1. Alteration of post harvest diseases of mango Mangifera indica through production practices and climatic factors
- Author
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Diedhiou, PM, Mbaye, N, Dramé, A, and Samb, PI
- Subjects
Climatic conditions, cultural practices, interactions, mango, post harvest diseases - Abstract
Mango production in Senegal takes place over the two seasons of dry and humid conditions between April and November. The increasing demand for fresh mangoes has led to an increase in land areaallocated to that crop. Mango production suffers, however, from fruit rotting due to post-harvest diseases during ripening. These diseases reduce the fruit quality and cause severe losses. A surveywas carried out in 2004 to detect fungi involved in post-harvest rot of mangoes (cv. Kent) produced in the Niayes area of Senegal in relation with the production practices and the climatic conditions. Theresults showed that at first harvest during the dry season, a broader species range of fungi including Alternaria sp., Botryodiplodia theobromae, Dothiorella sp., Aspergillus niger and non-identified fungiwere responsible for mango rotting. The fruits harvested during the humid season, however, were more heavily infested but a smaller number of fungal agents were involved; Colletotrichum gloeosporioidesand secondarily Phoma mangiferae played the main role. The cultural practices played an important role on mango infection whereby orchard sanitation and particularly cleaning and pruning reduced theinfection rates. Orchards with no care, in contrast, yielded the most heavily infested mango samples. In addition, the harvest practice of inversion of fruits in soil for sap elimination increases contaminationwith pathogenic fungi.
- Published
- 2010