Everything you need to know about mango cultivation, growth and harvest! Learn about: 1. Botany of Mango Trees 2. Origin of Mango 3. Climate and Soil 4. Propagation and Rootstocks 5. Planning and Planting 6. Pollination 7. Flowering and Fruiting 8. Training and Pruning 9. Harvesting and Handling 10. Packaging 11. Diseases and Insect Pests 12. Varieties.
Botany of Mangoes:
Mango belongs to the family Anacardiaceae and genus Mangifera. The genus has 69 species, out of which only a few have edible fruits. In India only 3 species are found i.e. Mangifera indica, Mangifera sylvatica and Mangifera coloneura. The species Mangifera indica bears edible fruit. Mangifera sylvatica is a wild species, grown in north east parts of India and fruit is not edible.
Mangifera Indica:
It is a cultivated species of India. The tree is a medium in size, ranging from 10-13 metres in height. The tree top is oval or dome shaped. The trunk of the tree is mostly straight, cylindrical, 75-100 cm in diameter. Mango is an evergreen tree bearing numerous branches.
In the upper portion the branches ascend gradually but in the centre the branches are nearly erect type. The mango has simple, alternate, thick, leathery and short pointed leaves which may be oblong, elliptical and lanceolate in shape. Leaves have short petiole, swollen at the base and irregularly placed around the twigs.
The leaves are dark shinning, green from above and yellow green from below. Inflorescence of mango is large panicles which are known terminally. Sometimes inflorescence is axillary also. These panicles may be 6-40 cm long and 3-25 cm in diameter.
Flowers are small in the inflorescence and both sides of male and female flowers are borne in the same flower i.e. hermaphrodite. These flowers may be 6-8 mm in diameter. There are 4-5 stamens which are unequal in length. Only one or two are fertile; the others are reduced to very minute purple or yellow white structure called staminodes which are infertile. The ovary is one celled structure, oblique and slightly compressed. Sometimes there may be 3 carpels in a flower.
Mango fruit is drupe and mesocarp is the edible portion. Fruit size, shape, colour, flavour and taste vary according to variety. In many varieties beak is very prominent especially in Langra. Skin of the fruit has many glands with dots. The colour of skin varies from green yellow, red or any shade of the colour. Pulp also varies from green yellow to orange in colour.
The number of panicles in mango varies from 200-300 per tree. The panicles may have 300-1000 flowers in each panicle. Out of these flowers only few fruits are formed depends upon the season and variety. The panicle of male and hermaphrodite flowers varies 1:4, 1:1, 2:1. In Punjab, it was found that Dusehari and Langra varieties had on an average 77.9 and 66.8 per cent perfect flowers, respectively. This shows that the grafted plant has more hermaphrodite flowers than the seedling mango.
Origin of Mango:
The mango is one of the most ancient fruits of India. It was established in India in the pre-Christian era. Its cultivation in India is estimated at more than 4,000 to 6,000 years old. In the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, forests and gardens of mango have been mentioned. It has been held in high esteem by the Hindus. Its blossoms are used for the worship of the goddess Saraswati and festoons of mango leaves are strung over doorways on auspicious occasions.
The mango has exercised a great spell on the Indian mind through the ages and the tree has been described as Kalpavriksha or the wish-granting tree. Its common vernacular name Aam means ‘the common’. It is not only common throughout India, but is also the fruit of the common people. Its name Amra used in Sanskrit literature has been used as a suffix to mark distinction and adoration for people and things.
The mango enjoyed a pre-eminence even in the Vedic ages, as has been recorded in the Satapatha Brahmana. The verses of the great Ramayana written by Valmiki are full of love for the mango. Many a folk-song refers to the torture that the fragrance of the mango flowers causes to love-lorn hearts.
Mango is found in several other countries but in no other country does it enjoy the status it does in India. India is the only country where truly wild forests of mango are found in Assam and the adjoining Chittagong Hills. No other country can surpass India in the number of mango varieties and the richness of their flavours.
In many parts of India the mango is the mainstay of the people during the fruiting season. It is one fruit which almost everyone gets to enjoy. The juicy sucking varieties are consumed in large quantities. Nobody will think of eating a dozen apples in one sitting, but a mango-lover will gladly finish 2.5 kg of sucking mangoes in one session and forego a meal.
Mango is also made into pickles, preserves, mango-powder (Amchur) and chutneys of all sorts. Mango pickle is the most important pickle and along with mango chutney constitutes the most important item of export of preserved fruit products from India. The juice of the mango fruit is dried in the sun in the form of solid sheets called mango leather or Ampapad which is a sour-sweet pliable product.
