It is known as king of fruits and cultivated in India from old time. Mango is rich source of Vitamin A and C, its leaves are used as fodder in case of shortage of fodder while wood is used for furniture making. Unripe fruits are used for chutney, pickles and ripe fruits are used for eating purpose as well as for syrups, jam and jelly. Major mango producing states are, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat. 

In Maharashtra, near about 5 lakh hectare area is under mango cultivation with productivity of 12 lakh metric ton. Kokan belt is major mango growing region of Maharashtra.

It can be grown on variety of soil. Deep soil without any hard pan upto depth of 4feet are required for mango cultivation. pH of soil should be less than 8.5%. 

Hapus: Popular variety. Fruits are with firm flesh with excellent orange color.

Kesar: Medium size fruits with fibre less sweet flesh.

Ratna: Medium size, atractive fruits.

Gulabi

Vanraj

Sindhu

Kokan Ruchi

Kokan Raja

Samrat

Pairi: Early maturing, heavy bearing crop. medium size, good quality fruits.

Langra: Fruits are medium to large, smooth having lemon yellow color. Flesh is fibreless with fine test. Skin of fruit is medium thick. Fruits are ready to harvest in second week of July. It gives average yield of 100kg per plant.

Other States Variety

Dusheri: It is widely grown in a region. Fruits are ready to harvest in first week of July. Fruits are small to medium size, smooth having yellow color, sweet in test and stone is of small size. Fruits having better keeping quality. It is regular bearing crop. It gives average yield of 150kg fruits per tree.

Amrapali: Dwarf variety with small to medium size fruits. It is suitable for high density planting. Fruits are fibreless and of excellent quality.

Mallika: Regular bearing variety with attractive fruits. 

Sudaraja: Fruits are sweet having TSS content 22%. It gives average yield of 65kg per plant. 

Bombay Green: Early season variety. Fruits are medium size, ovate and oblong shape. It is having medium keeping quality. 

Fazli: Late season variety having large size, oblong to oval shape. Fruits are having medium keeping quality. 

Chausa: It is late season variety. Fruits are large and oval shape with light yellow in color. 

Gulab Khas: Mid season, regular and heavy bearing variety. Fruits are amber color and its keeping quality is good.

Pusa Surya: Regular bearing variety. Fruits are medium to large size having attractive yellow color. It is rich in vitamin C. 

Pusa Pratibha: Regular bearing variety and suitable for high density planting. Fruits are having attractive red color and yellow pulp.

Ambika: Fruits are medium size, smooth with tough skin. Fruits are bright yellow color with dark red blush. It is late maturing and regular bearing variety.

Arunika: It is cross of Amrapali and Vanraj. Fruits are attractive with red blush.

Hybrids: Amrapali, Ratna, Arka Arjun, Arka Puneet, Arka Anmol, Sindhu, Manjeera

Varieties: Alphonso, Himsagar, Kesar, Neelam, Lucknow safeda, Pusa Peetamber, Pusa Lalima, Pusa Shreshth, Vanraj, Zardalu, Suvarnarekha, Imam Pasand.

Do ploughing, cross ploughing of land and then levelled the land. Prepare land in such way that water stagnation should not occurred in field. After levelling take one more deep ploughing and then divide lands in blocks. Spacing is varied from place to place.

Time of sowing

Planting is done in month of August-September also in February - March. Do planting in cool hours of evening. Protect crop from high wind. 

Spacing

In heavy soils, spacing of 10mx10m is adopted where as for light soils, use spacing of 9mx9m.

Sowing Depth

Dug pits of 1x1x1m size at distance of 10x10m one month earlier before planting. Expose them to sun. fill with mixture of soil, 30 to 40 kg of FYM or Compost and 1kg single super phosphate.

Method of sowing

Square and Hexagonal planting can be adopted. Hexagonal planting accommodates 15% more plants.

Seed Rate

Spacing of 10mx10m will accommodates plant population of 40tree per acre where as for medium density planting, it will accommodates, 160plants per acre.

Seed Treatment

Before planting, dip stones in solution of Dimethoate for few minutes. It will protect crop from mango weevils. Seed treatment with Captan fungicide protect seeds from fungal infections. 

Fertilizer Requirement (gm/tree)

Apply Phosphorus twice in a year i.e. in June-July at start of monsoon and then in month of September-October. 

Nitrogen and Potash are applied in splits doses in month of June-July, September-October, January-February and March-April.  

Some time changing weather causes fruit and inflorances drop. If fruit drop is observed to minimise it spray 13:00:45@10gm/Ltr of water. Use mulching to minimise temperature effect. For good flowering and yield, spray 00:52:34 @150gm/15Ltr of water twice at 8days interval when flowering starts. It will prevent flower drop also.

