Sarhad J. Agric. Vol.28, No.3, 2012

PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED PARAMETERS OF CULTIVARS IN MUZAFFARGARH DISTRICT (PUNJAB), PAKISTAN MUHAMMAD IQBAL*, MUHAMMAD NIAMATULLAH*, A. HUSSAIN*, MUHAMMAD MUNIR*, IMRAN KHAN** and MUHAMMAD QASIM KHAN*** * Faculty of Agriculture, Gomal University, D.I. Khan – Pakistan. ** Department of Economics, Agricultural University, Peshawar – Pakistan. *** Department of Agriculture, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan – Pakistan. ABSTRACT The experiment was conducted in a private mango orchard at Muzaffargarh District, Pakistan during 2009. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the performance of selected mango cultivars. Ten mango cultivars (Yakta, Alphanso, Anwar Ratual, Dosehri, Fajri, Safed Chaunca, Langra, Malda, and Alishan) were selected. The parameters to be observed included time of flowering, days to fruit setting, fruit weight, days to fruit maturity and yield. The results indicated that Yakta, Malda and Langra were the earliest cultivars (i.e. fruit maturity on June 7th), while Fajri and Alishan were the late ones (i.e fruit maturity in the 3rd week of July). Heaviest weight (455.90 gm) of a single fruit was noted in cultivar Fajri, while highest yield was obtained from cultivar langra (140 kg/tree). The LSD values from the statistical analysis indicated that the differences among the fruit yield per tree of ten cultivars of Mango (P<0.01) were significant. Based on these results it was concluded that cultivars Langra, Malda, Fajri, Safed and Anwar Ratual were successfully grown and had the highest yields (kg/tree) under Muzaffargarh District’s environment. Key Words:Mango, cultivars, time of flowering, fruit set, fruit maturity, yield. Citation: Iqbal, M., M. Niamatullah, A. Hussain, M. Munir, I. Khan and Q. Khan. 2012. Performance of selected parameters of mango cultivars in muzaffargarh district Punjab. Sarhad J. Agric. 28(3):395-398

INTRODUCTION Mango ( indica L.) belongs to the dicotyledonous family of Ancardiaceae. There are as many as 40 or even more species of Mangifera mango. These species are believed to be grown in tropical and sub tropical region of South Asia probably in India for over 4000 years (Ravi et al. 2002). Mangoes are well established commodity of International trade because of their high quality. Pakistani Mangoes fetch good price in Europe, Canada, Gulf and Far Eastern countries. Pakistan, actually, exported 183,000 tons of mangoes with a value of 3,453 million rupees during 2007-08. Mango contains a lot of carbohydrates. The proportion of other constituents such as acids and protein are low in ripe fruit. They are also a rich source of vitamin-A and have good amount of vitamin-B and C. Mangoes have more carotenoids than most other fruits. Carotenoids help to reduce the risk of cancer and heart diseases. Mangoes are higher in the fiber content and contain carbohydrates, which are converted into energy by the body.

Mangoes also contain calcium, iron, potassium and a little protein. The composition in general differs with cultivars and stage of maturity. The composition of edible portion of mango fruit contains: 80% moisture, 63% calories, 0.4% protein, 0.4% fats, 16% carbohydrates, 20% vitamin-A, 3.6% thiamin B1, 2.5% riboflavin B2, 2.2% niacin, 20.20% vitamin C, 1.1% calcium and 4.0% iron (Chauhcin and Cahoon (1987), Rao and Mukherjee (1989), Haag et al (1990). Mango inflorescence is a branched terminal panicle, up to 0.6 m long, and has several hundred to several thousand flowers. A tree can have 200 to 3000 panicles with a potential to produce tremendous number of flowers (Barui and Ghosh, 2002). Perfect flowers (both male and female parts in the same flower) are formed on the same panicle. Pollination is accompanied by various insects. However, only a very small percentage of the flowers develop into fruit for commercial production. These are classified as drupes (2-3) and range in size from about 85 gm to over 2.3 kg, depending upon the cultivar.