All mango kernels produced in India in a year are estimated to contain 31 million kg of protein and 363 million kg of starch. It is an outstanding source of vitamin A and a good source of vitamin C, apart from the usual content of minerals and other vitamins. Good mangos varieties contain over 20 per cent of total soluble solids (sugars) in which the non-reducing sugars are more than the reducing sugars.
Botanically the mango belongs to the family anacardiaceae, to which also belong the cashew nut and the pistachio nut. Spondias pinnata, the Indian hog plum or Amra found in Bengal, Assam and Bombay and Buchanania latifolia are wild fruits found in India belonging to the same family. The pepper tree (Schinus molle) found in Bangalore also belongs to this family.
The cultivated mango belongs to the species Mangifera indica. Wild mango forests of this species and of Mangifera sylvatica are found in Assam. Another species M. Khamsiana is said to have existed in India, but has now become extinct. Other species of Mangifera such as pentandra, odorata, foetida, longipetiolata, caesia, altissima, quadrifida and maingayi, which are found in South-East Asia and the Philippines, are not found in India.
There is some doubt about the place of origin of the mango. The genus Mangifera, to which the mango belongs, has originated in one of the countries East of India, but not in India itself. However, the mango itself has probably originated in the region of India adjoining Burma.
The mango had become established in India at a very early stage. The invading armies of Alexander the Great found it established in the Indus Valley in 327 B.C. It is now a common fruit in all of the Malay Archipelago, Indonesia, the Philippines, the West Indies and Madagascar. It has also been introduced into many other lands like Brazil, the U.S.A. and Queensland in Australia.
India ranks first among the major world producers of mango. Mango is grown in almost all states of India, and comprises 39.3% of area under fruits with 23.3% production share of major fruits in India. The largest area under mango is in Andhra Pradesh (341.2) followed by U.P. (253.0). The highest yield is also found in Andhra Pradesh (2445.8) followed by U.P. (1950.0). The major mango growing states are Andhra Pradesh, U.P., Maharashtra, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, West Bengal and Gujarat.
Mango grows successfully in almost all states. It is a large tree with a deep tap-root system. The nature of the sub-soil is therefore important. The water table should be deeper 2 to 2.5 m. Sand, clay, very heavy black soils with hard substratum or marl have not been found very suitable. Deep alluvial soil of Indo-Gangetic plains is ideally suited for mango cultivation.
Mango is a tropical as well as semi-tropical plant, which grows almost all over India. It grows upto an altitude of 1200 metres but the fruiting is poor above 600 metres. In some places mango is seen growing side by side with tropical fruits like banana, pineapple and coconut, while in others it is found growing along with temperate fruits like strawberry and some varieties of peach and plum.
In North India mango trees are seen growing at altitudes of upto to 900 metres, but of course they do not bear fruit at this height. The two important considerations for mango cultivation are a frost-free, dry period at the time of flowering and sufficient heat during the ripening of fruits.
Mango is damaged by frost at temperatures below 34°F to 36°F. Grafted plants are more susceptible than seedlings, especially during the first three years. There are also varietal differences in frost- resistance. Mango can grow at temperatures between 40°F and 110°F. Ideal growth takes place at 75°F to 80°F.
Climate and Soil Required for Mango Cultivation:
Although known to be remarkably tolerant of a wide range of climatic conditions, the mango should always be grown within specific and well-defined ranges of temperature and rainfall for its more profitable cultivation. In general, it does best in comparatively dry regions which receive good rainfall in hot weather from June to September, followed by a more or less dry spell in the subsequent period. A rainfall of about 125 cms falling mostly during the monsoon is considered very suitable, but much less of it will suffice if irrigation facilities are available. Actually the quantum of rainfall is not so important as its distribution.
Rain during the flowering and fruit-setting season (February to April) is particularly harmful as it interferes with pollination which is done by flies, bees, etc. During this period, even thick fog or cloudy weather may ruin the prospects of a bumper crop. Dry and cloudless weather, before blossoming, has been found conductive to profuse flowering. Strong winds and cyclones during the fruiting season can incur immense damage by shedding the fruits.
Temperature is of a basic importance in determining success in mango-growing. Where the temperature ranges are not ideal, both the fruit and the fruit trees may be adversely affected. The favourable temperature for mango is 24-27°C during the growing season along with high humidity. Broadly speaking, temperature rising beyond 115°F and that falling below freezing point is not suitable for this fruit.
