Role of low night temperature days in fruit bud differentiation in mango trees under mild tropical rainy climatic conditions.
Rao M. M.
Author Affiliation: Department of Horticulture, UAS, Dharwad - 580 005, India.
Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences 11 : 1142-1144
Abstract : Data on flowering were collected for the irregular bearing mango cultivars Alphonso and Pairi and the regular bearing cultivars Neelum and Totapuri in Dharwad, India, during the periods 1989-91 and 1996-98 which covered on-off-on years. The year 1975-76, regarded as normal for fruit bud differentiation and flowering, was used as a reference year for temperature. Climatic records showed that for both the poor on years of 1991 and 1998 the mean monthly minimum temperature was higher than in 1975-76. In particular, the number of days recording temperatures of 13°C was 7 in both 1991 and 1998 compared with an 8-year mean of 33. As a certain minimum number of days below 13° is required for optimum flowering, the data suggest that this may well be a contributing factor in flower bud differentiation.