Altitude range
Mango require altitudes of 0-1500 masl, depending on the cultivar

Soil type and conditions
It thrives well on a wide range of soils, but prefers well-drained, deep (at least 3m) fertile loamy or clay soils with pH of 5.5 – 7.5. Mango nutrient requirements include: N, P, K, Mg, Ca, Na, B, S, Zn, Mn, Fe, Cu, Al, Mo, but it requires soil analysis before application is made

Temperature range
The temperatures should be 20 – 26 oC (24 – 30 C) but the optimum growth temperature is 25 C and often pollen viability decreases at 35 C

Rainfall
The rainfall should be 500 – 1000 mm p.a.

Steps during land preparation

(1)    Clear the field of trees, bushes and weeds
(2)    Prepare only planting holes: Ploughing and harrowing are only needed for intercropping
(3)    Prepare, in advance, planting holes 60cm x 60cm x 60cm.
(4)    Separate topsoil and sub soil
(5)    Spacing: range from 9 x 9 m to 13 x 13 m between trees depending on growth characteristic of the individual variety and the type of soil.
(6)    Closer spacing of 6 x 4 m or 5 x 5 m could be used however alternate plants should be removed when overcrowding start to set in
(7)    Add manure and fertilizers to the soil in the right amounts to provide the required plant nutrients for vigorous crop growth

Other than seeds a mango nursery can be raised to provide a source of planting materials, grafting is also an alternative to planting

Seedling

Establish a mango nursery as far as possible from existing commercial plantings

Moving vehicles, personnel and foreign material should be restricted from the site

The tools and equipment being used must be sterilized

Build-up of free water in the nursery site should be minimized and the water being used should be free from harmful pathogens, nematodes and fungi

Prepare potting media from any available material as long as it can sustain the life of seedlings

Shading and watering of the grafted seedlings be done frequently

Take scion wood from healthy well-developed vegetative shoot, without flower buds.

Use very sharp grafting knives and make a clean cut and quickly.

Protect the graft union from water to avoid entry of pathogens

Grafting is done when the rootstocks are about 5 to10 mm thick at a height of  25cm

Scion/Graft wood 

The best scion material is matured, hardened shoot from upper part of the tree 5 to 7.5 cm long

Place the buds of the scion upright on the stock, ensuring it is in a correct orientation

Protect all cut surfaces from drying and pathogen entry immediately after grafting

Properly label and tend the grafted seedlings for a period after grafting

After grafting care should be taken by Keeping the grafted seedlings under appropriate shade which does not allow direct ray of the sun

The buds will start to shoot after 21 days from the date of grafting and the seedlings are ready for field transplanting 3 months after grafting

Protect the graft union from water

Check regularly for moisture content and water if necessary; Conduct regular pest and disease control operations

Remove immediately any growth from the rootstock; Reduce shade when the tender leaves start to turn green

Remove the tape when the first flush turns completely green and shade removal is complete when second flush takes place

Transplant as per the planting hole specifications made in the land preparation section above

Seeds are prepared by taking fresh seeds from ripe fruits for rootstock establishment

The hard, woody endocarp is removed by cutting it open at the narrow end of the seed and forcing the stone off

The seed itself is then still covered with a loose-fitting parchment layer, which must also be removed

Seeds are sown at spacing 2 cm x 10 cm in a nursery bed or directly into containers, with the convex edge up and covered lightly with the media. The germination media (river sand, loamy soils, saw dust) should be well-drained with seed orientation being the same in each bed

Preparation of potting media is compost of 10 parts forests soil; 6 parts well rotten manure; 1-3 part of river sand

Transplanting (plotting) is done by carefully lifting and separating the germinated seedlings from one another

The weak plants are discarded with twisted tap roots or stems and only the healthy plants are planted (not smaller than 6 by 9 inches) in plastic containers

Transplant at 4 to 5 weeks old keeping the transplanted seedlings in the shade and carefully tend them.