In the regions where optimum temperature ranges do not prevail, cultivation of mango on a commercial scale is hazardous. Instances are not uncommon when young and even grown up trees were killed or damaged seriously duo to abrupt fluctuations in temperature beyond the safe limits, especially due to the fall of temperature below the freezing point. Mango is found growing upto an elevation of 1200 MSL but for better growth and production its cultivation should be limited upto 600 MSL.
The frequency of winds, their intensity and speed has also to be taken into account while selecting sites for mango orchards. Besides causing shedding of flowers and fruits, strong winds also cause mechanical injuries to the trees. The localities reasonably free from the onslaughts of winds should, therefore, be preferred. The damage caused by the winds can, however, be minimised by planting windbreaks of tall and hardy trees around mango groves, especially around those of grafted.
Mango is not very fastidious for its soil requirements and can grow and crop well on a wide variety of soils. For its best performance, however, it requires deep and well-drained soils of loamy texture. Soils which lack proper drainage are not suitable for its successful cultivation. Likewise soils with a hard pan or a compact canker layer underneath or with a high water-label or those liable to be flooded, are also unsuitable. On defective or unsuitable soils, the trees may just linger on with no prospects of profitable production.
Like most other fruit trees, it is not the upper eight to ten inches of soil which is important for mango but the sub-soil down below up to a depth of six to eight feet matters the most. Before planting an orchard, both soil and sub-soil should be got examined thoroughly by the experts.
Most of the mango-growing soils in India have a low soluble salt content ranging 0.04 to 0.05 per cent and high fertility status. The pH of the most well-known mango regions varies from 5.5 to 7.5. Soils with higher or lower values than the above optimum range should be avoided.
Propagation and Rootstocks of Mango:
Propagation by seed in mango is the oldest, cheapest and easiest method, but it has several serious defects. Seedlings raised from stones having an influence of mixed parentage seldom come true- to-type. Moreover, they also entail considerably longer period to attain bearing age. This method, therefore, has no place for use in commercial mango-growing where the grower is interested in the perpetuation of the quality of the selected varieties so as to produce fruits of known and superior quality.
As propagation of mango from seed has been practiced in different parts of the country from times immemorial, many groves and scattered plantations of mango still have a preponderance of seedlings. The mango industry in the past has suffered tremendously on account of this drawback as the seedlings in most cases yield crops of unsatisfactory and inferior quality.
Due to the efforts made by the Agricultural Universities and State Department of Horticulture majority of the growers have now started going in for grafted varieties and new orchards are invariably stocked with grafted plants. This is a happy development and would go a long way to place our mango- growing industry on a sound footing.
Vegetatively, the mango is mostly propagated thorough graft age. Inarching, veneer grafting epicotyl grafting/stone grafting and side grafting are the common methods of propagation, however, side grafting is considered the best method of multiplication of mango plants. Other methods like propagation from cuttings, chip budding, forkert method of budding and air layering, etc. are also employed, though on a limited scale.
Rootstock used for grafting is grown from stones of seedling trees. For this, the fruits from vigour, disease free and high yielding trees of seedling mangoes are collected during July- August. The stones are sown soon after they are removed from the ripe fruit as they loose their viability very soon. Mango stones give only 10-15 per cent germination if they are sown after two months of their extraction from the fruit. Before sowing, the stones should be immersed in water and only those stones are sown which sink in water as these are considered to be viable.
The stones are sown in the beds which are prepared thoroughly after mixing well rotten farmyard manure. In the beds, the seeds are sown in lines which are 45 cm apart and distance of 60 cm is left after every two rows to facilitate the cultural practices and grafting of seedlings. The stones are sown at 15-20 cm distance within the line at the depth of 5 cm.
The stones are placed in the soil with the pulmule up as it avoids distortion of seedlings. The stones after sowing are covered with the mixture of sand and farmyard manure. Mulching the beds with sarkanda, rice straw etc. increases seed germination. The beds are irrigated immediately after sowing the stones and subsequent irrigations are given to keep the soil moist but not in too much wet conditions.
Planning and Planting of Mango Trees:
Before embarking upon a planting programme, all the preliminaries by way of levelling and demarcation of land, lay- out, digging of pits and their filling up, provision of irrigation channels and planting of windbreaks should be completed.
It is also advisable to obtain the requisite number of plants and stock them in the nursery for some time for their proper acclimatization, before their planting to the actual sites. Such a measure has been found to increase success percentage considerably.
