Pests and Diseases
They include mealy bugs, bugs, fruit flies, mango stone weevil, thrips, mites and paddle-legged bugs.
Control:
By practicing strict farm hygiene. For fruit flies and mealy bugs use bio-agents and/or pheromone traps. Manage mango seed weevil by spraying recommended insecticides when fruit reaches pigeon egg size (10mm). A 2nd or 3rd spray at 10-12 days interval may be necessary depending on the level of infestation.
Anthracnose: It attacks leaves, flowers and fruits. Symptoms include spots on leaves, which fall out leaving holes on matured leaves; blighting of inflorescence and tear spots on fruits. Affected ripe fruits develop black spots of varying sizes and rot.
Control with EPA approved copper based fungicides at recommended rates from flower bud formation to fruit development. After harvesting, dip ripe fruits in hot water at 55°C for 5 minutes before packing.
Mango Scab: Caused by the fungus Elsinoe mangiferae. Symptoms include greyish brown spots on the fruit with cracks at center, which become corky. Control as indicated above.
Powdery mildew: Caused by Oidium sp. The infected flower, flower stalk and young fruits become covered with the whitish powdery growth of the fungus. Severe infection may cause leaf distortion and premature leaf drop. Control with EPA approved systemic fungicides from pre-flowering to fruit set when necessary.
Yield: With good management the following yields can be obtained.
Harvesting: Fruits take about 100-110 days to mature. Harvest during the cool hours of the day and turn them down on foam mats or put in water to avoid latex from sticking on the fruit skin. Keep fruits under shade after harvesting.
Operational Budget/Ha GHc (does not include investment costs).
Activity | YEARS | |||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
Slashing | 100 | |||
De-stumping | 750 | |||
Ploughing (2x) | 200 | |||
Harrowing | 90 | |||
Lining &Pegging | 90 | |||
Holing, manuring and planting | 250 | |||
Scouting and spraying | 50 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Pruning | 90 | 120 | 120 | 120 |
Weeding | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | ||||||||
Harvesting | 40 | |||||||||||
Fertilizers & Manure | 150 | 150 | 200 | 250 | ||||||||
Seedling (200/ha) | 600 | |||||||||||
Agrochemicals | 50 | 50 | 80 | 100 | ||||||||
Total | 2520 | 520 | 600 | 710 | ||||||||
Yield (kg) | 4000 | |||||||||||
REVENUE | ||||||||||||
2,220* | ||||||||||||
Annual Returns | -2520 | -3040 | -3640 | -2130 | ||||||||
*20% for export @ GHc 1.20/kg
40% for local market (processing) @ Ghc 0.60/kg
40% for local market (fresh) @ GHc 0.50/kg
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
Scouting & spraying | 50 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Pruning | 90 | 120 | 120 | 120 |
Weeding | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Harvesting | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 |
Fertilizers &Manure | 150 | 150 | 200 | 200 |
Agrochemicals | 50 | 50 | 80 | 100 |
Total | 480 | 560 | 640 | 710 |
Yield (kg) | 8000 | 12000 | 16000 | 20000 |
REVENUE | ||||
4440 | 8160 | 10880 | 13600 | |
Annual Returns | 1830 | 9430 | 19670 | 32560 |
Source: MOFA