Mango resources left on Okinawa Island and their diversity.
Ueda Y., Higuchi H.
Author Affiliation: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
Tropical Agriculture and Development 56 : 1-8
Abstract : Okinawa Island had old mango trees of unknown cultivars before the introduction of 'Irwin' which is the most important cultivar for commercial production. The continuous wet climate in Okinawa during the flowering season requires roof protection for stable fruit production, however, local Okinawa mango trees set fruit without protection. To identify these old mango trees, the morphological and physiological characteristics were recorded and their backgrounds of the introductions were interviewed to the local people. Their distributions were intensive around Nago and southern area from Urazoe, with thin distribution from Yomitan to Urazoe. Trees of about 100 years old were found such as in gardens and private homes. Some set fruit out of roof protection, and some set fruit off-season. ISSR analysis found that Okinawa mango trees exceeded the international standard cultivars in both the number of bands and polymorphism ratio, indicating wider diversity than the world major commercial cultivars. Interviews to the local people on the background of introduction and the result of ISSR suggest the relevance between most local Okinawa mango trees and Taiwanese resources.