19/02/2016

Taiwanese grow dwarf mango trees | mb.com.ph | Philippine News

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Home Others Agriculture Taiwanese grow dwarf mango trees

Taiwanese grow dwarf mango trees

Dwarf mango trees make

sense for Taiwanese farmers

by Zac Sarian
July 2, 201 4

Coco sugar much more

profitable than copra

Pingtung county is in the southernmost part of Taiwan where lots of fruits are produced,
including mango, makopa, papaya and others. Thats our first stop when we were invited
recently to visit leisure farms in that island nation.
The trip was upon the invitation of the Taiwan Leisure Farms Development Association through
Leo Fang, the associations manager for international marketing.
What intrigued us most were the low-growing mango trees that are mature but are only about
six feet tall and laden with fruits that are wrapped with paper bags to protect them from
destructive insects.
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The dwarf trees are not just one or two trees in the backyard. They are planted in hectares upon
hectares of land. The trees are a big contrast to the towering carabao mango trees in the
Philippines which grow extra tall, making managing them very problematic.
The mango trees in Pingtung are planted about four meters apart compared to the usually 12
meters or farther apart in the Philippines. In fact the latest recommendation in our country is 14
to 20 meters apart to prevent overlapping of the crowns.
Of course the tall trees in the Philippines bear a lot more fruits than the six-foot trees in Taiwan.
One big carabao mango tree can produce more than a thousand fruits. But there are serious
problems in managing tall carabao mango trees. For instance, when the flowers are overtaken
by rain or shower, the flowers have to be sprayed with fungicide. It is not only cumbersome
spraying the tall trees. It is also very expensive.
These days, wrapping the fruits to protect them from fruitfly is being recommended. This also
ensures blemish-free skin of the fruits that is preferred by importers abroad. Of course, wrapping
the fruits of a tall tree is also cumbersome and expensive. Then, harvesting from tall trees is also

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19/02/2016

Taiwanese grow dwarf mango trees | mb.com.ph | Philippine News

difficult.
So there are significant advantages in growing low-growing mango trees. While the fruits per
tree are much less than the big trees, it is partly compensated by the fact that one can plant 625
trees in one hectare if they are planted four meters apart. If the carabao mango is planted at 12
meters apart, total mango population per hectare is only 70 trees.
Say, the dwarf mango trees will only produce a hundred fruits per season, that means 62,500
fruits. Since the Taiwan variety produces big fruits, three fruits weighing a kilo, the tonnage is
also high enough. That means 20.8 tons per hectare.
The big advantage is that the low-growing trees are easier to manage. Spraying, bagging the
fruits and harvesting are very convenient. The fruits could be harvested more carefully, resulting
in better quality.
How to produce dwarf trees? After planting, the young trees are topcut about a foot above the
ground so that they will produce two or three branches that will be trained to become the main
trunks. In the beginning, they will allow the branches to grow tall so that they will develop into
the major trunks. Once they are big enough, they are pruned to not more than six feet tall.
Branches will develop that will become the fruiting branches below six feet.
Judicious pruning is required. Also the pruned trees are applied with adequate balanced fertilizer
so that they become strong and healthy, thus capable of producing lots of fruits.
****

****

****

AANI FARM TOUR, JULY 13 Eat- all-you-can rambutan is the come-on of the next
AANI Farm Tour on Sunday, July 13, which will be held in the organic farm of Pol Rubia in
Brgy. San Isidro, Candelaria, Quezon.
The farm tour is being timed to coincide with the ripening of Pols rambutan trees which are
heavily laden with fruits. The farm also grows durian, saba banana and other crops.
Pol Rubia is the vice president and operations manager of Agri-Aqua Network International
which operates the weekend market at the FTI in Taguig City and also has a store at the Quezon
Memorial Circle in Quezon City.
Those interested to attend should make their reservations at the AANI Weekend Market at the
FTI or at the Quezon Memorial Circle.
****

****

1.8 hectare
Lot For Sale, Lot For Sale,
clean title
601sqm In Lot 500sqm In Lot
with 28 man... 2-F-2, Bo. St... 4-E-1, Bo. St...

1.2M

70,000

115,000

****

SOLUTION TO COCOLISAP Jun Catan of Mapecon claims he has his own solution to
the devastating coconut scale insect a.k.a. Cocolisap. He sprays the affected coconut trees with
his Big R biopesticide which is organic and nontoxic to humans.
The solution is sprayed on the infested as well as the non-infested leaves using a power sprayer.
He claims that trees in private farms that have been sprayed with his concoction have started
recovering, producing new healthy leaves. The infested leaf fronds need not be cut off because
that will be very laborious and expensive. A former mayor of Alaminos, Laguna, has engaged
Juns services on a joint-venture basis. He will get a share of the harvest from the rehabilitated
trees.

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19/02/2016

Taiwanese grow dwarf mango trees | mb.com.ph | Philippine News

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