Mangoes offer a potential turnover of R1 million/ha, but whether this is achieved depends on your production per hectare, when your crop hits the market, and supply and demand, says Bernie van den Heever, co-owner of Cape Mango in the Olifants River region in the Western Cape.
Mangoes are produced in more than 90 countries but 80% of the world production came from ten main producers. Top mango producers are India, China, Thailand, Pakistan, Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Nigeria. India is the top producer of mangoes at 40%, followed by China at 11%.
Although the USA is not a top producer, it was a leader in developing most commercial mango cultivars and is the biggest importer of mangoes in the world.
Area Planted according to a SAMGA Consensus, 2023, found TOTAL Mango plantings in South Africa accounted for by this census amount to 5 688 ha. Informal mango production in home gardens and small plots in communal areas is not included in this census.
South African Growing Regions of the Limpopo Province now expanded to include late-harvest production in the dry, hot Clanwilliam area of the Western Cape.
100 hectares are planted in the dry warm region of Clanwilliam in the Western Cape. These Western Cape mangoes extend the South African mango season into late May. [https://southafrica.co.za/mango-production.html]
About 37% of South Africa’s mango production is sold locally as fresh eating fruit and another 16% is used for juice. The atchar market absorbs another 28.5% of green mango produce in South Africa, while 10% is used for drying. Only 6% of mango production in South Africa was exported during the 2018/19 season.
Mangoes are an alternate bearing crop, that can deliver a large harvest one year, reducing its yield by about 25% the next year. Special management can reduce this difference...
Prevent wind damage by planting windbreaks and orienting orchards diagonally to the dominant wind direction.
Mangoes do best in areas which are dry during spring to early summer as the flowers and developing fruit are very sensitive to fungal diseases which develop under moist conditions. Mango trees can tolerate a wide range of climatic conditions - from hot and humid to cool and dry climates. Therefore, it can be grown over a wide area in South Africa. The temperature which mangoes can be successfully grown under range from 5°C to 45°C, but optimal day temperatures should be between 27°C to 36°C.
[https://southafrica.co.za/how-to-farm-mangoes.html]
Mango trees flower at an estimation of 42 days. Although mango trees are self-pollinating and cross-pollinated by wind or insects, the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) recommends bee pollination of mango trees at 3 to 15 hives/ha. I found research supporting an optimum of 7 hives per hectare shown below.
Jan van Riebeeck planted mango trees in the Cape at about 1653. The project failed because of the unfavourable climate for mangoes in the Western Cape. Strong evidence exists, however, that mangoes were grown in Southern Africa long before the aforementioned date. It is recorded that mangoes were grown in Eastern Somalia as early as 1331 (Van der Meulen et al., 1971).
[https://www.arc.agric.za/arc-itsc/Pages/Mango.aspx]
Mango production in Southern Africa: The production growth
Top 3 cultivars at present are Tommy Atkins, Keitt and Kent. A new cultivar of Tamarac is showing promise in the western Cape.
Mango plantings 2022 vs 2023 - In the 2022 census, total plantings in South Africa stood at 5 436 ha. An additional 252ha were recorded in the 2023 census. [SAMGA]
Some in-depth Mango farming break-down can be found here from the NDA which includes everything BESIDES POLLINATION!!
[www.nda.agric.za/docs/Infopaks/mango.htm]
Du Preez walks the talk: in an industry where yields have fluctuated dramatically from one year to the next, he has achieved approximately 27t/ ha consistently over the past four years. He is also the winner of the South African Mango Growers’ Association’s coveted Golden Mango Award in 2018 for his contribution to mango research. https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/crops/fruit-and-nuts/stable-mango-yields-timing-is-everything/
