits should always be gently cut with clipper and placed in canvas bags or padded
baskets.
 Small fruit stalk should be kept with the fruit which help in keeping the fruit in better
condition in transportation and storage.
Yield
 Grafted mango start bearing from 4 to 6 year after planting.
 Maintained trees of 10-20 years bears 500-1000 fruits during ‘on’ year.
 Yield goes up to 1000-3000 fruits between 20-40 years.
 Average income from one acre is Rs. 20000/- to Rs. 25000/-.
Grading and Packing
 Mango fruits can be graded into 3 grades i.e. A Grade 200-350 g, B Grade 351-550 g, C
Grade 551-800 g.
 Fruits can be packed in bamboo baskets and wooden boxes.
 Lining material may be used in the boxes.
 Individual fruits can be wrapped in tissue paper which increases eye appeal.
 Packing the fruits in CFB boxes of 45 x 25 x 25 cm of 5 ply are now commonly used.
Storage
 The fruits treated with 4% wax-emulsion or stayfresh can be kept at ambient temp. for 12
days and 35 days in cold storage (0.3.3oC temp. and 85-90% R.H.) after packing in
perforated poly bags.
 Mature hard fruits of mango can be stored for 35-45 days at 7-9oC and RH 85-90%.
 Fully developed green mangoes (Dushehari & Langra) can be artificially ripened by
treating with 800 ppm ethephon (2 ml/litre). Fruits ripened in 4 days as compared to 8
days in untreated fruits.

Fruit drop
 It is serious problem in mango and causes heavy damage.
 Only 0.1% flower or even less develop into mature fruits.
 Maximum fruit drop takes place in last week of April or Ist week of May.
 There are 3 types of drop in mango i.e. pin head drop, post setting drop and May drop.
Causes
 Fruit drop is primarily due to the formation of an abscission layer at the point of
attachment of the fruit with the twig.
 Nitrogen retards and reduces abscission.
 Low CHO’s have also been found to lead to leaf, flower, bud and fruit abscission.
 Other causes are abortion of embryo, degeneration of ovules, poor soil, inadequate
irrigation water, depletion of nutrients, hormonal imbalance and insect-pests and diseases.
Control
 Spray 20 ppm 2,4,D in the last week of April or Ist week of May to check the fruit drop.

Black Tip
 Depressed spot of yellowing tissues at the distal end of the fruit. Spots increases in size
with time and also changes colour to brown and finally black.
 Affected fruits stop further growth and after premature ripening such fruits become soft.
Fruits never reach maturity and drop down earlier.
 Fumes from Brick Kiln’s contain So2; ethylene and carbon monoxides (toxic gases).
Control
 Shift site of brick kilns about 1 km on north and south of the orchard.
 Operation of brick kilns should be suspended from February to May.
 Height of telescopic chimneys should be 12-15 m high.
 Spray 0.6% Borax 3 times i.e. before flowering, during flowering and after fruit setting
alongwith Bardeaux mixture 2:2:250 or 1.5 kg Copper oxychloride 500 litres of water.
Mango malformation
 Serious problem in mango in India.
 Commercial varieties of North India are highly susceptible.
 In Punjab, Haryana, Western U.P. 50% plants are affected.
 Incidence is less in South & West India.
Symptoms
 Panicles are affected in bearing trees.
 Peduncles become thickened and fleshy with profuse branching.
 Floral branches crowded in the form of a cone.
 Fertile flowers are rare produce male flowers.
 Fruits are rarely formed.
 Whole mass turns greyish-brown and then black.
 In place of flowers, a profuse development of numerous small, leafy structure formed
which gives witch bloom appearance.
 In Seedling over 3 months old-Swelling appears in leaf axil.
 Small clustered leafy – shoots produced at the apex on the main shoot or lateral.
Causes
 Environmental factors
 Mites
 Virus
 Fungus (Fusarium moniliformae var. subglutinans).
Control measures
 Affected shoots should be removed every month and destroyed.
 Removed malformed panicles.
 De-blossoming.
 One spray of 200 ppm NAA in October.

Biennial Bearing in Mango

Production of a heavy crop in one year and no crop or very little crop in the next year.
Causes
 Varietal differences
 Growth habit
 Crop load
 Cultural practices
 Sex ratio
 Insect-pests
 Diseases
 Imbalance of endogenous level of Growth Regulators
 Reserve metabolites
 Nutrient status
Varieties prone to biennial bearing
Dushehri, Langra, Chausa
Regular bearer varieties
Totapari Red Small, Banglora, Neelam, Amarpalli
Suggestive Measures
 De-blossoming
  Pruning
 Better cultural practices
 Ethephon 200 ppm + 0.1% urea found effective in inducing regular flowering over the
year. 5 sprays are recommended in September, October, November, December and
January.
 Timely control measures of pests and diseases.
 Planting regular bearing varieties.

Important insect-pests
Mango Mealy Bug
 Both nymphs and female bugs cause a lot of damage by sucking the cell sap from
infloresence, panicles, tender leaves, shoots and fruit pedicels from January to April
 Affected panicles shrivel and get dried.
 Infested plants are covered with sooty mould.
 Nymphs crawl up the mango trees and congregate on the growing shoots and panicles.
 Fertilized female bugs start migrating to soil when temperature starts rising.
Control
 Plough around mango tree during summer to kill the eggs.
 Nymphs should be prevented from crawling up the trunk by applying a slippery band
at the base by mid December which consists of 15-20 cm wide alkathene sheets at the
basal end of the stem and secure both its upper and lower edges with 1-3 nails. Cover the
lower end with compacted soil around the lower edge of the alkathene sheet.
 In case of severe emergence apply methyl parathion 50 g dust on the compacted soil
to kill the nymphs.
Mango hopper
 Hoppers are very active during February-March at the time of flowering.
 Nymphs and adults are found clustering on the tender leaves and inflorescence and
suck the cell sap.
 Affected flowers become sticky and sooty, shrival, turn brown and ultimately fall off.
Control
 Prune some of the branches during winter to have better light interception.
 Avoid high density planting.
Spray 1 kg Hexavin 50 WP or 800 ml Malathion 50 EC or 700 ml Thiodan 35 EC in 500
litres of waters once at the end of February and again at the en
Dushahri