Mango Water Requirements and Irrigation Systems
This post is also available in:
This post is also available in:
Français (French) 
हिन्दी (Hindi)
When to irrigate Mango trees – How much water a mango tree needs
Mango trees need to receive sufficient amounts of water (from rainfalls or irrigation) to reach their yield potential.
Like for every other crop, a farmer needs to take into account the local environment and soil conditions to decide on the amount and moment of irrigation. For example, mango trees require no irrigation during the monsoon season (except if there is a dry spell).
Over-irrigation is just as harmful as too little water. Examine the soil moisture content of the subsoil regularly to prevent over-irrigation. Fruit trees are sensitive to moisture stress. Fruit trees are susceptible to water-logged conditions as well as drought stress. After a moisture-stress period, the farmer can apply half the calculated volume of water per tree, new growth is retarded, competition with the young fruit is restricted, and fewer fruit will abort.
In the nursery, the trees would have been accustomed to regular water applications and still have a limited root system due to the small bag. It is, therefore, essential that the water reaches the limited and shallow root system. Young trees must be irrigated to ensure optimum establishment and growth. More specifically, young trees are usually watered every 2-3 days when no or very limited rainfalls occur.
A small basin around the tree will ensure the roots get enough water. Apply frequent light irrigations: 5 litres /tree/week and 10 litres as soon as the subsoil starts drying out, and then resume watering at 5 litres /week/tree.
When the trees become 2 years old, and until the 5th year of their life, the irrigation becomes in larger time intervals (every 4-5 days). Similarly, until the age of 8 years, irrigation can take place every 2 weeks. A fruit-bearing mango tree requires up to 50-120 litres per day. Covering mangoes’ water needs during the full bearing stage with 2-3 applications after the fruit set is essential to encourage a flush for fruit growth. On the contrary, irrigations should stop-avoided 2-3 months before flowering.
A farmer can monitor the soil moisture levels of his/her field using tensiometers placed in different areas of the mango orchards in depths of 20, 40 and 80 cm. The shallower tensiometers should be kept under 30-40 kPa (depending on the soil type).
Mulching: Mulch the base of the tree with dried grass or weeds, or other suitable mulching materials to restrict weed growth, maintain relatively low temperature and prevent excessive loss of soil moisture. Dense mulches are effective means of reducing weed infestation.
Best Irrigation System for Mango trees
To select the best irrigation system for a mango orchard, the farmer should consider the region, the soil type, the characteristics of the field (e.g. slope), the availability of water and his/her (economical-technical) capability.
In general, in less advanced cultivation systems, mangoes can be irrigated with channel-furrow, flood, basin or ring irrigation. However, nowadays, more and more mango farmers transit to more sustainable and efficient irrigation systems for their mango fields, like drip or sprinkler irrigation. In the case drip irrigation is applied in a young mango orchard , a farmer is advised to place 2 drippers at a distance of 1 m on lateral line, while for fruit-bearing mango trees, the drippers can be placed further apart.
References
https://nhb.gov.in/pdf/fruits/mango/man006.pdf
https://industry.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/232969/587.pdf
https://www.ishs.org/ishs-article/455_43
https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=TH2002003308
Find more information in the book: “Success in Agribusiness: Growing Mango successfully” written by James Mwangi Ndiritu
Codex Alimentarius Commission. General Principles of Food Hygiene CXC 1-1969. 2021.
De Graaf J. Developing a Systems Approach for Sternochetus mangiferae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in South Africa. J Econ Entomol. 2010; 103(5):1577–85.
Dias, C.S.; Rodrigues, R.G.; Ferreira, J.J. What’s new in the research on agricultural entrepreneurship? J. Rural. Stud. 2019, 65, 99–115.
FAO. The Future of Food Safety; FAO: Rome, Italy, 2019.
Grové T, De Beer MS, Daneel MS, Steyn WP. Scale and mealybug survey on mango in Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces South Africa. Acta Hortic. 2013; 1007:377–84.
Grové T, De Villiers EA, Daneel MS. Mango. In: Prinsloo GL, Uys VM, editors. Insects of cultivated plants and natural pastures in Southern Africa. Pretoria: Entomological Society of Southern Africa; 2015a. p. 574–88.
Grové T, De Villiers EA, Schoeman PS. Litchi. In: Prinsloo GL, Uys VM, editors. Insects of cultivated plants and natural pastures in Southern Africa. Pretoria: Entomological Society of Southern Africa; 2015b. p. 554–9.
Grové T, De Beer MS, Joubert PH. Monitoring fruit flies in mango orchards in South Africa and determining the time of fruit infestation. Acta Hortic. 2009; 820:589–96. .
Grové T, De Beer MS. Insect pests affecting the production of mango in South Africa. Acta Hortic. 2017b; 1183:297–304.
Grové T, De Beer MS. Species composition and abundance of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in subtropical fruit orchards in the Mbombela Local Municipality South Africa. Fruits. 2019; 74(1):18–24
Haran J, Grové T, Van Noort S, Benoit L, Addison P. Natural biocontrol of fruit flies in indigenous hosts: A perspective for population control in the agroecosystem. Biol Control. 2019; 137:1–6.
Henri, D. C., Jones, O., Tsiattalos, A., Thebault, E., Seymour, C. L., van Veen, F. J. F. F., et al. (2015). Natural vegetation benefits synergistic control of the three main insect and pathogen pests of a fruit crop in southern Africa. J. Appl. Ecol. 52, 1092–1101.
Hill MP, Macfadyen S, Nash MA. Broad spectrum pesticide application alters natural enemy communities and may facilitate secondary pest outbreaks. PeerJ. 2017; 19(5):e4179.
Joubert PH, Daneel MS, Grové T. Progress towards Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on mangoes in South Africa. Acta Hortic. 2000;509:811–8.
Joubert E, Grové T, Booysen G. Evaluation of fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) monitoring systems on mango in Limpopo Province South Africa. J Agric Sci Technol. 2015;B5:653–63.
Louw CE. The mango seed weevil, Sternochetus mangiferae (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae); understanding the pest in order to ensure effective control measures. Acta Hortic. 2013;992:441–57.
Louw E. Evaluation on the efficacy of different chemicals on gall fly larvae in mangoes. Subtrop Fruit J. 2021;30:18–20.
Kibira, M., Affognon, H., Njehia, B., Muriithi, B., Mohamed, S., and Ekesi, S. (2015). Economic evaluation of integrated management of fruit fly in mango production in Embu County, Kenya. Afric. J. Agric. Resour. Econ. 10, 343–353
King, T.; Cole, M.; Farber, J.M.; Eisenbrand, G.; Zabaras, D.; Fox, E.M.; Hill, J.P. Food safety for food security: Relationship between global megatrends and developments in food safety. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 2017, 68, 160–175.
Nutritional Value and Health Benefits of Mango
Mango Tree Information and Variety Selection
How to cultivate mangos for profit – Mango production – An overview
Planning and Planting a Mango Orchard
Mango Water Requirements and Irrigation Systems
Most Common Pests Affecting Mangoes
