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High Density Planting of Mango Trees

Demonstration cum Varietal trial.

The new trend in mango cultivation is high density planting, (plant to plant spacing less than 3 m). IRTC has established a demonstration cum varietal trial plot in 4 cents of land adopting a spacing of 2.5mX2.5m. Under this method 640 plants can be planted in 1 acre land, instead of 60-70 plants under conventional method. Forty eight mango grafts have been planted during August 2014 and micro irrigation system installed. Six varieties have been planted with the intention to identify the most suitable variety for the locality.

The plants have to be regularly pruned and top worked to regulate the growth and canopy. The advantages of this method are:

1. The number of plants in a unit area is more than 10 times compared to conventional method.

2. The labour requirement is less and so the expense towards wages is minimised.

3. The plant growth is regulated in such a way that a person can do plant protection operation and harvesting without any external support or machinery.

4. Water requirement for irrigation and fertigation is minimised.

5. The application of flowering hormones is easier.

6. More yield from unit area compared to the yield from conventional plots.

7. Export quality and uniform size fruits.