Weeding and earthing up should be done around newly planted crop. Black plastic mulch (100micron) is used to restrict weed growth. For young crop 1mx1m black polythene mulch size is required where as 2.5mx2.5m is required for eight years and above tree.

Management of irregular Bearing in Mango 

To obtained regular bearing in Mango, drench Paclobutrazol@5-10gm/meter-canopy of diameter, three month before budburst. 

Amount and interval of irrigation depend upon, type of soil, climate and source of irrigation. To young plant apply light and frequent irrigation. Light irrigation alwase give best results as compared to flood irrigation. In summer apply irrigation at interval of 5-7days where as in winter slowly increased irrigation interval to 25-30days. In rainy season, apply irrigation depending upon rainfall intensity. Bearing trees required irrigation during fruit development period at interval of 10-12days. After fertilizer application in February month give light irrigation. 

• Pests and their control:

Mealy Bug: It causes damage to crop by sucking sap from inflorescences, stem, leaves and shoot. Infestation observed mostly in January to April. Mealy bug affected part dried and sooty mould is seen on infected parts.

To prevent tree from mealy bug infestation, 25cm width Polythene(400gauge) strip fastened around tree trunk to stop ascent of nymphs before hatching of eggs in month of Nov and Dec. If infestation is observed, spray Acephate@2gm/Ltr or Spirotetramat@3ml/Ltr of water to control mealy bug.

Mango Hopper: Infestation is observed mostly in February-March Month when crop is in flowering stage. They suck sap from inflorescences, leaves. On infection flower get sticky and sooty mould a black color fungus is developed on affected parts.

If infestation is observed take Spray Cypermethrin 25EC @3ml or Deltamethrin 28EC@9ml or Fenvelarate20EC@5ml or Neembicidine 1000ppm@20ml in 10Ltr water on whole tree.

Mango Fruit Fly: It is serious pest of mango. Females lay eggs below epidermis of young fruits. Later on maggots feed on pulp afterward fruits starts rotting and get drop.

Destroy infected fruits away from field. During fruit developed stage, hang traps of 100ml emulsion of methyl Engenol 0.1%. In May month start spraying of Chlorpyrifos 20EC@2ml/Ltr of water for three times with interval of 20days.

• Diseases and their control:

Powdery Mildew: Whitish powdery growth observed on inflorescence and the floral parts. In severe condition, they get drop. Also fruits, branches and floral part show dieback symptoms.

Before flowering, during flowering and after fruit set, take spray of 1.25kg wet able sulphur in 200litre of water. If needed, take second spray with interval of 10-15days. If infestation is observed in field, take spray of 178% Imidacloprid@3ml along with Hexaconzole@5ml/10Ltr water or Tridemorph@5ml or Carbendazim @10gm/10Ltr of water.

Stem Borer: Serious pest of mango crop. It create tunnel under bark and destroyed tree by feeding on internal tissue. Larva of stem borer excreta is observed outside of tunnel.

If infestation is observed, clean tunnel with hard wire and insert cotton swab dip in mixture of Kerosene and Chlorpyriphos in ratio of 50:50 and then closed it with mud.

Anthracnose or Dieback: Dark brown or black spots are observed on shoots. On fruits also small, raise, dark spots are observed.

To control dieback and other diseases, cut infested, dead portion and apply Bordo Paste on it. Spray Bordeaux mixture@10gm/Ltr of water. If infestation observed in field take spray of Copper oxychloride@30gm/10Ltr on infected trees. If Anthracnose observed on new flush. Spray with Thiophanate methyl@10gm or Carbendazim@10gm/10Ltr of water.

Black Tip: Fruits get abnormally elongated at tips along with pre-mature ripening of fruits.

During flowering take spray of Borax@6gm/ltr of water + Copper Oxychloride@3gm/Ltr of water for three times with 10-15days interval.

Changing of fruit color is sign of fruit maturity. It usually required 15-16week after fruits set to get mature. Pick individual fruits with help of ladder or bamboo having sharp knife and having net to collect harvested fruits. Avoid falling of fruits on ground as it will damage fruits during storage. After harvesting, do sorting and grading of fruits according to size, color and then packed in boxes. Place harvested fruits on polynet upside down.

After harvesting dip fruits in water. Reject immature fruits which float on water. After that place fruits in 25gm/Ltr salt water. Fruits which float in salt water are mainly used for export. According to prevention of Food adulteration act (1954) ripening of any food by using Carbide gas is a crime. For uniform ripening of fruits , dip 100kg fruits in 100Ltr of water containing (62.5ml-187.5ml) Ethrel at 52±2°C for 5min within 4-8 days after harvesting. For fruit fly detection in export quality fruits VHT (vapor heat treatment) is compulsory. For this process  use 3days prior harvested fruits.