Location and Site
Proper selection of site is important. Selection may be made based on the following criteria.
- The location should be in a well-established for Alphonso mango or other fruit growing region because one could get the benefit of experience of other growers and also get the benefit of selling the produce through APMC or with other Alphonso mango or other fruit traders.
2. There should be a market close to the area.
3. The climate should be suitable to grow the chosen Alphonso mango or other fruit crops.
4. Adequate water supply should be available round the year.
Before a grower selects a site for establishing a new orchard, he must have assessed the following factor,
1.Suitability of soil, its fertility, the nature of subsoil and soil depth.
2.Site must have proper drainage and no water stagnation during rainy season. 3.Irrigation water must be of good quality.
4.There must be proper transport facilities either by road or rail within the reach.
 Whether the climatic conditions are suitable for the Alphonso mango or other fruits to be grown and are whether site is free from the limiting factors such as cyclones, frost, hailstorms and strong hot winds.
5. Whether there are seasonal gluts or over production in any particular period of the year.
6. Whether there is assured demand in the market for the Alphonso mango or other fruits to be grown.
7. Whether orchard is a new venture or whether there are already other growers involved.
8. Availability of labour, Planning of an Orchard- A careful plan of the orchard is necessary for the most efficient and economic management.
The following points should be borne in mind in preparing the plan.
1. Optimum spacing to accommodate maximum number of trees per unit area.
2. Stores and office building in the orchard should be constructed at the centre for proper supervision.
3.Wells should be located at convenient places in different parts at the rate of one well for 2 to 4 hectares.
4. Each kind of Alphonso mango tree or other fruit tree should be assigned in a separate block.
5. Alphonso mango or other fruits ripening at the same time should be grouped together.
6. Pollinators should be provided in deciduous Alphonso mango or other fruits. In deciduous Alphonso mango or other fruit trees, there are some varieties which require pollen from another variety to set mango or other fruits in them; otherwise, they will be barren. Such pollen donors are known as pollinators. Every third tree should be planted with a pollinator.
7.Irrigation channels should be laid along the gradients for most economical conduct of water. For every 30m length of channel, 7.5 cm slope should be given.
8. Roads should occupy minimum space for the economy of transport. The clearance between wind break and first row of trees is advantageous for the road.
9. Short growing trees should be allotted at the front and tall at the back for easy watching and to improve the appearance.
10. Evergreen trees should be in the front and deciduous ones behind.
11. Alphonso mango or other fruits attracting birds and animals should be close to the watchman’s shed.
12. A good fence is essential. Live fencing is economic and cheap to other kind of fences. The plants suitable for live fencing should be drought resistant, easy to propagate from seed, quick growing, have dense foliage, should stand severe pruning and should be thorny.
Agave, Prosopis juliflora, Pithecolobium dulce and Thevetia if closely planted in 3 row would serve as a good live fencing.
13. Wind breaks, rows of tall trees planted close together around the orchard, are essential to resist velocity of wind which causes severe ill-effects particularly moisture evaporation from the soil.
Since the wind breaks are very effective in reducing the wind velocity and minimizing the damage to the Alphonso mango or other fruit trees and to other crops, their presence in regions where strong winds prevail is of paramount importance. A wind break ordinarily has its maximum effectiveness for a distance about four times as great as its height but has some effect over twice about that distance. The most
effective windbreak is a double row of tall trees alternately placed. There should be at least as much as space between the windbreak and the first row of the Alphonso mango or other fruit trees.
It is preferable to dig a trench of 90 cm deep at a distance of 3m from the windbreak trees and prune and cut all the roots exposed and again fill up the trenches. This may be repeated for every 3 or 4 years in order to avoid the impact of the wind breaks and Alphonso mango or other fruit trees for moisture and nutrition.
Trees suitable for windbreak should be erect, tall and quick growing, hardy and drought resistant and mechanically strong and dense to offer maximum resistance to wind. The trees which are suitable for growing as wind breaks are Casuarina equisetifolia, Pterospermum acerifolium etc.