Effect of high density planting systems on growth, yield and quality of mango (Mangifera indica L) cv. dashehari

An experiment on high density planting systems was carried out on ten year old trees of mango (Mangifera indica L) cv. Dashehari during the years 2009 and 2010 to investigate the effect of planting systems on tree growth, yield and fruit quality. The treatments were comprised of five planting systems i.e. (T₁): Square system (100 trees/ha), (T₂): Hedgerow system (167 trees/ha), (T₃): Double hedgerow system (222 trees/ha), (T₄): Paired system (133 trees/ha) and (T₅): Cluster system: cluster of four plants (178 trees/ha) of planting. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with four replications. The data were statistically evaluated by using standard procedures. The pooled data for the year 2009 and 2010 indicated that, vegetative growth in terms of plant height (4.26 m) and trunk circumference (50.25 cm) was found higher under paired and square system of planting, respectively. Significantly higher fruit yield per plant (24.14 kg tree⁻¹) was observed under square system of planting, whereas the higher fruit yield on per hectare basis (4010.60 kg ha⁻¹) was registered under double hedge row system. The better quality of fruits in terms of lower acidity (0.28%) and higher T.S.S (19.90°B) was obtained under the double hedge row system of planting.