POLY-EMBRYONIC ROOTSTOCKS FOR MANGO
In fruit trees the influence of rootstock on the growth, productivity and fruit quality of the scion is well recognised and attempts to evolve standardised rootstocks are in progress in every country.
In mango, the high variability is due to the use of heterozygous mono-embryonic seedling rootstocks raised from indiscriminate collection of seed stones.
No systematic rootstock trials have been conducted in mango as in the case of other fruits, except the few observations reported elsewhere.
Oppenheimer (3) found that the largest trees were produced using Sabre stocks in spite of its dwarf character.
Gunaratnam (2) reported that grafts on Pulima, a wild mango in Ceylon, yielded profusely and regularly.
It has been reported from Sabour that Kalapady variety of the West coast was a dwarfing rootstock (1). To minimise the variability in mango, the poly-embryonic races, known for their uniformity and vigorous growth offer a great scope for use as rootstocks.
A few preliminary observations were reported by Bakshi (1) in this regard.
In order to study the performance of two popular commercial varieties Baneshan and Neelum on different poly-embryonic rootstocks, a trial was laid out in 1939 at the Regional Fruit Research Station Ananthrajupet, the results of which are discussed in this paper.
The observational trial consisted of Baneshan and Neelum trees grown on the following poly-embryonic rootstocks.
Scion | Rootstock | No. of trees |
Neelum | Pahutan | 1 |
-do- | Salen | 1 |
-do- | Goa | 1 |
-do- | Olour | 4 |
-do- | Mono-embryonic seedlings | 3 |
Baneshan | Kurkan | 10 |
-do- | Mylepelian | 1 |
-do- | Goa | 3 |
-do- | Nileswara Dwarf | 3 |
-do- | Pahutan | 3 |
-do- | Olour | 3 |
From the yearwise yield data the cumulative yields both in number and weight were calculated for assessing the relative performance. To study the uniformity in bearing of Neelum trees, eleven normal cropping years were chosen and the coefficient of variation in tree yield calculated.
The data on tree growth, yield and fruit quality are presented in table 1. The trees of Neelum grown in poly-embryonic rootstocks recorded greater measurements in height, spread and volume than those on monoebryonic
Swamy, G.S., Rama Rao, B.V. and Subramanyam Raju, D. (1972). POLY-EMBRYONIC ROOTSTOCKS FOR MANGO. Acta Hortic. 24, 110-116
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1972.24.19
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1972.24.19
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1972.24.19
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1972.24.19