Mango growing in the Philippines Philippines

The big challenge to many mango growers these days is how to make mango production profitable. Planting mangoes and making them productive and profitable is no easy job. It takes very close supervision of the farm, observing what is going on so that every problem that crops up could be attended to immediately with the appropriate action. In other words, don’t just leave your trees to Mother Nature after planting them.

That in brief is just a part of the assessment of Rene Florencio who admits his own mistakes and frustrations in developing his 20-hectare mango orchard in Tarlac City. Now, he has learned so many things after 13 years, and for the first time he is going to make a good profit from his mango trees. This weekend, he will be harvesting some 40 tons of good quality fruits which were bagged. By next month, he expects to harvest 60 to 70 tons more from the next batch.

A corporate executive before getting into farming, he admits he knew nothing about fgrowing mangoes when he started his orchard. The very sad part was that he got the wrong advice from the start. The supplier of seedlings had recommended the distancing of five meters apart. That was a most expensive mistake. The crowded mango trees did not bear as many fruits as he expected. That is why he had to cut down more than one thousand of the trees, just retaining over 900.

He also hired a consultant with hands-on training. Monitoring what is happening on the farm is very important, according to him. For instance, one time he observed so many plant hoppers in a portion of his farm. He had to act very fast. They trees had to be sprayed with the right combination of pesticides immediately.If he had delayed spraying by two days, his entire crop would have gone to naught. And that is why he stresses that the needed chemicals should be stocked on the farm so that they are readily available when an emergency arises.

Source: mb.com.ph


News and updates in growing Carabao mango in the Philippines:

1. Planting mangoes before was done at 5 meters by 5 meters (Israel technology or high density planting) or by 10 meters by 10 meters, either seedlings or grafted.  Nowadays, the new planting distance for carabao mangoes is 15 meters by 15 meters in Luzon and 20 meters by 20 meters in Mindanao.

2. Since potassium nitrate was discovered to make carabao mangoes induce flowering, calcium nitrate has been also discovered to be an effective flower inducer to carabao mango and is more cheaper.  But still potassium nitrate is more potent flower inducer which commercial mango growers use to achieve maximun profits.