IRRIGATION OF MANGO ORCHARDS

Dr. Altaf Ali Siyal

Faculty of Agricultural Engineering
Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam

Irrigation during the fruit developmental stage of mango is vital to prevent fruit drop and to
increase the development of young fruit. Additional irrigation from fruit set to ripening will
result in a significant improvement in both fruit size and quality. Therefore, success of mango
orchards depends largely on method and management of irrigation. Proper irrigation scheduling,
especially during critical periods of tree growth and fruit development, plays vital role in the
sustainability of orchard. The principal objective of irrigation is to apply the required volume of
water as per tree requirement at the right time. The frequency and amount of irrigation needed
depends on the type of soil, its properties, prevailing climatic conditions, rainfall and
distribution, age and size of tree.

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is an evergreen tree grown of tropical and subtropical regions of
the world. Due to its superb, juicy, tasty and very colourful fruit, mango is known as the 'King of
fruits'. It is some times also called ‘apple of the tropics’. Mango is said that cultivation of mango
originally started in South East Asia where it is being cultivated for last four to six thousand
years. Now it is cultivated in 112 countries of the world. In Pakistan, it is grown over an area of
about 10,000 hectares with an annual production of about one million tonnes. Pakistan is ranked
number fifth in world with 4% of world’s total mango production.

Tropical and sub-tropical climates are best suited for mango cultivation. For optimum growth
and production, the average maximum temperature should be between 27 and 38°C. Planting of
mango trees is usually carried out during the months of July and August in rain-fed areas while
in February and March in irrigated areas at a spacing of 10 x 10 sq. meters. Mango trees grow
and flourish well on various soil types. The ideal soil texture for mango cultivation is sandy loam
and loam with clay content of about 10 to 25 percent. However, it can also grow well on clayey
soils. The tree has a long un-branched long tap root down to 6-8 m in soil. Effective root
system may be 1.2 m deep with lateral spread as far as 7 m. However, most of the roots
responsible for water and nutrient uptake are found within top 70 cm of soil, with the largest
concentrations in the top 50 cm.

Mango tree is considered drought resistant to some extent; however soil moisture influences the
fruit size, quality as well as the drop of immature fruits. Under hot and dry climate, the irrigation
prevents the drop of immature fruits during fruit development period. It is also observed that the
moisture deficit in soil results in early maturity to fruits resulting in poor fruit quality. Thus,
regular irrigation as per tree requirement during fruit development and maturity period improves
not only yield but also the quality of fruits. Properly irrigated trees have fruits of better size and
juicier than those trees with soil moisture deficit. When to irrigate and how much to irrigate? is
important for maximum fruit yield and quality.

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Mango orchards are usually irrigated by conventional methods such as flood, basin, ring and
furrow. However, some of the progressive growers have changed irrigation strategies and now
they are irrigating their orchards with modern micro-irrigation methods such as drip and under
tree sprinkler system. Each system has advantages and disadvantages, as one system may be
suitable for one set of conditions but unsuitable for another. Therefore, proper selection of an
irrigation method is imperative for the better yield and quality of mango production.

The water requirement of a mango tree increases with the increase in the age of tree and becomes
constant when the full canopy has been developed at the age of about 20 years to 25 years. In
light soil (sand to sandy loam) irrigation frequency should be more than in heavy (clay) soils.
The more sandy and gravelly the soil, the more frequent irrigations should be. In heavy soils,
frequent irrigation may causes damage to root system and stem. But the interval between
irrigations should not be too long so that plant faces moisture stress.

Depending on soil type, climatic conditions, plant density, variety, size and age of tree, the
annual plant water requirements vary from 50 to 400 liters/day/plant. Plant water requirement
increases dramatically during fruit development. If we consider a tree grown on a sandy soil with
canopy within 5 m diameter then the water required to bring 50 cm soil depth having 50%
depleted moisture to the field capacity (most favorable moisture content for plant growth) can
easily be calculated as 3.6 cm. This moisture can be extracted by plant within 2 to 7 days
depending on soil type, age of tree and climatic conditions.

As per mango tree phenology, there are 5 stages of life cycle of mango tree viz. flowering, fruit
development, vegetative growth, root development, and dormancy. About 80% of water is
required by tree during flowering and fruit development stages. It is advisable to stop irrigation
at least 10 to 15 days before harvest. Irrigation during maturity will stimulate growth of new
buds and leaves resulting in poor fruit quality.

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During visits of various mango farms located in outskirts of Hyderabad city it was observed that
mango trees were facing dry stress at some farms which were irrigated with under tree sprinkler
irrigation system having 3 to 4 jet sprinklers per tree. Due to lack of proper design and
management, the system did not deliver the required volume of water to the entire diameter of
canopy. Only about half of the diameter of canopy cover received the required volume of water
(field capacity), while remaining area was under water deficit. Application of water only on the
half of root lateral spread, did not meet evapo-transpitration requirements of tree at maturity
under the scorching heat of Sindh. Thus, plant leaves appeared unnourished with wilted tips.
Lack of required moisture content in root zone caused higher fruit drop, poor fruit quality and
lower yield.

While selecting an irrigation system, it is advisable to consider available water resource, soil
type, age and canopy of tree and climatic conditions of the area. Basin system has given better
results where sufficient water is available. It is advisable to irrigate the entire soil surface up to
plant canopy. With limited water resources and climatic conditions where annual evaporation is
higher than annual rainfall, drip (trickle) irrigation is more appropriate than that of under tree
sprinkler system. It is better to make sure that the irrigation system is designed to deliver the
seasonal and peak water requirements throughout the life span of the irrigation system. Technical
staff to run the system should have quantitative knowledge of tree water requirements and
relationships among soil, water, weather and plant characteristics for proper irrigation scheduling
and management. It is also advised to irrigate once the entire land of orchard with flood irrigate
so as to avoid any salinity development at the periphery of canopy due to drip irrigation

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