Why am i interested to make a blog on mango?

Blogger with Mango.Photo taken from BSMRAU

 

“Every soul shall have a taste of death and We taste you by evil and by good by way of trial To Us must you return”  (Sura Al Ambiya-35)

There is an adage in bengali literature

       Khabar age jol 

                               Khabar pore fol...........................

 

 

  According to the nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore(Written National Anthem of Bangladesh):-              

In spring, O mother mine,
The fragrance from your mango groves
Makes me wild with joy,
Ah, what a thrill!                                                                                                                         

Hello everybody , welcome to my blog.I am Md. Firoj Ali ,a level-4 student of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University under the faculty of Agriculture.I have originated in this university from  Rajshahi.so, inherently i have strong attraction on mango. Moreover,i like mango very much as compared to any other fruits available in Bangladesh,it's very palatable, delicious to eat. It has also very nutritive worth.I prefer the mango mostly  like Nangra, Fazle Khirsapat and so on.

Mural's of " father of the nation " of Bangladesh

Photo taken from BSMRAU

"Somobeto sokoler moto amio golap  ful khub valobasi.Rescors per hoye jete sei sob golaper akti golap amai deke bolese ,ami jeno amar kobitai Sheikh Mujiber kotha boli."

About mango genesis

History of Mango

  Mangoes have been cultivated in the Indian Subcontinent for thousands of years  and reached East Asia between the 5th-4th century BC. By the 10th century AD, they were transported to East Africa  and subsequently introduced to Brazil, West Indies and Mexico, where climate allows its appropriate growth.
  The origins of mango are thought to have been from a plant from Malaysia, India and Indonesia. It probably was grown in southeast Asia before the seventh century, although the only references found are from Cambodia. The 14th century Muslim traveler, Ibn Battuta, reported it at Mogadishu.
  Mango is now widely cultivated as a fruit tree in frost-free tropical and warmer subtropical climates throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is now cultivated in southern China, Malaysia, Indonesia, warmer parts of Australia, Philippines, Hawaii, and West Indies, Madagascar and along the coast of tropical Africa. In North America, it is grown to a limited extent in Florida and California. In Bangladesh Mango occupies about 60% area under fruits.

National Monument of Bangladesh

                                    It was build  for those martyrs for whom we are independent.Let's honour or respect our heroes.

Mango means earning more money especially in Rajshahi Division.

Mango(Mangiferaindica L.) belongs to the family Anacardiaceae

Who does not love mangoes – with their unique flavor, fragrance and texture? The King among Fruit is thriving very well in Bangladesh, thanks to the modern methods of horticulture that are used to nurture the mango trees. Mangoes grow widely all over Bangladesh and there are innumerable varieties to charm the connoisseur. Each variety has its own admirers. Some of the better mangoes are the superior grafted varieties whereas the local or Deshi aam is grown from seedlings.

The main mango growing regions are around Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Nawabganj, and Dinajpur. The better varieties of mangoes have exotic names like Fazlee, Langda, Gopalbogh, Himsagar, Khirsapat, Ashhwina, Khisanbogh, Kuapahadi, Lata Bombai, Foria, Bombai, Kohitoor, Laksmanbhog, Mohanbhog, Misribhog etc. Fazli, Lengra, Gopalbhog and Khisrapat are considered to be the premier varieties – food fit for the Gods!

