Mango Lucknow

  Introduction:  
  Mango is the most important fruit crop of India. India produces about 12.750 Mmt of Mango from an area of 2.309 Mha with an average productivity of 5.5 mt/ha. Major producing states are Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Orissa & Maharashtra. Uttar Pradesh has 0.2712 mha under Mango and the total production during 2008-09 is 3.465 Mmt with 12.8 mt/ha productivity. India ranks first in the world for mango production and area under cultivation. Mango is a rich source of vitamin A and has a fairly good content of vitamin C. Mango fruits are used for preparation of pickle, chatani, amchur, jam, squash, nectar and many other delicious products.  
     
  Climate and Soil:  
  Mango can be grown from alluvial to lateritic soils except in black cotton soil having poor drainage. The temperature between 24 and 27 0C is ideal for its cultivation.
  
     
  Variety:  
  Dashehari, Langra, Chausa, Bombay Green, Lucknow Safeda, Mallika and Amrapali.  
     
  Multiplication of Genuine Planting Material:  
  Mango can be propagated by veneer, wedge and soft wood grafting. The protected nurseries in polyhouses and use of sprinkler and drip is becoming common for raising humidity level, which is required for higher grafting success rate.
 
     
  Preparation of land:  
  The land should be prepared one month before planting. The pits of 1 m x 1 m x 1m size are dug. The pit is exposed for 2 to 4 weeks to kill harmful soil organisms.  
     
  Soil sterilization:  
  Soil sterilization can be achieved through both physical and chemical means. Physical control measures include steam and solar energy. Chemical control methods include herbicides and fumigants. Soil sterilization can also be achieved by using transparent plastic mulch film (25 micron thickness) termed as soil solarization.  
     
  Planting:  
  Square and rectangular systems are popular. Before planting, pits are filled with FYM at the rate of 15-20 kg/plant. The grafts should be planted during July to September.  
     
  Planting Density:  
  High density (3m x 6m or 5m x 5m) planting helps increase the yield/unit area. Normal planting geometry of mango is 8 m x 8 m.  
     
  Canopy Management:  
  Training should be done after 6th month of planting. It is essential to space the branches properly and to help in intercultural operation. At initial branching height between 60 to 70cm is appropriate.  
     
  Water Requirement of the crop:  
 
Age of the plant Water requirement of the crop in litres/day/tree
Young plant (up to 3 years) 9-12 lts
3-6 years 30-35 lts
6-10 years 50-60 lts
9-12 years 80-90 lts
Fully grown trees 120 lts
 
  Young tree requires 2 drippers at a distance of 1m on lateral lines, while fully-grown trees require 2 drippers with double lateral lines at 1-1.5m distance.  
     
  Application of fertilizers:  
  Mango should be manured with phosphorus twice in a year i.e. the beginning of the monsoon (June-July) and during the period of post-monsoon (September-October). Usually fertilizers (N and K) are applied in split doses in the month of June-July, September-October, January-February and March-April. For adult trees (10 years or above) 1000g N, 75g P2O5, 75g K2O and 100 kg FYM per year should be applied. Application of micronutrients such as Zinc and Boron help in cell elongation process.
 
     
  Malformation:  
  Deblossoming at bud stage (1.0cm long) alone or in combination with spray of 200ppm NAA lowers the number of malformed panicle.  
     
  Alternate Bearing Management:  
  Use of paclobutrazol (5-10g/m canopy diameter), 3 months before budburst applied through soil drenching can be used for obtaining regular bearing.  
     
  Weed Management:  
  Black plastic mulch (100 micron) restricts the germination of weed seeds and suppresses the weed growth. The size of the film requirement for young plant is 1 m x 1 m, and for 8 years onwards film requirement is 2.5 m x 2.5 m around the tree.
  
     
  Intercropping:  
  In the interspaces of mango orchard, certain vegetable can be intercropped viz; Onion, Tomato, Radish, Carrot, Ginger, Turmeric, Methi, Cabbage etc, besides, fruit crops can also be grown viz papaya, pineapple etc for initial 4-5 years.  
     
  Mulching:  
  Soil drenching with paclobutrazol (5g and 10g/tree) coupled with black polythene mulch (100 micron) results minimum out break of September to October vegetative flushing, giving an early and profuse flowering and more annual yield.
  
     
  Plant Protection measures:  
 
Insect pests Symptoms Control measures
Mango hopper Pest starts attacking during flowering season Spraying of monocrotophose (0.054%), auinalphos (0.05%), carbryl (0.15%), dimethoate (0.06%) and chlorpyriphos (0.04%)
Mealy bug Nymphs suck juice from young shoots, panicles and flower pedicels. Raking of soil around the trunk and mixing with neem cake or application of chlorpyriphos dust (2%) or methyl parathion dust @ 200-250g/tree around tree trunk is effective
Stem borer Pest makes tunnel through the main trunk and branches Clearing tunnels with hard wire, pouring kerosene oil or petrol or quinalphos (0.05%) and plugged with mud
Fruit fly Pest makes the fruits rot by laying its eggs in clusters, just before the ripening, under the peel of fruits. Hanging of trap (methyl eugion 0.1%+0.01% malathion) during April – June
 
     
 
Disease Symptoms Control measures
Anthracnose it attacks leaves, flowering panicles and fruits Spraying of Blitox (0.03%), Bavistin (0.1%) and Phytolan (0.03%) can control this disease
Powdery mildew Whitish powdery growth on the leaves Wettable sulphur (0.02%), Karathane (0.01%), Bavistin (0.01%) and Bayleton (0.05%)
Bacterial Canker Unattractive fruits because affected parts of fruits show longitudinal crack and oozing of bacterial exudate and leading to fruit drop StreptocycIine (100-200ppm), agrimycin-100 (100ppm) and copper oxychloride (0.03%)
 
     
  Yield and quality control:  
  From well grown up tree one can expect an average yield of 150-225 marketable fruits (50 kg) per plant per year.  
     
  Harvesting and Post-Harvest Management:  
  From 4th year onwards the mango fruits can be harvested at mature green stage during morning hours. After harvesting fruits are graded according to their size, weight, colour and maturity. Packaging of fruits should be done in corrugated fiberboard (CFB) boxes. Tissue paper and polythene foam paper are used for wrapping high-value fresh mangoes. Polyethylene lining has been found beneficial as it maintains humidity, which results in lesser shrinkage during storage. Dashahari treated with Calcium chloride solution (4%) at sub-atmospheric pressure of 500 mm Hg for 5 minutes can be stored at 12 oC for 27 days.  
     
  Cost economics (One ha):  
 
Rate of interest 10.5%
Life of system 7.5 years
Expected yield 19 t/ha
Planting geometry 5m x 5m
Cost of cultivation Rs.24, 000
Fixed Cost Rs.30, 298
Annual cost of drip System Rs.8,713
Expected Benefit Cost ratio 6.0
 
     
  For more information, kindly Contact:  
  Principal Investigator  
  Precision Farming Development Centre (PFDC)  
  Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Rehamankhera,  
  P.O. Kakori, Lucknow – 227 107, Uttar Pradesh  
 
Tel : 0522 – 2841022, 2841023
Fax : 0522 – 2841025
E-mail : singhvk_cish@rediffmail.com