Pakistani mangoes are demanded highly in the international market due to its specific characteristics like shape, size, color, and most likely taste. But many mango growers were not able to meet the criteria of the international market. But if we produce more mangoes so that not only they meet the domestic demand but also exportable. Now it is a turning point, high-density farming of mangoes is looking promising to enhance the production for not only domestic but also exportable in Pakistan. In this article, I will discuss the high-density plantation in mangoes. There are the following outlines,
- Land preparation
- Number of plants
- Fertilizer and irrigation
- Plant protection
- Estimated yield
Land preparation
Land preparation is a very initial step, it is very important because once you did it very well then for a whole life season of mangoes, you will not be able to manage just like that. Removing the plant debris and other stubs, rocks for cleaning first. After that land leveling with laser, the technique is very important to set the flow of water. After preparing the soil with a well-pulverized condition, holes are dug with specific plants to plant distance. Two kinds of strategies are preferred, the first is high-density plantation while another is ultra-high-density plantation is used. The high-density plantation has appeared as much more suitable than an ultra-high-density plantation.
High density mango plantation spacing
As compared to the traditional way of farming, in HDP a greater number of plants can be grown and get more production. In the HDP technique, plant to plant distance is kept 7-8ft and line to line distance is between 8-10 ft. By, this cropping pattern about 700-750 plants per acre can be grown which is a big quantity than traditional farming of mangoes. In HDP, just like in the guava crop, its height is maintained up to 10 ft so that it should be easier to harvest the fruit.
Fertilizer and irrigation
For long-term business, where mango plants have more than 100 years of average life, drip irrigation is the best way to handle the fertilizer and irrigation schedule once it’s established then it is very easier to take care of. In drip irrigation, farmers can get the maximum benefit when water and fertilizers will be available in optimum quantity within plant root, hence the competition between weeds and mango plants will be less. Fortunately, 60 percent of government subsidy is available to establish a drip irrigation system.
Plant protection
Plant height maintenance is very important. Different expert suggests the height should be up to 10 ft. The plant should be taken from that nursery where its height and health should be bearable for the plant when plants are shifted in the field area. Initially, plants need extra care in winter it should be covered to avoid the frost danger in the month of February whereas in summer they should be protected from sharp sunlight. On the other hand, weeds needed to be taken care of whether by manual method or chemical method, but drip irrigation is very useful to reduce the competition. Different fungal diseases can be faced which should be controlled with fungicides otherwise took suggestions from experts from the agriculture department nearby. There are the following insect, pest, and diseases in a mango orchard,
Mango hopper
It is very common in a mango orchard, with two lifelines appearing during the whole year. The first one is in February and March responsible for damaging flowers while in July it damages the new flushes and reduces food distribution among fruits. Proper insecticides after the recommendation with agricultural experts should be applied.
Fruit fly and Bacterial blight
Farmers get confused between these two attacks, there is a difference and their control is also different accordingly. When fruit gets spotted with a larger number of black spots then this is bacterial blight and fruit fly attack is can be symptomized as a very minute sting on mango fruit skin with black color and secretion can be noted. For bacterial blight, copper oxide or any other fungicides are recommended whereas for fruit fly a mixture of protein hydrolysate with insecticides can be applied on the northern sides of the plant.
Mango fruit borer
Fruit borer is very common in mango when fruits are in cluster form and touch each other especially in “Sindhri” where fruits are in cluster forms. Borer starts laying eggs in fruits under shade conditions. It nourishes more where flowers malformation is abundant. So, remove flower malformation and avoid fruit clusters touching each other by covering them with polythene bags. Spray chemical insecticides to avoid this problem.
High density farming mango yield
It is estimated that if one plant gives 15-20 kg of fruit per plant, then for 700 plants its production will be 10500 to 14000 kg of production per acre. This production is awesome.
Conclusion
- Purchase the plants from well-reputed nurseries.
- The plant should be disinfected with fungicides so that soil-borne diseases should be removed.
- For exportable mango, late “chaunsa” or “sufaid chaunsa” is demanded from the international market.
- During complete maturity, if rain happened, due to the excessive humidity there may be chances to happen post-harvest diseases like anthracnose, stem-end rot, etc. This is very important for the export business.
- For fertilizer and irrigation, drip irrigation is best suitable. The subsidy of drip irrigation is 60%.
- There are several pathogens that can attack the mango orchard but some of the diseases and insects are very important like mango hopper, fruit fly, bacterial blight, mango fruit borer, etc.
- The HDP technique should be encouraged so that farmers can enhance the quality and quantity of mango.
- The HDP technique is very useful for the exportable business.
- Mango is an evergreen plant, but it is suggested that plants should be planted in the field in the month of August and September.
- A large quantity of production is estimated from the HDP technique, which is a way of earning more profit.
I hope this article will help you a lot, new technology in the mango farming trend will be sooner will be very looking promising. Stay tuned!