Recommended varieties

Local or conventional varieties (Ngowe, Boribo, Sensation, Apple) and Exotic or improved varieties (Tommy Artkins, Kent, Haden, Van dyke)

Common planting materials

Planting

1. Seed
2. Grafting

 

Sucker                              Grafting

Seedlings ready for planting
 

Reproductive stage

Water the hole just before planting to ensure contact of the roots with moist soil

Remove the polythene tube and hold the soil/ media around the roots

Maintain the position of the level of soil as it was in the polythene tube while planting and firm the soil around the planted seedling

Planting

• Water well and mulch after transplanting
• For site specific fertilizer recommendations should be based on soil analysis results
• Plant at the onset of rains but if there is sufficient irrigation, then planting is possible at any time of the year
• When planted during rainy season, the hole should be filled as heavy rains will damage the seedlings and cover it with soil

Pruning

• In the first year, prune by cutting the tip of main shoot at 1m high. This formative pruning done during early stages of growth gives mango trees a spreading shape that is easy to manage: pruning increases light penetration to the canopy so as to encourage flower bud formation and hence yield
• Subsequent pruning is done to remove dead wood and to open the canopy.
• Pruning stimulate new growth, promote uniform annual bearing, and to control size. Pruning id done when plants are dormant and it also brings the trees to bearing.
• Select three or four horizontal shoots which arise at wide angle to make a strong frame of the tree
• In the second year, prune to leave 4 to 5 well-spaced branches to be the future main branches.

Flower inducement

• Flowers are induced by spraying using potassium nitrate at a rate of 2-3 kg/ha (400g/ 20L water).
• Depriving the plants of water for a period of 1-2 months to induce stress and then irrigated regularly, ringing the branches or pruning the roots
• Or injecting with Neonicotinoids/Pyrethrinoids to control abortion and act as a foliar

• Explore drip irrigation (bottle) in dry regions. Irrigation is not recommended for 2 – 3 months prior to flowering as it is likely to promote vegetative growth at the expense of flowering
• There should be a marked season with dry weather for flowering and fruiting
• Irrigation should only be necessary to see the young tree through the first year
• Once the seedlings have taken off well, break the hard pan formed when irrigating/ watering by shallowly digging at the base of the stem

• Intercropping with legumes, vegetables, cereals and fodders can be done at the early growth stages of the mango trees, protect the mango from weed and rotation is not necessary
• Manage weeds using cover crops and mulching
• Keep the orchard weed free in the early stages of growth

• In mature trees, weed 2 m strip along the rows and cut grass in the rest of the field

Carry soil testing to know the available nutrients in relation to mango requirement. Spread fertilizer or manure around the drip line of tree canopy and mix with the soil. Applied in a ring at the beginning of rains

• Intercropping with legumes, vegetables, cereals and fodders will be beneficial at early growth stages of the mango trees. Improves soil fertility when legumes are grown underneath the trees.
• Intercrop with other crops such as pineapples, and papaya where climatic and soil conditions are suitable. Intercropping reduces the pest and disease pressure due to possible higher population of beneficial organisms.
• Leaving some spontaneous plant growths on the borders or between the mango trees creates ecological niches
• Protects the soil and other crops against wind
• Mango has a very long lifespan, hence crop rotation is not necessary

Pests include:

Mango seed (stone) weevil, fruit-fly, mango white scales, red banded thrips

Dip newly harvested fruits into hot water to minimize fruit fly damage and anthracnose

Mango seed (stone) weevil

• Cause up to 30 % fruit damage in the early and medium maturing fruits but higher in late maturing varieties
• The female makes cuts on the fruit into which it inserts a single egg; The larva on hatching bores through the pulp into the seed; Pupation takes place in the seed; The adult is dark brownish with pale patches, 1cm long, a curved snout and black eyes
• The larva is small , white and legless with brown head and can be seen inside the husk with partly eaten embryoThe adults emerge from the ripening fruit by tunneling through the fruit
• Mango seeds damaged/destroyed by the weevil larvae have no external signs of damage to the fruit
• Attacked fruits fall off prematurely but most times not

Control

• Consider IPM, e.g. use fruit fly traps for mango weevil; induce flowering using smoke
• Consider thresholds for chemicals and application requirements for specific crops: Check PHI, MRLs, WHO, etc. Be careful not to recommend outdated and banned agrochemicals
• Field hygiene: collect all fallen fruits and destroy
• Dissect all seeds before sowing to ensure that they have no weevils
• Band the trees with Dursban + whitewash
• Chemical control: apply appropriate organophosphates

Fruit-fly

The female fly pierces the ripening fruit and inserts its eggs just below the skin surface. Maggots feed on fruit pulp causing premature ripening and dropping

Control

• Field sanitation: collect all fallen and prematurely ripe fruits and destroy
• Eradicate other host plants like guava
• Use of pheromone traps minimize the population of fruit flies in an orchard
• Regular application of poison bait such as buminal (protein hydrolysate) or Molasses + insecticide. Application rate: 250ml Buminal /100Lwater

