.::. BAR Chronicle .::. A monthly publication of the Bureau of Agricultural Research

Vol. 3 No. 7
April 1-15, 2002
Prune and have more fruits
by Mary Charlotte O. Fresco

How about a fresh look at the cultivation and proper care of the mango tree?

Mango is believed to be "plant-it-and-let it grow" tree as it is self-sufficient and capable of producing fruits without any interventions. However, the tree's complex and compact structure require proper attention especially during vegetative stage, wherein overcrowding and overlapping of branches directly affect the tree's yield performance. This is where pruning plays a vital role.

Pruning is part of cultural management done mainly to eliminate weak, diseased, overcrowded, and acutely angled space branches.

Dr. Hernani Golez, Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) national team leader for fruits RDE, said that pruning is one of mango production technologies practiced to increase yield and to produce better quality fruits. Dr. Golez emphasized that there are many types of pruning techniques suited to different crops and their effects on yield efficiency need to be investigated.

To address this concern, agriculturists from DA-Southern Mindanao Integrated Agricultural Research Center (SMIARC), Bago Oshiro, Davao City conducted a study on the effect of different pruning techniques on the productivity of grafted mango.

To determine which type of pruning is best applied to increase mango yield, fruit experts tested three types of pruning. For ease in comparison, researchers assigned the following codes: T2 (1 primary, 2 secondary, 3 tertiary, 3 quaternary branches); T3 (1 primary, 2 secondary, 3 tertiary, 4 quaternary branches); T4 (1 primary, 3 secondary, 3, tertiary, 4 quaternary branches).

T1 served as the control, which means that no pruning was done. The numbers enclosed in parenthesis indicate the type and number of branches that need to be left untrimmed in the tree.

The researchers worked on an experimental farm, about a hectare, planted with 16 grafted carabao mango seedlings. They first pruned the mango seedlings three months (about six-month old) after they were transplanted in the field. The succeeding prunings were done every three months or before flushing (sprouting of young leaves) until the target number of branches was attained. The seedlings were nurtured with necessary care and maintenance they need like applying organic fertilizers every six months; pest and disease prevention at least once a month; and weeding, which was done regularly. Researchers applied flower inducer (which is normally applied during flowering season) to the trees on the fourth year.
The researchers observed the effect of different pruning techniques on the growth and yield performance of the mango trees for six years (October 1994 to May 2000). They found that mango trees pruned using T4 technique with 1 primary, 3 secondary, 3 tertiary, and 4 quaternary branches, were observed to have the widest canopy of 303.9 cm during their vegetative stage and 580.47 cm at their productive or fruit bearing stage.

More importantly, mango trees pruned using T4 produced more fruiting terminals with an average of 966. The least number of fruiting terminals was noted in T2 pruned trees with 782, which is similar to the unpruned (control) trees with 807 fruiting terminals.

In view of these results, the researchers attributed the increased number of fruiting terminals to the capability of the tree to produce more fruits. They observed that T4 trees bore more fruits (154 fruits/tree) compared to T2 and control trees, which produced only 89 and 108 fruits per tree, respectively. They added that pruning the plants in its early stage of growth helps maintain the desired number of strong and healthy branches.

Also, researchers discovered that proper pruning helps increase the panicle length, which influences the yield efficiency in mango. The longest panicle was observed in T4 pruned trees (33.70 cm).

Experts recommend the pruning of the mango trees using T4 for bigger and overcrowded orchards and farms.

For more information, please contact: Mr. Noel T. Estrellana and Rufino C. Odtojon, DA-SMIARC, Bago Oshiro, Davao City at telephone number (082) 903-2869.