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How can we get mangoes throughout the year?

Q: It is mango season continuing. In science, it is written that mango tree produces fruits after a gap of one year. But in these years, more mango trees are producing fruits every year. How?

Krishna:

Mangoes are being produced throughout the year now.

Most commercial cultivars belong to Mangifera indica, while a few commercial varieties grown in Southeast Asia belong to other Mangifera species

What you read in books happens in normal conditions. However, there is a thing called science. You try to study how something happens. When you learn all about that something, you try to use it for your benefit. You can ‘manipulate’ things. Genetic modification in plants, medicine to treat diseases, vehicles to travel, gadgets to communicate easily, all these things

People love mangoes. So scientists thought ‘how about producing mangoes throughout the year using the knowledge we acquired about them?’

Scientists leaned that the fruiting season of a tree is determined by various factors including the tree's genetics, environmental conditions, and the natural rhythms of the seasons. There are some methods that can be used to potentially manipulate the fruiting season of certain trees to some extent, although the success of these methods can vary.

Mangoes usually grow only in summer because warm and humid conditions are needed to develop correctly. The trees grow best in tropical climates with lots of sunshine and higher temperatures. Mango trees need several months of hot, humid weather to produce sweet, ripe fruit. If you can provide these conditions, the mango trees can produce the mangoes throughout the year.

Controlling the environment around the tree can help extend the growing season. This can include providing protection from frost, using heaters or fans to regulate temperature, or providing extra light through artificial means. Some chemical treatments can be used to manipulate fruiting in certain plants.

Some mango trees can withstand low temperatures too. The mango has already been bred for some temperate environments. Frost-hardy mangoes are available and there is even already a mango cultivar that can withstand sub-freezing temperatures (3).

Attempting to genetically engineer a mango tree to thrive in a temperate climate would involve addressing multiple challenges, such as cold tolerance, day length sensitivity, and potential differences in soil and nutrient requirements. But that is not impossible with science.

In some places mangoes are grown in different places in different months depending on the climate conditions available.

For instance, in Thailand, during the first few months, mangoes are harvested from Chaiyapoom, Pijit, Phitsanulok, and Udon. But as the climate in these locations start to change around June, mangoes are then harvested in Chiangmai and Chiangrai where the weather is more suitable for mangoes to grow. Towards the end of the year, the location then changes to Prajuab, Nakornratsima, and Chaiyapoom. With so many mango farms across Thailand, it is nearly impossible that you will find any deficit of mango supply even if the season changes! (1)

So you get mangoes throughout the year!

Choc Anan (of Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Thailand) is known as the ever-bearing mango tree because of its potential to have a mango crop during the summer and winter. Some speculate that removing the summer crop may increase the chances of a winter crop by allowing the tree to save the energy that would have been used for fruit production in the summer. (2)

The Barahmasia mango tree can be counted on to bear fruit throughout the year. The speciality of the tree is that its branches bear the fruits in different stages from flowering to ripening at the same time. While one branch has flowers, the others have matured mangoes (4).

Thai all season mango is a popular variety of mango that can be grown in many regions, including tropical and subtropical areas. All-season mangoes are a popular variety of mangoes that can be grown and harvested throughout the year. (5)

Answering your specific question, biennial bearing (once in two years) is due to the fact that the flower buds of the next year are preformed in the vicinity of the developing fruits. In the first cycle developing fruits produces hormones like gibberellins (GAs) that inhibit flower formation in the adjacent buds and flowering does not occur the next year. In the absence of fruits in the second cycle inhibitory effect of developing fruits is absent and heavy flower bud set and fruiting takes place. An easy way to get annual bearing (once in a year) is to remove the flowers/young fruits on 50% branches. This shall result in moderate bearing every year on chronic biennial bearing trees. Application of anti-gibberellins (hormone) like paclobutrazol induces annual bearing. Practices like pruning, irrigation, fertilization and thinning flowers/young fruit can help regulate these factors and produce a more consistent annual crop. Fruit breeders breed fruit with long fruit stalks that increase the distance between the developing fruits and buds and or other means to strike balance.This results in annual flowering trees.

By the way our mango trees produce fruits every year. We don’t do anything. I just planted chinna rasam seeds, which I liked, several years back in our backyard and they are giving us hundreds of fruits every year. We use them for pickles while raw and eat the fruits when ripe. Home-grown mangoes. Love them.