Guidelines To Save Mango Varieties From Vivipary

MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Nov, 2016 ) : Agriculture experts have issued guidelines for farmers regarding precautions they must take during nurturing late mango varieties to save them from a new problem called Vivipary.

Crops in Pakistan have been suffering from adverse impact of change in weather behaviour for the last few years and mango is no exception, says a release issued by media liaison unit of the Punjab agriculture department here Monday.

Mango production was somewhat better in 2016, however, extreme hot weather made late mango varieties, particularly White Chaunsa, suffer from a new problem experts identify as 'Vivipary' under which embryo inside the fruit triggers unnecessary growth, and sometimes, continues growth even after breaking the seed shell.

This disorder does not affect all varieties but only the late mango varieties particularly the White Chaunsa. Other damages hot and dry weather conditions can causes included damaged mango skin, evaporation of plant moisture which affects photosynthesis process ie food formation process in plants.

Researchers have found that heat mostly affect the fruit hanging in trees in south-west side because intensity of heat is more on this side after noon time.

Early absorption of heat units by late mango fruit is one of the factors behind Vivipary disorder.

Experts said that this year White Chaunsa was in the process of nurturing when fruit absorbed heat units early that reduced its size and got maturity early. Fruit can also suffer from Vivipary in case of application of Nitrogen during growth or in case of heavy rain that makes Nitrogen in air accessible to the fruit.

Application of Peclobutakonazole to gain early maturity for late mango varieties can also cause this disorder. Other factors included keeping the fruit exposed to sunlight for longer period after harvest, and delay in cooling the fruit during processing.

Experts advised farmers to be careful in trimming the late mango varieties' plants. Farmers should opt for mulching to keep the soil temperature moderate and avoid loss of water. Growth of trees on the edges of mango orchard can be beneficial as they can serve as fence and keep the plants and fruit safe against extreme hot weather.

Fruit should be kept at cool places at the processing plants, the release concluded.