Mango White Scales

The pests are found on green fruits and leavesAppear as reddish brown legless and wingless insects 1mm long

They make flat or circular white scales/clusters with 3 ridges on the body

Adults come out of the scales as dark yellow with black eyes

Due to sucking by the pest infested spots on fruit skin turn yellow and become depressed making fruits less attractive and difficult to market

Control

Spray organophosphates plus white oil

Red Banded Thrips

It attacks only young seedlings in the nursery

Lower leaf surface is darkly stained, rusty appearance, with curled edges of leaves and numerous shiny black spots of excreta
Control

• Spray a combination of organophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids
• Use sodium hypochlorite to prevent build-up of pathogen Wash with an appropriate imidazole fungicide
• Powdery Mildew
• The fungus attacks all forms of young tissues of most importance to growers are fruit panicles and young fruit
• In severe attacks, the entire blossom panicle may be infected, and the fruits fail to set

Control

• Foliar sprays with protective and curative fungicides as appropriate
• Spraying should start at 20 % blossom then continue at about 3 weeks interval

Anthracnose

• Caused by the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides perr. Spores are produced in abundance during damp weather. Spores are principally splashed/ dispersed during rainy weather.
• The infection spreads quickly and causes death of individual flowers or often the entire flower stalk causing flower abortion thus reducing fruit set. Young fruits are more susceptible until they are about half developed.

Control

• Cultural practices such as pruning the dead branches and twigs

Chemical control:

• Spray with appropriate fungicides e.g. dithiocarbamates, at interval of 7-10 days depending on weather conditions
• Spray copper-based fungicides e.g. Nordox or copper oxychloride. Repeat every 14 days
  
  

Diseases include;

Roots of other tree bushes harbor fungal pathogens that affect mango roots, powdery mildew and anthracnose

Use sodium hypochlorite to prevent build-up of pathogen Wash with an appropriate imidazole fungicide

Powdery Mildew

The fungus attacks all forms of young tissues

of most importance to growers are fruit panicles and young fruits

In severe attacks, the entire blossom panicle may be infected, and the fruits fail to set

Control

Foliar sprays with protective and curative fungicides as appropriate

Spraying should start at 20 % blossom then continue at about 3 weeks interval

Anthracnose

Caused by the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides perr. Spores are produced in abundance during damp weather. Spores are principally splashed/ dispersed during rainy weather.

The infection spreads quickly and causes death of individual flowers or often the entire flower stalk causing flower abortion thus reducing fruit set. Young fruits are more susceptible until they are about half developed.

Control

Cultural practices such as pruning the dead branches and twigs

Chemical control:

Spray with appropriate fungicides e.g. dithiocarbamates, at interval of 7-10 days depending on weather conditions

Spray copper-based fungicides e.g. Nordox or copper oxychloride. Repeat every 14 days

Local mango variety will produce the first yield at the age of 4-7 years while the grafted varieties take 2-3 years after planting. Yields increase with age and trees reach optimal bearing at 8 years, reaching full maturity at 20years

• Pre-harvest practices influence the post-harvest procedures e.g. size, colour
• Ensure the fruits are handle gently to avoid damage during harvesting.
• Harvest the fruit with long stalk (5cm) and pack in single layer with pedicel facing downwards.
• Allow latex that leaks from pedicel to drain on to absorbent material in the bottom of a crate the wash the latex with detergent.

Sort and grade, stored at a temperature between 10oC and 13oC with relative humidity of 85 to 90% for two to four months.

• Perform preliminary grading to sort immature, under sized, damaged, bruised, scorched or ripened fruits are removed during sorting
• Wax the fruits, using polyethylene wax, or any appropriate wax
• Pack the fruits in single layer in fibre board cartons, to void rubbing against each other that can shorten the shelf life of the fruits. Mango fruits are sensitive to chilling injury
• Transport or store mango at 11oC for green fruit and 8oC for riper ones.
• Most varieties can be stored at a temperature between 10oC and 13oC with relative humidity of 85 to 90% for a storage period of between two to four months

• Dip newly harvested fruits into hot water to minimize fruit fly damage and anthracnose. Hot water treatment controls anthacnose disease while fungicide controls soft brown rot
• Aesthetic value waxing prevents moisture loss and chilling injury
• In the packhouse cut the pendicel to about 5mm
• Use sodium hypochlorite to prevent build-up of pathogen and treat the fruit with hot water at 47oC for 5 minutes