Mango is known as an important fruit of tropics and milder sub-tropics. It is considered one of the most important fruit after citrus. Important mango producing districts in Pakistan are Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas, Nawab Shah, Muzaffargarh, Sukkar, Faisalabad, Karachi and D.I.Khan (Jilani et al. 2010 and Rajwana et al. 2011). Mangoes can be grown from sea level to an altitude of 600m. It, however, can’t withstand severe cold and frost. Hot winds also adversely affect the plant. It is limited to tropical or near tropical climate because of its susceptibility (tenderness) to cold. Mango trees are grown on a wide range of soil types but best production comes from well Muhammad Iqbal et al. Performance of selected parameters of mango in Muzaffargarh … 396 drained sandy loam soil at least 150-180 cm deep. The sub soil should be free from hard sticky clay and water logged conditions. The requirements of water depend on the type of soil and climate, planting distance, cultivar, age of plants, developmental stages, NPK applications and weather conditions (Malik and Mitra, 2001; Reddy et al. 2001; Gawankar et al. 2010; Dhake et al. 2011)). However at flowering time irrigation interval should be reduced as its affects flower drop. During summer weekly irrigation is required while during winter, it is irrigated fortnightly. Since mango fruit needs special type of soil, climate and has different irrigational and nutritional requirements, it would then be necessary to choose cultivars which can be best grown in Muzaffargarh area. This study is therefore designed to select suitable cultivars for growers who are interested in planting an orchard in the District of Muzaffargarh.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was laid out in private mango orchards at Muzaffargarh during 2009. The research was carried out in Randomized Complete Block Design with 3 treatments and 3 replications. Trees in each treatment were selected from each cultivar. Farm yard manure @ 50kg per tree was applied to each tree. The N, P, and K at the rate of 3, 3, and 2 Kg per tree respectively, were also applied one week before flowering. The rest of other cultural practices were adopted according to the local farming environment. For data collection the following parameters were measured: Time of Flowering The time (date) of appearance of 50% flowers at bloom in each cultivar.

Days to Fruit Setting The days from flowering to fruit setting were calculated from the first flowering to fruit setting and then the mean was determined.

Fruit Weight (gm) Fruit weight (gm) was recorded and then statistically analyzed using LSD at 0.01% alpha level.

Days to Fruit Maturity Days from fruit setting to maturity were counted and then mean was computed.

Yield/Tree (kg) All the fruits per tree were weighed in kg and the yield per tree was determined.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Time of Flowering and Days to Fruit Setting Time of flowering is an important parameter since it affects time of maturity, which in turn relates to the marketing of any commodity. Most of the time, the commodity coming into the market very early or late attracts the consumers and offers higher price to the growers. In this research the time of flowering is reported in Table I. The data indicated that out of ten cultivars of mango that were studied Malda and Langra were the early flowering cultivars which flowered in the 1st week of February. Yakta, Sindhri and Dosehri started producing flowers from February 7-9th. Anwar Ratual produced flowers in the second week of February. Fajri, Alishan, Alphanso and Safed Chaunsa produced flowers (latest) in the 3rd week of February. These results are in close association with Hoda et al (2003).

It was also observed that the cultivars which produced flowers earlier led to earlier fruit setting Table I. Malda, Langra and Yakta cultivars showed first fruit set on March 1st, Sindhri and Dosehri were the next by setting the fruits at March 5th followed by Alishan by setting fruit on March 7th. Fruit set in Anwar Ratual started on March 10th. Rest of cultivars showed first fruit set in the beginning of 3rd week of March (Muhammad et al. 2002). Sarhad J. Agric. Vol.28, No.3, 2012 397

Table I Time of flowering and days to fruit setting of different mango cultivars at Muzaffargarh Name of Cultivar Time of flowering Days to fruit setting(Days) Alphanso 3rd week of February 32 Anwar Ratual 2nd week of February 33 Dosehri February 7-9th 31 Fajri 3rd week of February 33 Yakta February 7-9th 33 Langra 1st week of February 33 Malda 1st week of February 32 Alishan 3rd week of February 31 Sindhri February 7-9th 32 Safed Chaunsa 3rd week of February 32

Time of Fruit Ripening Time of fruit ripening is the most important parameter, which needs to be studied whenever the evaluation of germless is made. Although Malda, Langra and Yakta produced flowers earliest and fruit set sooner than other cultivars yet, Malda was only one that gave the ripened fruit on June 10th Table II. Langra, on the other hand, gave the first ripen fruit on June 15th. Similar results were also reported by Kansci et al. (2003). In addition, Sindhri, Dosehri and Alphanso produced ripened fruit on July 1st to 3rd. Anwar Ratual, however, produced the harvestable fruit on July 10th.

Table II The days from fruit set to fruit maturity of different cultivars at Muzafargarh Name of Cultivar Mean (days) Status Alphanso 03 Mid Anwar Ratual 10 Mid Dosehri 02 Mid Fajri 25 Late Yakta 05 Mid Langra 15 Early Malda 10 Early Alishan 24 Late Sindhri 01 Mid Safed Chaunsa 20 Late Mid = 0 -10 days, early = 11 - 15 days and late = 20 -25 Fruit Weight and Fruit Yield Mean differences Table III among the fruit weights of ten cultivars were statistically significant (P<0.01). The highest fruit weight (455.90 gm) was in Fajri, which was followed by 374.36 gm in Safed Chaunsa. On the other hand, minimum fruit weight (129.57 gm) was in Anwar Ratual. Similar results were found by Shafqat et al (1992). Mean differences Table III among the fruit yield per tree of ten cultivars were also statistically significant (P<0.01). The highest yield (140.00 kg) was harvested from cultivar Langra but was statistically similar to yield of Malda (139.3kg/tree) and Fajri (138.3kg/tree). Safed Chaunsa (133.3kg/tree), Sindhri (132.3kg/tree) had the next highest yield and were not significantly different from each other. Anwar Ratual (128.33kg/tree) followed Sindhuri. The next in yield ranking were Dosehri (98kg/tree), Yakta (91.67kg/tree), Alishan (90kg/tree), and Alphanso (85kg/tree). Our results were also supported by Shafqat et al (1992) and Syamal and Mishra (1989). Table III The fruit weight (gm) of different mango cultivars Name of Cultivars Fruit Weight (gm) Yield (kg/tree) Alphanso 355.3 c 85.00 f Anwar Ratual 129.57 i 128.3 c Dosehri 175.62 g 98.3 d Fajri 455.90 a 138.3 a Yakta 193.44 f 91.67 e Langra 308.83 e 140.0 a Malda 157.67 h 139.3 a Alishan 349.19 c 90.00 e Sindhri 341.83 d 133.3 b Safed Chaunsa 374.36 b 133.3 b LSD 6.302 4.279 Means followed by different letter(s) are significantly different at 1% level of probability using LSD test. Muhammad Iqbal et al. Performance of selected parameters of mango in Muzaffargarh … 398

