Crop improvement in mango - a review.
Padhiar B. V., Parmar B. R.
Author Affiliation: ASPEE College of Horticulture and Forestry, Gujarat Agricultural University, Nausari Campus, Nausari - 396 450 (Guj.), India.
Advances in Horticulture and Forestry 9 : 1-39
Abstract : At present, mango is being cultivated in at least 111 countries in the world. Out of approximately 1000 mango cultivars, only few cultivars are commercially popular and grown on a large scale. Efforts have been made at various mango research centres to improve the mango for some of the important characters such as precocity, dwarfness, prolificity and regularity of bearing, self-fruitfulness and resistance to diseases and pests. The progress made so far is not much satisfactory, however, the hybrids Prabhashanker, Mehmudbahar, Alfazli, Sunderlangra, Sabri, Jawahar (Bihar), Neeluddin, Neelgoa, Neeleshon, Swarnajahangir, AU Rumani, Manjira, Sangareddy Mango (Sangam) (Andhra Pradesh), Mallika, Amrapali (New Delhi), Ratna, Sindhu, an off-season cultivar Niranjan and Sai Sugandh (RHR-M-1) (Maharashtra State), Neelphonso, Neeleshan (Gujarat), Neeleshwari, GMH-1 (Gujarat), Arka Aruna, Arka Punit, Arka Anmol, Arka Neelkiran (IIHR, Bangalore, Karnataka), CISH-M-1, CISH-M-2 (CISH, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh), PKM-1 and PKM-2 (Tamil Nadu) have been evolved and released for the cultivation in the regions of the country. Samini, Simmonds and Edward were released from Florida, USA, while the selections (open-pollinated) Naomi 16/36, 1/5 and 20/1 were also released from Israel. Further, a seedling mango 13-1 as rootstock tolerant to calcareous soil (Fe-deficient) and saline water has also been reported from Israel. New mango hybrids from Brazil, i.e. Embrappa Roxa-141 and Embrappa Alfa-142, were released for cultivation. Several new wild species of mango from Malay peninsular regions have been re-discovered, which were found to survive in prolong wet conditions, resistant to anthracnose, other pests and diseases as well as have better pollinating qualities and high fruit setting rate imparting the importance for breeding work. Use of biotechnology for the search of new cultivar or rootstock strikes the door to play a vital role in mango improvement. The inter-specific hybridization needs further study.