Evaluation of new hybrid mango (Mangifera indica) selections in the central region of Brazil.
Pinto A. C. de Q., Ramos V. H. V., Anjos J. R. N. dos, Andrade S. R. M. de, Faleiro F. G., Cordeiro M. C. R., Gomes A. C., Dias J. N.
Author Affiliation: Embrapa Cerrados, Km 18 Br 020, PO Box 08223, 73301-970 Planaltina, DF, Brazil.
Proceedings of the Interamerican Society for Tropical Horticulture 47 : 195-197
Abstract : Mango (Mangifera indica) is an important tropical fruit cultivated in Brazil. However, its commercial importance is based on a few Floridian cultivars and 'Tommy Atkins' represents 80% of the total cultivated area. Although this cultivar has some important characteristics, such as acceptable fruit colour, long shelf-life and fibreless fruit, its susceptibility to mango malformation, high incidence of internal pulp breakdown and poor taste have induced mango breeders to search for a new cultivar with superior characteristics. Our breeding programme, coordinated by Embrapa Cerrados, intends to develop new cultivars with the objective of supporting the three components of the productive chain, i.e. growers, retailers and consumers. Growers request cultivars easy to manage, with high yield, regular bearing and totally adapted to adverse environment. The retailers want cultivars resistant to postharvest handling, shipping and transport. On the other hand, consumers request high quality mango regarding taste and fibreless fruit. Introduction of elite cultivars from other countries and Brazilian regions, crossing, evaluation and selection allowed the release of the first four cultivars 'Roxa Embrapa 141', 'Alfa Embrapa 142', 'Beta' and 'Lita' between 1998 and 2002. Some advanced selections have been evaluated and they present excellent characteristic of plant and fruits, which will be presented and discussed in this paper.