Time of Planting:
There are two planting seasons for mango i.e. spring (February – March) and Monsoon (August-September). The latter season gives better results, particularly in the dry and arid tracts where intense summer heat of May-June results in heavy mortalities among the spring plantings.
Planting Distance:
The distance of planting in mango depends upon a number of factors, such as locality, varieties to be grown and soil fertility. Seedling mangoes which attain a much bigger size, need more spacing than the grafted trees. Within grafted varieties, certain varieties like Langra and Samarbahist Chausa, being more spreading, require greater space than varieties like Dushehari which has trees of rather small size. A distance of 10.5 metres for seedling mangoes and 9 metres for grafted mangoes is considered adequate.
Some growers have a tendency of giving less distance to their plants. Closely planted orchards become congested within a few years of their planting. Not only cultural operations in such plantations become difficult and costly, but the trees cannot get adequate amount of sunshine and air so vitally necessary for their proper growth and bearing.
Planting of Grafts:
While planting, a hole slightly bigger than the earth ball of the plant, should be dug out in the filled up pit. The packing material around the ball of the graft should then be removed, care being taken that the ball is not injured in the process. Now the plant along with its ball is placed in the hole of the pit and with the help of the planting board, its position is set right. Moist surface soil removed from the hole earlier, should be used in refilling the vacant space and earth around the plant should be firmly pressed. As soon as the planting is completed, the field should be watered.
While planting and setting the plant, it is advisable to keep its collar slightly higher in the pit than it was originally in the nursery, thus keeping a safe margin for setting down of the soil. It is unwise to allow the plants to set either too deep or too high. The graft union should be approximately 23 cm above the level of earth in the pit.
Care of the Young Orchard:
Young mango plants, in their early stages of orchard life, i.e., upto first four to six years, need utmost care and attention for their proper irrigation, training, hoeing, weeding and keeping them free of diseases and pests. In regions, where strong winds are rampant, it would be necessary to provide the plants with wooden stakes immediately after planting. It will be advantageous to coat the lower portions of the stakes with coal tar, to save them from white-ants.
i. Protection against Frost:
Mango trees are highly susceptible to frost injury. It has been observed that during years of severe frost, young unprotected plants five to six years old or even of more age has been found to have been killed to ground or damaged seriously. In the north India frost usually occurs during the months of December to February. Sometimes late frost may be experienced even in March. Adequate timely measures and precautions against frost are, therefore, necessary. Young plants, especially in the localities which are subject to frost, should always be well-covered up with thatches or kullies of Sarkanda, rice, sugarcane or some other farm-waste straw, keeping the south east side open for aeration and sunshine.
When a frost is threatened or imminent, watering the field has a healthy effect as it minimizes the chances of damage. Smudging, i.e., burning heaps of dry matter at several places in the orchard also proves useful in warding off the ill-effects of frost. In short, the grower should keep himself fully equipped and ready to meet the menace of frost to save his valuable trees. Even a little slackness or negligence on this account, may prove disastrous for the young mango plants.
ii. Protection against Hot Weather:
In tracts, where the summer heat is intense and hot winds ‘loo’ blow, it is advisable to provide some sort of protection to the young mango trees against the vagaries of the hot weather. This can be accomplished by planting quick-growing plants like Jantar and Arhar around the basins or by constructing mud walls. The trunks of the young trees should be white-washed to afford them protection against sunburn injury.
The practice of planting bananas around the newly-planted mango plants seems to be helpful in warding off intense heat by increasing humidity but care should be taken that the banana plants are kept reasonably away from the mango plants, because if the banana plants are put too closely, the practice may do more harm than good.
iii. Windbreaks:
Mango orchards should always be provided with effective windbreaks to afford protection against the onslaughts of windstorms chilly weather and other scourges. In fact, the planting of windbreak trees should proceed by 2-3 years the actual planting of mangoes so that by the time the plants grow up windbreak is there to provide proper protection. Orchards sheltered by windbreaks are less prone to damage from frost than those which are exposed, without windbreaks. Moreover, in such orchards there is less evaporation of soil moisture as well as less wastage of water through transpiration.
Under conditions obtaining in the North India, growing of tall and hardy trees, namely Terminalia arjuna, simbal, Eucalyptus and jaman is advocated for the purpose of establishing windbreak. Shisham and seedling mangoes are also equally good for this purpose. To make the windbreak more effective it is advisable if tall trees are planted alternating with short statured trees of mulberry, karonda and ber. Usually a distance of 2.5 to 4.5 metres is kept in between the windbreak trees.
iv. Removal of Early Blossom:
Young mango plants often begin to flower in their tender age, which has a detrimental effect on their health and vigour, particularly, if such inflorescences are allowed to set fruit. Such fruiting is always at the expense of the growth of the tree which is so vitally necessary to build up a strong framework and proper size and shape of the tree. Such early inflorescences must always be nipped off immediately till the trees complete atleast four years of age and have attained sufficient size. With a large leaf canopy the tree becomes physiologically fit to bear a good fruit crop.
