BHUBANESWAR: People in the State will soon get to relish a new variety of mango - Arka Udaya. The Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) has decided to introduce the variety this year.
Arka Udaya is a sweet, high-yielding variety of mango with a long shelf-life. The mango can stay fresh at room temperature for about 10 days without refrigeration.
IIHR Director MR Dinesh said the new mango variety developed by the fruit crops division of the institute has been handed over to Central Horticulture Extension Station (CHES), Bhubaneswar.
“The agro scientists at CHES will take up the multiplication and distribute it among farmers. Arka Udaya is a hybrid made by crossing - Amprapali and Arka Anmol, both varieties released from IIHR earlier,” he told ‘The Express’ during his recent visit to CHES to attend State-level mango festival.
The new mango variety is one of the best varieties which are suitable for high density plantation. It is a late-season variety and yields after other mango fruit trees have stopped fruition. The mango tree bears fruit every year.
Dinesh said Arka Udaya has yield capacity up to 15 tonne per hectare and can be the best choice for farmers, who have been focusing more on high-yielding varieties for better output and exports.
“Now the average yield per hectare is five to six tonne in Odisha. We want to increase it up to 15 tonne. That can happen only if we have very good high yielding variety and high density planting. At the moment we are having 100 plants per hectare. If we go for the new variety, we can increase it to 400 plants per hectare,” he informed. The agro scientist advised the farmers to opt for planting density of five by five metre spacing for better and quality yield.
The plant starts bearing fruit from the third year and a 10-year-old plant would provide at least 70 kg mango per crop.
While the range of the crop is 130 to 140 days from flowering to fruit maturity, average weight of the mango is 250 gm having around 70 per cent pulp. The cropping season is June-July.
The institute wants to introduce the variety in Rayagada and Koraput region where several tribal families have transformed their lives by taking up mango cultivation. CHES would provide agro-techniques and look after nutrition and irrigation management, he added.