Production Technology of Mango

Mango

Mango is the most popular and tasty fruit in Bangladesh. It is called the king of fruits. It is

a national tree of Bangladesh. Mango is cultivated in almost all districts of Bangladesh.

But a good quality and high value mango is grown well in the districts of north-western

and south-western region because of soil and weather condition. It is a main source of

income of many people of those areas. But now-a-days, mango is cultivated commercially

in all districts of Bangladesh in addition to those mentioned areas due to introduction of

high yielding mango varieties. At present, the total area and production of mango is 27.5

thousand hectares and 8.89 lac metric tons, respectively (BBS, 2011). Different kinds of

taste, scent, nutrient value and uses of mango are not comparable to any other fruits.

Ripened mango contains adequate quantity of carotene or vitamin A and minerals. It ranks

top of the list among all fruits of the world in respect of vitamin A content.

Production Technology of Mango

Land and soil

High and medium high land should be selected for planting mango trees. In hilly areas,

the hill slopes should be below 450. Mango can be grown almost in all kinds of soil, but

the most desirable soil is one which is of medium texture, that is deep and well drained

and has a pH range of 5.5 to 7.5 and a water table below 180 cm round the year.

Time of transplanting

May to mid-July is the best period for transplanting mango sapling. If irrigation

facilities are available and planting materials are in hand, transplanting in spring and

early summer from March to April may be suitable.

Sapling collection

For planting, mango sapling should be the graft of an ideal variety. The graft should

be healthy, strong and disease free. The grafts should be collected from a reliable

nursery or from Government farm.

Transplanting method

Spacing: The planting distance varies with variety, fertility level of the soil and

general growing conditions in the area. If the growth is vigorous, the distance should

be 12m x 12m, but where the growth is less, it can be reduced to about 10m x 10m.

For dwarf variety (like BARI Aam-3) 8m x 8m distance is sufficient.

Pit preparation: The pit should be of at least 1m x 1m x 1m in size. The pit should

remain exposed for 10 to 15 days before it is filled with soil, manure and fertilizer.

The pit needs to be filled with 20kg well rotten cowdung or compost, 500g TSP, 250g

MP, 250g gypsum and 50g zinc sulphate. The soil of the pit needs to be watered if the

soil is dry during pit filling.

Transplanting:Transplanting of healthy, strong and disease free mango sampling has to

be done at 10 to 15 days after the pit filling with soil-fertilizer mixture. The sapling with

its root ball of earth should be taken out of the soil, poly-bag or pot intact. The sapling is

High yielding, early and regular bearer. Plants are big trees,

dome shaped, spreading and moderately vigorous. It

flowers in mid to late January; fruits are set in mid February

and harvested in first fortnight of June. Fruits are medium

and individual fruit weight: 200g. Number of fruits per

tree: 800-1000 and their weight: 160-200 kg; roundish in

shape and yellowish green in colour and sweet (TSS

18.0%). Edible portion: 65%. Tolerant to common insect

pests and diseases of mango. It is recommended for

cultivation in high rain prone areas of north-eastern and

eastern region. Fruit yield: 15-20 t/ha.

BARI Aam-

10 (2012)

Name of

Varieties Important Characteristics Crop

(Year of Release)

then placed in the centre of the pit excavating as much soil as necessary to

accommodate the root ball. After planting, the soil around the plant is firmly pressed and

irrigated immediately after planting. A stake must be pegged at one side, and sapling is

then tied to the stake with rope keeping some distance between stake and sapling.

Fertilizer dose and application method

The nutritional requirements vary with the region depending upon the type of soil and

age of the tree. The year to year dosage of fertilizer is given below:

Manure and Fertilizers Age of plant, (years)

2 - 4 5 - 7 8 - 10 11 - 15 16 - 20 > 20

Cowdung or compost (kg) 10 - 15 16 - 20 21 - 25 26 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 50

Urea (g) 250 500 750 1000 1500 2000

TSP (g) 250 250 500 500 750 1000

MP (g) 100 200 250 350 450 500

Gypsum (g) 100 200 250 350 400 500

Zinc sulfate (g) 10 10 15 15 20 25

Boric acid (g) 20 20 30 30 40 50

Fertilizers are to be applied in two split doses, one half immediately after harvesting of the

fruits in June-July and the other half in September-October at the end of rainy season. The

manure and fertilizer should be duly placed into the ground in trenches that may be 30 cm

wide, 15-20 cm deep and 30 cm away from the base of a one year old plant. In this

manner, the circular trench/canal around the tree may have to make 2-3 m away from the

trunk in 10-12 years and 4 m away in about 30 years old trees. The manure and fertilizer

should be applied evenly in the circular canal/trench which is then back filled in with soil.

The manure and fertilizer may also be applied by spading or ploughing the soil around

the plant up to the area shaded by the plant at noon. The manure and fertilizers should

be spread all over but 1 m away from the trunk and then mixed with soil by spading or

ploughing up to a depth of 15 cm. There must be an irrigation of the soil after each

application of fertilizer whether the same is spread over the surface or in the trenches.

