Rootstock research: Opportunities for the australian mango industry

Abstract

Selection of rootstock influences yield, yield efficiency, fruit size and fruit external appearance in mango. For example, in one experiment in the Northern Territory, marketable tree yield of ‘Kensington’ fruit accumulated over four successive seasons was almost twice as much on one rootstock as on another. In another experiment, ‘Tommy Atkins’ yielded 43% more in one season on ‘Turpentine’ (syn. ‘Common’) rootstock than on ‘Sabre’. Such results contradict the common perception in Australia that rootstocks do not influence yield, and provide a case for more research focussed on this aspect of mango cultivation. Although effects on yield and tree size have been shown in other countries, we have also found that rootstock influences fruit appearance and maturity times, which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been previously reported. Because we examined only some of the available polyembryonic cultivars as rootstocks, even greater improvements may be possible. This offers exciting possibilities for boosting productivity in the Australian mango industry.