Mango Production

Production Technology

Climate
The climate of a place is dependent on its latitude and altitude, temperature and rainfall. Generally the mango is a tropical fruit that grows in the sub-tropical zone too like Bangladesh and grows up to an altitude of 4600 ft where there is no high humidity, rain and frost during the flowering period. It grows well within a temperature ranges from 24⁰C to 27⁰C and an average rainfall as low as 25 cm to as high as 250 cm.

Propagation

Mango can be raised from seed or vegetatively propagated. Seed propagation is now restricted to raising rootstocks, which are not true to type .Vegetative propagation is done by side or veneer grafting.

Soil
Well drainage, deep, fertile loamy soil of high to medium high land is best for mango with p^H 5.5-7.5 and water table below 180 cm around the year.
Planting system
Square or rectangular for plain land and contour system for hilly areas.

Contour planting of hilly areas  

    

Cultural Practices

A. Land Preparation

For backyard planting, prepare the land simply by digging a hole wide and deep enough to accommodate the ball of soil that goes with the planting material. This is recommended particularly in fertile, deep and friable soil. On poor soil, dig big, deep holes with a diameter of 30-50 cm. Set aside the top soil to be used to re-fill the hole after planting or transplanting.

For orchard planting in flat or slightly rolling terrain, plow the field as deep as possible and harrow the field twice until fine tilt is attained before the onset of the rainy season. To accommodate other cultural activities and to ensure straight alignment of trees, layout the field using the desired planting system such as, square, quincunx, or triangular system.

B. Planting

• Carefully remove the plant material from its container and set it in the hole.
• Fill the extra space with topsoil or compost. Preferably do this activity at the onset of rain.
• Re-plant dead and missing hills one week after planting.

C.Intercropping

Use leguminous plant as intercrop to add fertility to the soil and to keep down the weeds. Fertilize your intercrop to prevent it from competing with the major crop.

D. Weed Control

Hands pull the weeds and continue cultivating the area. Hand pulling is recommended when the plants are still small and the weeds are too close to the plants. For bearing trees, spray herbicides such as round up or gramoxine to provide better weed control.

E. Irrigation

Irrigate the young and newly established trees, whenever necessary, during the first season (dry) of its growth. For matured trees, water or irrigate the plants during flowering and fruiting.

Mango trees need water during the flowering and the fruiting stages, which coincide with the dry season. Water increases the number of fruits per panicle and, also, minimizes fruit drop.

Irrigation can be coupled with moisture conservation practices such as mulching, maintaining good vegetation between rows, and shallow cultivation.

F. Mulching

Mulch the base of the tree with dried grass or weeds, or other suitable mulching materials to restrict weed growth, maintain relatively low temperature and prevent excessive loss of soil moisture.

Dense mulches are effective means of reducing weed infestation.

G. Fertilization

Necessary to stimulate early growth and rapid development of young fruit bearing trees. For one year old trees, apply 200-300 g complete fertilizer in two equal doses per tree. For older trees, mix 300-500 grams complete fertilizer and 200-300 grams of urea per tree. Split the recommended dosage in two, apply at the start and before the end of the rainy season.

For bearing trees, apply 1.5-2.5 kilogram complete fertilizer per tree. The usual method of applying fertilizer to young and bearing trees is to dig 10-15 holes or use the ring method of fertilizer application by digging a canal around the base of the tree, approximately 3-5 inches deep following the tree canopy. The fertilizer is then placed into the hole and covered with soil.

H. Flower Induction

SMUDGING - Make smokey fire below the tree canopy and allow smoke to pass through the foliage for several days. To produce heavy smoke, place green grasses on top of combustible materials such as dry leaves and coconut husks. It is done continuously for several days. Discontinue when no flowers appear two weeks. Repeat this process one-month to two months after.

CHEMICAL INDUCTION - The more reliable method of inducing off-season flowering is by spraying with potassium nitrate. Besides being effective, potassium nitrate is cheaper and forces mangoes to flower more uniformly. Application rate is 10 grams per liter of water. Spray toward the leaves evenly from the top downward to the bottom of the canopy.
I. Bagging/Wrapping

Mango fruits are as big as chicken's egg 55-60 days after induction. Wrap the fruits with sturdy materials to resist rain and strong winds. The wrapping bag should be big enough to allow room for fruit development. Its bottom portion should be closed to prevent mango and seed borers from laying its eggs at the apex of the fruit.

J.Pruning

Usually done after harvest to prepare the tree for the next bearing season. Pruning helps increase fruit production, improve quality of fruits, attain desired size and shaped of crown, eliminate undesirable branches and achieve dwarfing effect to enable the trees to be resistant to lodging.

Harvesting, Handling, Storing and Grading

Mango should not be harvested before 120 days from induction. If mangoes are for export, maturity index is needed. Fruits are either picked by hand or by means of a net attached to the end of a bamboo pole with a loop or knife at the end.

Sort out immature, undersize, damaged and diseased fruits during grading. Fruits are graded according to variety, size, weight or diameter.

Bamboo baskets lined with newspapers are used for packing mangoes intended for local markets. For export, the mangoes are placed either in wooden crates or carton boxes.

                                             Mango harvesting

If necessary, mangoes should be stored at 9-10 degrees Centigrade. Ripe mangoes at this temperature can be stored for 18-21 days while freshly matured fruits for 23-26 days.