By DOST-PCAARRD
A STUDY which addresses issues in mango yield and quality through the adoption of Integrated Crop Management is expected to boost the country’s mango industry.
Titled “Research and development of integrated crop management for mango production in the Southern Philippines and Australia,” the study is a component project of the Horticulture Program on Fruits and Vegetables.
The study is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology.
The study aims to prevent the decline in production and quality of fruits attributed to pests, such as thrips, cecid flies, and fruit flies as well as diseases such as anthracnose, blossom blight, scab, and stem end rot, which occur during pre and postharvest.
Production problem is even aggravated by concerns on unproductive trees and high costs of inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers.
Research institutions and local government units conduct research activities under the project to address the problems as cited.
Collaborating agencies include the University of Southeastern Philippines, Southern Philippines Agri-Business and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology, University of Southern Mindanao, University of the Philippines Los Baños, and Provincial Agriculturists Offices of Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur.
The research is geared towards improving fruit quality by developing effective insect control and integrated pest management solutions for pre and postharvest fungal diseases.
It also targets to improve fruit size, and yield by optimizing nutrition and canopy management. Ultimately, it aims to improve mango farmers’ livelihoods and profits by developing and implementing an integrated management package of “best practices.”
In an annual review of completed and on-going researches held recently, initial research results showed that the use of recommended insecticides with active ingredients cartap hydrochloride and profenofos were effective against thrips.
Spraying trees with plant growth regulator (PGR) could also reduce the incidence of blossom blight compared with multiple sprays of fungicide and could give higher average yield per tree.
Auxin, cytokinin, gibberellic acid, and salicylic acid were the PGRs used in the study.
In vitro and in vivo bioassay tests of different biofungicides against blossom blight, scab, anthracnose, and stem end rot were also conducted, but results are yet to be completed.
A national survey in eight major mango growing areas of the Philippines, which was completed, is expected to provide information as foundation of “best bet” management guidelines.
The study, “Research and development of integrated crop management for mango production in the Southern Philippines and Australia,” is linked with previous ACIAR-PCAARRD mango projects.
One of these projects showed that adoption of sustainable IPM practices could improve quality and yield of mango and could increase farmers’ income by 156 percent – an innovation, which is expected to benefit the country’s 2.5 million smallhold mango farmers.