Pollination in Mango:
Cross pollination is very important in mango and gives good commercial crop. The cross pollination is done by insects. It has been seen that honey bee is not attracted by mango flowers. It is pollinated by mango fly, especially house fly. Even by cross pollination only 15 per cent or even less hermaphrodite flowers are pollinated, staminate flowers are not pollinated at all.
Mono-Embryony and Poly-Embryony:
In mango mono-embryonic and poly-embryonic are the two distinct races. When the mango seed contains only one embryo and give rise to only one plant is termed as mono-embryonic mango. When the seed contains several embryos which give rise to several plants which can be separated from one another on germination and planted as independent plants is termed as poly-embryonic mango.
In mono-embryonic mango, the embryo is generally a hybrid, being the product of natural crossing of the flowers of two trees of different varieties growing under the same environment. Therefore, such seed gives rise to a plant which shows mixed characteristics of two different kinds and does not look like the parent tree from which the seed is obtained. This type of mango when grown from seed does not usually breed true-to-type.
In poly-embryonic mango, out of several embryos in the seed only one embryo may be produced by the crossing of flowers of two different varieties. Even the one plant which is expected to be a product of sexual process is often suppressed and absent. As such, the seed of a poly-embryonic mango gives rise to several plants which breed true to the parent.
Almost all the varieties of mango in India are mono-embryonic and do not breed true to their parents when grown from seed. So, they have to be propagated by the asexual method. On the other hand, the poly-embryonic types of mango are not to be found in any part of India, except in Malabar where few varieties of poly-embryonic nature are found. The famous mango of this type i.e. ‘Olour grown’ in Malabar, is propagated from seed. The poly-embryonic mangoes are found growing in the moist tropics of South East Asia, such as Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia.
Flowering and Fruiting in Mango Trees:
During the first year of planting, the young mango grafts may begin to flower. The first three years flowering should be removed as soon they appear. They seldom bear fruit and their presence would mean suppression of corresponding vegetative growth which is so essential in building up the young trees.
The grafted mango begins to bear fruit from the fourth or fifth year of planting. The time of flowering in different regions is greatly influenced by local weather conditions. In many parts of North India, the mango flowers late in January or in the beginning of February or even as late as March in some sub-montane districts. In Andhra Pradesh (Rayalasema area) flowing of mango takes place as early as in November-December. Flowering in mango continues in two or three distinct flushes for a period of 6 to 8 weeks on different branches of trees and it takes about 5 months for the fruit to mature and ripen after flowering.
Mango produces blossoms and bears fruit mostly from the terminal buds of its shoots and very rarely from the axillary buds. Dry weather stimulated flowering and cloudy weather or winter rains tend to retard it. Inspite of a favourable dry weather after the month of October, the tree may not flower and it may produce vegetative or leafy shoots only. The chief internal factor that governs and controls the entire phenomenon of flowering in mango is the maturity and age of its seasonal vegetative growth (leafy shoots) which are produced in distinct flushes at certain times of the year.
In Uttar Pradesh, the first flush is produced in March-April and the second in July-August. In Punjab, about five flushes are produced between April and August, but the April-May flushes are the heaviest. The flowers start in February and continue well beyond the month of March.
In different flushes, the eight to ten month old mature shoots produce flowers. These shoots are produced in spring and early summer and cease growing at least four months prior to blossoming. Other shoots produced in subsequent flushes during late monsoon and after October rarely blossom towards the end of winter or in the beginning of spring which is the flowering time throughout in India.
The internal nutritional conditions of the tree favour differentiation of flower buds, if vegetative shoots produced in the spring and summer cease to grow early and accumulate sufficient food reserves in their tissues before October. The spring and summer shoots get sufficient time to grow, rest and mature for the purpose but the later formed growths do not get time to do so.
Training and Pruning of Mango Trees:
The training of the mango plants in the initial stages is very essential to give them proper shape. Specially when the graft has branched too low, the process of training becomes very important. Atleast 75 cm of the main stem should be kept free from branching and the first leader of main branch should be allowed after that. The main branches should be spaced in such a way that they grow in different directions and are atleast 20-25 cm apart otherwise there are every chances of breakage due to smaller crotch angles and heavy top.