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Based on this study the conclusion was drawn that Langra and Malda were the best cultivars for the agro- climatic conditions of Muzaffargarh due to their highest yields, early flowering, early fruit set, and early maturity.

REFERENCES Barui, F.K. and S.N. Ghosh. 2002. Performance of different available mango cultivars for semi-arid region of west Bengal. Envir. & Ecol. 20(3): 588-592. Chauhcin, K.S. and G.A. Cahoon. 1987. Mineral status of mango cultivars in Rajasthan. Haryana J. Hort. Sci. 16(1-2): 20- 24. Dhake, A.V., P. Moitro and B.T. Karangle. 2011. Performance of mango cultivars. Acta Hort. 2000(509): 107-112. Gawankar, M.S., B.R. Solvi, S.A. Charan and N.Y. Palvi. 2010. Performance of mango varieties. J. Hort. Sci. 5(2): 114- 116. Haag, H.P., M.E.P. Souza, G.A.C. Carmello and A.R. Dechen. 1990. Removal of the macro and micro-nutrients by fruits of four mango ( L.) cultivars. Anais da Escola superior de Agriculture ‘Luiz de Queiroz’. 47(2): 459-477. Hoda, M.N., S. Sanjay, J. Singh, S. Singh and J. Singh. 2003. Evaluation of ecological groups of mango (Magnifcm indica) cultivars for flowering and fruiting under Bihar conditions. Indian J. Agric. Sci. 73(2): 101-105. Jilani, M.S., F. Bibi, K. Waseem and M.A. Khan. 2010. Evluation of physic-chemical characteristics of mango (Magnifera indica L.) cultivars grown in D.I. Khan. J. Agric. Res. 48(2): 201-207. Kansci, G.G., B. Koubala and I.M. Lape. 2003. Effect of ripening on the composition and the suitability for jam processing of different cultivars of mango (Mangnifera indica L.). Afric. J.Biotech. 2(9): 301-306. Malik, M.N. and M. Raza. 1985. Effect of different doses of NPK, NAA and time of deblossoming on the intensity of malformation of mango inflorescence. J. Agric. Res. 23(2): 97-104. Milta, S. and S.K. Mitra. 2001. Studies on physico-chemical characteristics of nineteen mango cultivars grown in west Bengal. Indian Agriculturist. 45(3-4): 21-9. Muhammad, A.A., M.Usman, B. Fatitna, M.J. Jaskani and M.M. Khan. 2002. Fruit set and drop behaviour of three commercial cultivars of mango. Pak. J. Agric. Sci. 39(2): 129-131. Rajwana, I.A., I.A. Khan, A.U. Malik, B.A. Saleem, A.S. Khan, K. Zaif, R. Anwar and M. Amin. 2011. Morphological and biochemical markers for varietal characterization and quality assessment of potential indigenous mango (Mandifera indica) germplasm. Int’l. J. Agric. Biol. 13(2): 151-158. Rao, D.P and S.K. Mukherjee.1989. Nutrient status in leaf and soil of some cultivars of mango in relation to yield. Acta Hort. 23(1): 286-295. Ravi, K., R.M. Sharma and R. Kher. 2002. Performance of some mango cultivars under sub-tropical rainfed region of Jammu. Haryana J. Hort. Sci. 31(1-2): 8-10. Reddy, C.H., P.P.R. Prasad and T. Umamaheswari.2001.Screening of mango cultivarpii against the leaf webber orthaga exvinacea Hampson (Pyralidae; Lepidoptera). Indian J. Plant Prot. 29(1-2): 118-120. Shafqat, A., C.A. Haq and S. Hussain.1992. Physio-chemical studies of cultivars of mango grown at Shujabad. Pak. J. Agric. 13(4): 350-355. Syamal, M.M. and K.A. Mishra. 1989. Physio-chemical analysis of some important mango cultivars of Bihar. Acta Horticultureae.231: 199-151.