Each has its distinctive flavor and arguments about the superiority of one over the other can get very serious. Though these are table varieties, meant to be relished as cut fruit, there are others that are used for making jam, jelly, squash, chutney, and pickle. The raw green mango is even added to a dal or curry to enhance the flavor.
Once only Chapainawabganj was famous for growing mangoes, but huge mangoes are also produced in Rajshahi district. There are over 270 varieties of sweet edible mangoes in the Rajashahi region alone. Newer groves are being set up and high-quality fruit trees have been planted along the boundaries of the paddy fields.
December to February is when the mango trees blossom. These grafted mango plants quickly start bearing blossoms only a year or two after the planting. Mango growers try hard to nurture and support their young trees during this period. If all goes well at this time of the year the growers can expect a bumper crop of mangoes. The mango grows in almost all parts of Bangladesh but the commercial and good quality grafted mangoes with known varietal names are mostly grown in the North-Western districts (Sub-tropical zone) and mangoes of unknown varieties are grown in the South –Eastern(Tropical zone) and other parts of the country. The position of mango is 5^th in terms of area and 3rds in production among the fruits grown in Bangladesh. Mango occupies an area of 310498 ha out of a total fruit area of 994387 ha and a production of 802750 metric tons out of a total of 3292005 metric tons which shares 31.22% of the area and 24.38% production of fruit crops in Bangladesh (BBS All crops summary (2008-2009).

PRESENT STATUS:

Area and production of mango from 1999 to 2008

Year	Area(ha)	Production(metric ton)
1999-2000	50492	187220
2000-2001	50625.50	187880
2001-2002	50694.33	187375
2002-2003	507996.60	142690
2003-2004	51012.15	242605
2004-2005	25054.66	662100
2005-2006	25972.47	639820
2006-2007	29108.91	766930
2007-2008	310498.0	802750

Mango is the leading seasonal cash crop of the northwestern region of Bangladesh and dominates the economy in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts. There is no large industry here. Most of the people are employed for different jobs on the orchards such as nursing, harvesting and packing mangoes for transportation during the season every year.

"Commemorating my toty or childish dream"

I was very busy with my research activity through laptop browsing.i sat on my cottage staircase which was adjacent to our mango orchard.i was observing a mango falling and thinking , why  the mango is falling to gravitational way instead of going upward direction?. Ha...Ha.........

Production technology of mango



National bird of Bangladesh



Climate:

The climate of a place is dependent on its latitudes, altitude, temperature and rainfall. Mangoes are grown commercially within an area roughly 30 degree north to 30 degree south latitude. Bangladesh is situated between 20.5 degree to 26.5 degree north latitude. The mango is in general a tropical fruit that grows in the sub-tropical zone too and grows up to an altitude of 4600 feet (1400m) provided there is no high humidity, rain or frost during the flowering period . So, the range of latitude and altitude in Bangladesh is basically good for mango .It does well within a temperature range from 24 to 27 degree centigrade. Bangladesh’s overall mean annual temperature of 18 to 30 degree centigrade, which is quite good for mango production. The amount of rainfall is not so important factor as its intensity and distribution. It can do well in areas having an average rainfall as low as 25 cm to as high as 250 cm. The period of preceding flowering needs to be dry in order to induce flowering in the absence of chilling temperature.

Soil:

Mangoes can be grown on a wide range of soil type, but well drainage deep, fertile loamy soil of high to medium high land is best. pH 5.5-7.5 and water table below 180 cm around the year.

Land preparation:

Mango plantation are made on the selected site after cleaning the land of all wild growth, weeds etc. The seedling/sapling are planted generally during the rains in pit made well-leveled areas.

Planting system:

Square or rectangular for plain land and contour system for hilly areas. One year old seedling obtained through vegetative propagation that are strong , stout, and free from any diseases should be planted.

Propagation:

Mango can be raised from seed or vegetatively propagated. Seed propagation is now restricted to raising rootstocks, which are not true to type. To raise rootstock , freshly extracted stones from mature and ripe fruits are sown in beds in lines. These seedlings remain there for a year. When they attain a suitable thickness and height they are propagated asexually by side or veneer either in beds or shifted to a suitable seized earthen or polythene bags and grafted by inarching.

Time of planting:

Mid May to mid July is the best period for planting and mid August to mid October is also good.

Distance:

Planting distance depends upon soil, variety, climate and system of orchard management. However under good management the planting distance for tall varieties 10-12 meters and the dwarf varieties require only 2.5 to 3 meters between the plants and rows 8-10 meters.

Size of pit:

1.0 m*1.0 m*1.0 m.