Normally mango tree requires very less or no pruning. During its first four years of orchard life, the mango plants need not be given any pruning except the removal of dead or diseased branches, if any. The side branches emerging too near the ground may also be removed but it is not a sound practice to cut away the small drooping lateral branches emerging from the head. Such a practice has been found to dwarf the tree and delay its bearing.
A dome-shaped top, neither too near the ground nor too high, avoids exposure to the trunk from the sunburn injury, should be the aim of ideal training and pruning in young mango trees. After the trees are well grown up, the crossed or too close branches which crowd the centre of the trunk and weak branches underneath the main limbs which remain under perpetual shade should be removed. Always restrict pruning to the barest minimum, as every healthy branch having foliage fully exposed to the sun, is an asset for its future fruiting and bearing. This rule of minimum pruning should apply to mango trees of all categories, young or old, grafted or seedling.
Rejuvenation of Old Mango Trees:
After a period of about 25 years, when the trees grows very tall should be rejuvenated. The old mango trees have a tendency to develop hollows in their trunks and in main branches starting from crotch or the point of bifurcation. Rain water is deposited here and this causes the bark and wood inside it to rot. This process continues year after year, thus large cavities are formed. Similarly, when a branch is broken by wind or mechanically, the untrimmed stub left behind usually rots and dies.
Old trees in neglected condition with unhealthy branches full of diseases and insect-pests need be rejuvenated. The stem-borers should be removed and suitable measures should be taken to check the diseases. Add 100 kg of well-rotten farmyard manure to each plant.
Top-working of old mango trees by cleft-grafting, budding or bark grafting is practiced. Such trees in weak health can also be invigorated by infusing fresh sap of younger seedlings into them. Many stocks are planted near the old trees and when these have attained the height of one metre or more from ground level they are headed back and the cut ends are then shaped to wedge and inserted into barks of the old tree and tied up.
Harvesting and Handling of Mango Fruits:
Mango is highly perishable fruit. It should be harvested when they have attained full maturity but are not ripe. In successful orcharding, harvesting the fruit at its proper stage of maturity, its careful sorting, grading and marketing are the most vital processes. The factors like stage of fruit maturity at harvest, method of harvest, handling during transportation and temperature and method of ripening determine the development of typical aroma and taste.
Marketing is dependent on quality of the fruit. Faulty methods of harvesting cause a lot of damage and bruising of the fruits which is the main cause of fruit spoilage. The fruit should be properly handled to fetch better price in the market and to enhance the shelf life.
Harvesting and Yield:
Harvesting of fruit at its proper stage of maturity is of fundamental importance. The characteristic colour and typical flavour of a variety develop at appropriate stage of maturity. The stage of maturity at harvest affects the fruit quality and its storage life. In Northern Indian conditions, fruit of early varieties become usually ready for harvest by the end of June and the ripening season in case of late varieties may extend upto the end of August. If the fruits are picked when these are not fully mature, they develop white patches and the normal TSS/acid ratio is also not obtained.
On the other hand, if the fruits are picked when over-mature or fully ripe, more microbial and physiological spoilage occurs due to the increased susceptibility of the fruits, thus reduced the shelf life considerably. Therefore, the mango fruits should be harvested at the proper and correct stage of maturity. Premature picking should be discouraged because such degreened fruits cannot develop proper taste and flavour.
The fruits are usually harvested when green in colour, fully mature but unripe. Generally, when a few ripe fruits have fallen on their own accord (Tapka) from the tree, the rest of the fruits are considered sufficiently mature, but this criterion is not always reliable and dependable. This stage usually takes 15-16 weeks after fruit set.
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 have been observed to be associated with maturity. Direct measurement of the percentage of starch in the flesh is found to be a comparatively accurate method for determining the degree of maturity in hard green fruits.
Picking fruits at specific gravity give satisfactory results in respect of uniform ripening and keeping quality. Pressure test is also employed to determine the fruit maturity. A practical method of standardization of the stage of maturity for picking would be a combination of various methods for individual varieties in a particular region.
Generally, the TSS 12-15 per cent, a pressure 1.75-2 kg. per sq.cm and specific gravity (around 1) will generally give a fair index of maturity. For judging maturity, the physical development of the fruit such as rounding of ventral edge, development of beak, outgrowing of shoulders, filling up of the hollow at the stem end and development of the characteristic colour should also be considered together.
