Ultra high-density Plantation (UHDP)
The secret to the small height of mango trees is that the ultrahigh-density plantation technique. Drip irrigation is used to water the trees and high densities accompanied with special pruning technique.
By implementation of this technique, the maturity time of new mango tree is remarkably lessened.
Traditionally mango plantations was carried out with 30×30 feet spacing and in some cases it was 40×40 feet. This allows for the tree to go larger and produce good number of fruits however the downside is that fruit harvesting is very time consuming and requires considerable labour utilisation. Using High density plantation reduces the growth period of the tree as well as the overall height of tree thus allowing quicker harvest and less labour.
Under high density plantation it is recommended to plant trees with either 12×3 feet or 12×4 feet spacing depending on the type of mango being planted. 12×3 is recommended for Kesar trees. This means there is a gap of 12 feet between each row of trees and a gap of 3 feet between trees within each row. This allows for circa 1050 to 1200 trees being planted in an acre as compared to 50 in traditional method.
On an average the yield per acre using traditional method is about 2.5 to 3 tonnes which can be significantly increased to 9 to 10 tonnes using the high density plantation method.
A farmer should start to see returns starting year 3 of using this method. Trees will start flowing in year 2 however, it is recommended that hurting shouldn’t be allowed in year 2 as it stems the growth of tree. Pruning of trees is very important in all years to ensure the growth of tree is in right way and branches bearing fruits are retained for continual flowering in future.
High density plantation method allows for small scale farmers to be sustainable and bring in good income even with just couple of acres available. It also requires less labour overall thus allowing an increase in profit margins.
