Fruit drop and yield of five mango cultivars in Southern Sinaloa

Sinaloa state is an important mango producing region in Mexico. Mango is one of the main export commodities of the area. No information is available about fruit drop on mango cultivars grown here, which might be useful for measuring the effect of production factors such as: Irrigation, fertilization, or growth regulator applications. A commercial grove was selected which has five mango cultivars: 'Manila', 'Tommy Atkins', 'Haden', 'Kent', and 'Keitt'. Climate is Awe, that is the driest of the hot subhumid group with a summer rainy season; soil is an eutric Fluvisol. Data was collected during three years from 15 year-old mango trees. Dropped fruits per tree were registered weekly starting 20 days after fruit set up to fruit maturity; number of fruits harvested and fruit yield were also recorded. Dropped fruits per tree for 'Manila', 'Tommy Atkins', 'Haden', 'Kent', and 'Keitt were: 4293, 12133, 3194, 2817 and 2258, respectively. Whereas number of fruits harvested per tree for same order cultivars were: 2317, 427,649,380 and 264. Dropped fruit values were statistically different (1% probability level) among cultivars in every year except for 'Kent'. Number of fruits harvested and yield was also different among cultivars except for 'Haden'. The major fruit drop intensity happened between 25 to 50 days after fruit set for all five mango cultivars.