Manures and Fertilizers:

Manures/Fertilizers	Amount in each pit
Organic manures	18-22 kg
Urea	100-200 g
TSP	450-550 g
MP	200-300 g
Gypsum	200-300 g
Zinc Sulphate	40-60 g

Seedlings planting:

Seedlings should be planted with the soil ball intact at middle of the pit straightly after 10-15 days of filling the pit. After planting , the seedling should  be provided with proper fencing, sticks etc.

Fertilizer application:

Yearly recommended fertilizers for a mature and fruiting trees are:

Manures/Fertilizers	Amount per plant
Organic manure	50.0 kg
Urea	2.0 kg
TSP	1.0 kg
MP	500 g
Gypsum	500 g
Zinc sulphate	25 g

The fertilizers should be applied into two equal split:one in mid May to mid July and other in mid September to mid October.

Irrigation:

Frequent irrigation is needed for fast growth of seedlings. The need for irrigation will arise during the drier part of the year from November to April and lesser in Summer(May-June). In the bearings trees, one irrigation at the later part of flowering and one irrigation at fruit setting stage(when the fruits are in a pea stage) will be needed. Basin system is best for irrigation.

Pruning:

Mango has no specific pruning schedule, except when trees are young to give them a good shape. All side shoots should be pruned upto a height of 1.0-1.5 m of the main stem. All the inflorescences should also be pruned upto 4 years of the seedlings age.

Intercultural operation;

Intercultural operation  of the mango orchard is necessary not only to remove the weeds which compete for water and nutrients but also to ensure aeration which is essential for the proper development root and shoot. Intercultural operation may help in reducing the pest population by killing them physically.

Maturity indices:

Appearance of wax coating, dots on the fruits, relative size of the fruits are some of the external appearances of the fruits which indicate maturity. However some ripened fruits when start dropping.it is said that maturity of that particular variety is reached.

Harvesting:

Mango fruits are rarely allowed to ripen on trees .Fruits may be harvested at the time when they show a slight yellowish color around the fruit stalk or when the specific gravity reaches 1.01 to 1.02 or when naturally one or two ripe fruits start dropping from the plant.Mango should be harvested without any injury. Generally fruits with stalk intact are harvested by hand or with the help of a bag affixed on along pole from the tall trees.

Yield:

The yield of mango varies with the variety, productivity of  flowering , growing condition influencing the size of the plants etc. The young trees, in the beginning, bear 15 to 20 fruits per year which increases to an average of 400 to 600 fruits in the 10^thyear and to 2500-5000 fruits per tree after 20^th year. The average fruit production in Bangladesh is 4.76 t/ha which is quite low compared to India (8-10 t/ha) as well as to the world production of 14-16 t/ha.

Diseases:

1 .Leaf spot disease

2. Red rust disease

3. Red leaf spot disease

4. Blight

6. Anthracnose/die-back

7. Powdery mildew disease

8. Sooty mold disease

9. Scab disease

10. Malformation

11. Fruit rot

12. Loranthus

Insects:

1.      Mango hopper

2.      Shoot-gall Psyllid of mango

3.      Mango fruit weevil

4.      Mango fruit fly

5.      Mango defoliator

6.      Mango stem borer

7.      Mango leaf gall-forming insects

SPECIAL PROBLEM:

Malformation :

Malformation is a serious threat to mango production. It affects both the vegetative  parts and the inflorescence. Malformed branches show stunted growth , with small and bunchy leaves; this disorder is thus called bunchy top. Most of the flowers on malformed inflorescences are male and fruit is hardly ever obtained from them. The cause is not yet known but viruses, fungi, mites and deficiency of element have all been considered as possible causes. Good management reduces the problem to some extent.

Alternate bearing:

Most of the commercial varieties of mango tend to produce crops in an alternate or biennial patter. Alternate bearing in fruit trees is the habit of bearing heavily in one year called the on year and very little or not all in the second year called the off year. The factors affecting it are environmental, physiological and genetic.