Irrigation

Number and frequency of irrigations depend upon the type of soil, climatic conditions

especially rainfall and its distribution and age of trees. The need for irrigation arises

higher during drier part of the year from November to April and lesser in summer (May-

June). The clay or heavier soils needs to be irrigated less frequently than the lighter soils

(e.g. sandy loam). Depending on all these factors, plants up to the age of six months

may need to be irrigated at an interval of 2-6 days, plants between 6 and 18 months may

be irrigated after every 4-12 days, and those aged 1.5-5.0 years may need irrigation at an

interval of 1-3 weeks. When the trees are in full bearing stage, generally two irrigations

are needed in modified basin method-one at full bloom and another at pea stage of fruit.

This is helpful in reducing fruit drop and improving fruit size. In modified basin method

dike should be constructed around each tree to prevent water run-off during irrigation.

Irrigation may be applied in hole system also. In this system, dig four 20 cm deep and

15 cm wide holes 1.5 to 2 m away from the trunk and fill the holes first to capacity

with water. After filling the last few holes, water poured earlier will be dried and the

holes should be filled again. Beside these methods, orchard may be irrigated through

flooding. However, for obtaining good flowering one must stop irrigation at least 2-3

months before the flowering period. Irrigation during this period is likely to promote

vegetative growth, which will be detrimental to flowering.

1.3 Intercultural Operation

Ploughing: The orchard should be ploughed two times in a year-first operation

should be done before the onset of rainy season. This helps checking run-off losses

and facilitate maximum intake of water into the soil, and suppressing weed. Orchards

may be ploughed again after the rainy season is over so as to suppress the weed

growth and also to break capillaries.

Training and Pruning: Normally mango trees require very less or no pruning.

However, the training of the plants in the initial stages (2-3 years) is very essential to

give them a proper shape. At least 100 cm of the main trunk should be kept free from

branching. Moreover, it is advisable to keep a watch on the development of shoots

from the rootstock. Such a shoot or growth leads to a branch that bears the

characteristics of the rootstock which is of seedling origin and is not desirable. This

kind of shoot must be eliminated soon after its detection.

Removal of panicle: The grafted plants of mango often produce some flowers in the

same year of planting or before attaining sufficient vegetative growth. These flowers

should be pinched off for the first 3 years to provide proper vegetative growth as well

as for developing a good framework of the plant.

Pest Management

Major insects and control measures:

Name of insect Control measures

Name of pesticides /treatment Rate per litre of water

Mango hopper Cypermethrin (Cymbush/Basathrin

/Fenom) 10 EC or Sumicidin 20 EC or

Decis 2.5 EC

1.5 ml/l

At panicle emergence (4-6") and at

fruit set (pea) stage

Or Bait trap 1 g Dipterex 80sp or Secufon 80 SP

+ 100 g mashed ripe mango pulp +

100 ml water (1 trap per tree)

Or Decis 2.5 EC 1 m l/1

Mango fruit fly

Or Methyl eugenol sex pheromone trap 1 trap per tree

Mango fruit

weevil

Fenitrothion (Sumithion

/Lithion/Fenitox) 50 EC

2 m l/l

Mango defoliator Dichlorovos (Vapona /Phosvit) 100 EC 2.5 ml/l

Mango leaf cutting

weevil

Cypermethrin (Ripcord/Cymbush/

Basathrin /Fenom) 10 EC

1.5 ml/l

Major diseases and control measures:

1.4 Harvesting and Fruit preservation

The various criteria recommended for judging maturity are (i) slight colour

development on the shoulders, (ii) when one or two ripe fruits fall from the plant

naturally, and (iii) when the specific gravity of fruits ranges between 1.01 and 1.02.

This method is more dependable. For this, fruit samples from various parts of the tree

are taken and dropped in a bucket of water; if the fruits are mature they will submerge

completely in the water. Number of days taken by the fruit to mature depends on the

variety and the climatic conditions and, hence it cannot serve as a guide. However, in

general, fruits mature between 90 to 130 days from the fruit-set stage.

Fruits should not be picked by shaking the branches and making them fall on the

ground. There should be neither a bruise on the skin nor a shattering of the fruit. If

possible, the fruits should be picked by hand. For most trees, therefore, a bamboo pole

harvester has to be used. This harvester has an iron blade at its edge and a net-bag

below it. When the fruit-stalk is snapped by the blade, the fruit fall into the bag.

Harvested fruits are heaped under the tree on rice straw or on mango leaves for a while.

The harvested fruits should first be graded according to size and appearance before

marketing and storage. Ripe fruits and damaged fruits of relatively poor quality are

usually retained for local markets and better types which are still remaining green and

hard are packed for distance places. Fruits of each grade are to be packed separately

in a container that should indicate at its top the variety, size, number of fruits and

consignee’s address. Bamboo baskets are of common use in Bangladesh. Rice straw

is a very suitable material for placing around the fruits inside the basket. In recent

days, plastic crates are becoming popular for transporting mango.