By Umar Nsubuga
In Uganda, mangoes are wild fruits, growing on their own and are seasonally harvested.
However, the indigenous mangoes take ages to mature and trees tend to grow too tall for people to harvest the fruit comfortably.
Children, monkeys and birds enjoy the mangoes most. You can have a short, productive mango tree you can harvest at short intervals if you plant the grafted mango seedlings from a nearby agricultural research station.
Varieties like boribo, apple, ngowe, dodo, sabre, harris and peach are available in some trusted nurseries.
Cultivation
Henry Sekyewa, an agronomist says mangoes do best in well-fertilised soils.
If the soil is poor, he says add compost or double super phosphate at a rate of 60gm per hole, mixed with topsoil at planting time.
When the plant is fully established, add calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) fertiliser at 50mg per plant.
He explains that the fertilisers are added at the beginning of the rains only once a year. During the subsequent years, add another 50gm per plant per year.
Spacing
Grafted seedlings should be spaced by 4ox40ft, this gives 27 trees per acre.
Pests and diseases
Joseph Lumbuye, a fruit farmer says weevils, fruit flies and thrips are the main pests. These can be controlled by the use of chemicals like diazinon, malathion and white oil.
Diseases are mainly powdery mildew which can be controlled by fungicides.
Harvesting
Depending on the variety, Lumbuye says mangoes mature between one and three years. They yield over 200-500 fruits a year.
