FACTORS AFFECTING 'OMER' AND 'MAYA' MANGO PRODUCTION IN ISRAELI ORCHARDS

The Israeli mango cultivars ‘Omer’ and ‘Maya’ have high-quality fruit that are in high demand in international markets. However, the orchards suffer from low yields (30 t/ha) compared to other common commercial cultivars. The aim of this work, performed over three consecutive years (2010-2012), was to identify factors affecting ‘Omer’ and ‘Maya’ production in order to develop methods for its improvement. Results suggested that the moderate temperatures during fruit development from April to August 2011 were an important factor contributing to yield increment in both cultivars – by increasing fruit number per ‘Omer’ tree (from ~170 fruit/tree in 2010 and 2012 to 220 fruit/tree in 2011), and by enhancing ‘Maya’ fruit weight (from ~290 g in 2010 and 2012 to 340 g in 2011). In addition, our results showed a positive relationship between ‘Omer’ and ‘Maya’ fruit load and the previous autumn’s vegetative growth intensity (more fruit developing on shoots with greater intensive autumn vegetative growth). Thus, it is suggested that developing methods to reduce temperatures during fruit development, such as shade nets over the trees, and/or to increase autumn vegetative growth by early harvest, mild pruning or additional irrigation, might improve ‘Omer’ and ‘Maya’ production.