The fruit injured or even slightly bruised during the picking operation losses its keeping quality and becomes unfit for dispatch to distant markets. The usual practices of knocking down the fruits or shaking the trees violently, to get the fruit down need to be discouraged. If the fruit is hanging high, it should be picked up with the help of a step ladder. In no case the picker should climb up the tree as this practice is harmful both for the tree and the picker.
The fruits should always be gently cut with special type of clipper and placed in canvas bags or padded baskets and carried to the packing house. A device known as mango-picker, fixed with a long pole, can also be usefully employed for picking of fruits hanging high on the trees. A small fruit stalk (button) should be kept with the fruit which helps in keeping the fruit in better condition in transportation and storage.
The harvested fruits must be placed on a polymer upside down so that the milky ooze flows out and does not stick to the fruit. The fruit is then washed in warm water at 45 – 50°C and dried.
Grafted mango usually starts bearing from the fourth to sixth year after their planting. Some trees of the varieties like Dusehari are precocious and start bearing even in the third or the fourth year. A grafted mango tree usually continue to bear till upto 50 years, but its most prolific years of bearing are generally from the tenth to the fourteenth years. During an ‘on’ year; a well looked after mango tree of 10 to 20 years bears a crop of about 500 to 1000 fruits.
During 20 to 40 years its yield may range between 1000-3000 fruits. Seedling trees usually take about eight years to come into bearing but their productive life is much longer. Many old trees of 100 years of age in mango growing regions are known to be still bearing heavy crops. Mango orcharding is indeed very paying, especially in the tracts highly suitable for mango culture. It may well bring an income of Rs. one lakh to Rs two lakhs per hectare or even more depending upon the prevailing conditions.
Storage:
To avoid the gluts in the market, the methods of proper storage of mangoes have proved useful to dispose of the fruit over extended periods. Storage at optimum low temperature has effective in increasing storage life. The treatment of fruits with wax-emulsion not only extends the storage life under cold storage and at room temperature but it also makes the fruits brighter, glossy and attractive. The fruits treated with 4 per cent wax emulsion can be kept at room temperature for 12 days and 35 days in cold storage (37°F ± 1 and 85-90 % relative humidity) after packing in perforated polythene bags.
Fully matured but still hard fruits of Dusehari and Langra, mango can be successfully stored for 35 and 45 days respectively at 7°C to 9°C temperature and relative humidity of 85-90 per cent in 2-3 layers in the cardboard boxes of the size of 45 x 25 x 25 cm of five ply. Mangoes meant for cold storage, must always be carefully packed in wooden crates and each individual fruit should be wrapped in tissue paper and packed in sufficient packing material to keep the fruits in position in the crate.
Whereas cold storage of mango does not offer much scope commercially, quick freezing of mango slices in sugar syrup offers bright prospects for the trade. Mango slices thus preserved retain their characteristic fresh flavour for considerable time during frozen storage. Quick freezing of mango pulp and mango slices of green mangoes for preparing mango chutney or other important products can be employed profitably.
The fruits of Alphonso harvested in the last week of June or first week of July can be ripened after 4 days by dipping in 600 ppm ethephon solution for 4 minutes and packing in wooden boxes lined and covered with newspaper.
Packaging of Mango:
Various packaging and cushion materials for transportation of different varieties with specific advantage have been identified.
Mango fruits are generally transported before they are artificially ripened. Their packing and handling is therefore rough. Most of the fruit is packed in shallow and wide mulberry baskets covered with gunny cloth and lined with straw in North India. These baskets contain about 20 Kg of fruit. In Western India and the South bamboo baskets in which upto 100 fruits are packed in layers between straw and grass are used.
Fruits of varieties like Bangalore are often loaded loose in railway wagons. The poor packing results in 16 to 20 per cent loss of fruit. The use of wooden boxes made of mango or silk cotton trees, etc. is in popular due to reduced loss of fruit.
Usually the fruit is not graded except that the larger fruits are placed on the top of the container. However, in Bihar and Bombay, grading of fruits has been attempted. In Bombay fruits under grade I-weighs over 320 g, grade 11-270 to 320 g and grade III-under 270 g. The Indian Standards Institute is currently fixing all India standards for the grading of mango.
The mango grower gets a poor price for his produce. Fruit growers associations are coming up in Bombay, U.P., Chennai and the Punjab to combat this. Mango sale societies in Ratnagiri and Dharwar are working on co-operative lines.
Mango was first exported to the U.K. from Bombay in 1986. Vigorous efforts are now being made to export mangoes to several other countries. This requires better grading and packing of fruit. The fruit of the consignment of Alphonso variety from Bombay to the U.K. in 1932-33 was individually wrapped in tissue paper and packed in single layers of 12 fruits in wooden trays lined with wood wool.
Five such trays were tied together. In 1950-51 fruits of Dashehari variety were sent to London by air. These were individually wrapped in paper and placed in bamboo baskets containing 60 fruits in three layers. They reached the destination in good condition.
Recently to boost the export of mango from U.P. two export zones viz. one in Lucknow and another at Saharanpur have been established. Pack house has been constructed and package of practices like harvesting the fruits with stalk (7 to 10 cm), free from latex (desaping), washing, hot water treatment, drying, waxing, grading, packing, pre-cooling and storing in cold rooms have been standardized. The whole process takes only one hour for two tonnes of fruits. Orchardists are taking advantage of this facility.
It is apparent that the marketing of the most important fruit of India is still unorganized and primitive. With the development of the export trade and improving agricultural prices in the country, the marketing of this wonderful fruit will undoubtedly develop rapidly on modern lines.
Diseases and Insect Pests of Mango:
Some of the common diseases, of mango are:
(i) Canker and die-back caused by several fungi and bacteria, which can be controlled by pruning diseased branches and spraying 1% Bordeaux mixture.
(ii) Sooty mould caused by Capnodium ramosum which can be controlled by crude oil emulsion, followed by starch solution or Folidol.
(iii) Powdery mildew caused by Oidium mangiferae, which can be controlled by dusting fine sulphur, once before/the flowers open and again when fruits are set.
(iv) Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, which can be controlled by spraying 1% Bordeaux mixture.
(v) Bacterial leaf spot (canker) caused by Pseudomonas mangiferae, for which no control measure is known.
(vi) Malformation caused by Gibberella fujikuroi, which can be controlled by pruning diseased parts and spraying 0.1% Captan or Aphidan.
Some of the common insect pests are:
(i) Mango hoppers (Idioscopus spp.), which can be controlled by avoiding water-logged and damp conditions in the orchards and spraying 0.03% Phosphamidon, Diazinon or Monocrotophos, once before flowering, 1-2 times after flowering, and again 2-3 times during June-July.
(ii) Mango mealy bug (Drosicha mangiferae), which can be controlled by ploughing repeatedly around the trees, applying 5% Aldrin dust to the soil around the base of the trees and tying alkathene (400-gauge) bands (30 mm wide) round the trunks during November – December to prevent the young nymphs from climbing, and also spraying 0.04% Diazinon or Monocrotophos to kill young bugs.
(iii) Mango stem borer (Batocera rubus and B. rufomaculata), which can be controlled by inserting into holes and tunnels swabs of cotton-wool soaked in petrol or carbon bisulphide or chloroform and sealing the holes with mud.
(iv) Mango shoot gall (Apsylla cistellata), which can be controlled by collecting and burning the galls.
(v) Mango leaf gall fly (Procontarinia mat- teiana), which can be controlled by collecting and destroying the affected leaves.
(vi) Red ants (Oecophylla smaragdina), which can be controlled by removing and destroying the nests or spraying them with 0.25% BHC (wettable powder).
(vii) Mites (Aceria mangiferae), which can be controlled by removing and destroying all the panicles bearing infested inflorescences and spraying 0.1% Monocrotophos or Diazinon.
Varieties of Mango:
The number of mango varieties is very large and each variety has a distinct taste, flavour and consistency of pulp.
Some of the important commercial varieties grown in different states are:
(i) A.P-Swarnarekha, Banganpalli, Neelam, Sannakulu, Mulgoba, Nagubapalli
(ii) West Bengal- Bombai, Gopalbhog, Himsagar, Langra, Fazli, Shadullah, Krishnab- hog.
(iii) Bihar- Bombai, Langra, Gulabkhas, Krishnabhog, Sukul, Sinduri, Taimuria.
(iv) U.P- Langra, Dasheri, Gulabkhas, Safeda, Gopalbhog, Zafran, Fajri, Chausa, Taimuria, Bombai and Coorg.
(v) Karnataka -Mundappa, Neelam, Kalepad, Alphonso, Olour, Fernandin, Peter.
(vi) Maharashtra -Alphonso, Cowsji Patel, Jamadar, Pairi.
(vii) Goa -Alphonso, Fernandin, Mankurad, Moussorate.
(viii) Tamil Nadu -Bangalora, Padiri, Peter, Neelum, Rumani.