Intercropping in Mango Farm

Dear Gurus,

Could you please suggest what intercropping can be done within Mango farm? The spacing between mango plants is 20ft X 20ft and the age of mango plants is 8 months. It is red soil and we have drip facility for main (mango) crop and can arrange the same for intercrop too.

I was thinking of going for Drumstick (PKM 1/2), but someone said the shade of drumsticks could cause issue to the growth of mango. Is it correct? If so, any alternatives do you suggest?

Thanks,
Raj

Mango and drumstick is a perfect companion crop. If you are going for PKM1 you can prune and control the height less than 8-10ft. which will not affect mango. Secondly drumstick gives a dancing shade i.e it doesn’t affect inter crop.

Thank you, Sri. I’ll go for it. I’m planning for 20ft X 10ft gap for drumstick (intercrop). Is it OK? The main crop (mango) is at 20ft X 20ft. Also, are the seeds suggested for planting or should we go for seedlings? Any idea where I can get reliable seeds/seedlings in Hyderabad?

Thanks.

Regards,
Siva

See how to avoid shadowing and spacing

Thank you, Sri.

I was also planning to inter crop with mango at 5 ft x 5 ft. I was told that drumstick trees can be warm for mango trees especially since this is high density planting at 5 ft x 5 ft.
So, I was thinking of papaya as inter crop.

My mango plantation is near Indapur in Raigad , Konkan region.
Is it okay to go for drumstick as inter crop with 6 to8 feet high ?

regards,
Ashutosh

Ashutosh,

What’s the spacing of your Mango plants and how old are they?

Regards,
Raj

Sorry for the typo. Spacing is 5 meters x 5 meters. Plants are 2.5 years old and height is around 3/3.5 feet.
I will try and attach an image.
Note I do not have drip yet.


I think, you can go ahead with annual drumstick variety; one row of drumsticks between two mango rows and 10ft distance between drumstick plants in each row - i.e. 5mt X 3mt; or other design can be such a way that there’s a drumstick plant in the center of 4 mango plants set, i.e. at 5mt X 5mt; for my land, I’m planning to go for later one and in my case the spacing is 20ft X 20ft

I am planning for drumstick row in betweem mango rows as suggested

It is not Proper to Plant Drumstick(Moringa) in between Mango because both are Trees and interfere one another.Moreover Domestic tend to more Pests and it will damage the Main Crop of Mango. Banana and Papayo are the Most suitable inter crops for Mango Garden.
MANNE.SN,
for vasudha Green Farms,
Reliable Farm Consultant in India,
Operating from Hyderabad Telangana,
9133498366,
Mail ID: vasudhagreenfarms@gmail.com,

This is confusing; heard from some seniors that drumstick intercropping in mango is a good option, but the latest response is of different opinion. All other gurus - could you please throw some / more light on this?

Regards,
Raj

Inter cropping of Tree to Tree plantation is not suggestible. The Morning will survive for about 5-6 Years. This intercrop Moringa Tree Plantation will interfere with the Main Plantation of Mango. Moreover Moringa is More susceptible to Pests . While Papaya Plantation life is about 1.50 Years to 2 Years, by the Time the Mango tree Grows well.Similarly Banana Plantation also the maximum cropping period will be THREE Years by the time Mango Starts yielding. This is my Experience since my Childhood, where we grown Banana plus Mango Gardens in our Place.
MANNE.SN,
for vasudha Green Farms,
Reliable Farm Consultant in India,
Operating from Hyderabad Telangana,
9133498366,
Mail ID: vasudhagreenfarms@gmail.com,

Hi, looking at the answers you must be confused and rightly so. Here is my answer which might help you get some clarification hopefully. For inter crops in a mango orchard, you have a few choices. Here i list them for you. 1> Papaya 2> Banana 3> Drum sticks 4> Pineapple 5> Burma teak 6> Cashew 7> Chiku 8> Lady fingers 9> blackeye peas 10> Tomatoes and many others.

Dont get confused the big trees like burma teak will take ten years to grow. The shadow problem is solved by the cross shadow mentioned above partially. Use them to cut the rain bashing on the north or west side. Do not put too many of these. Use common sense. They grow taller if they are a little densely populated then usually recommended. You will be thankful ten years later when the wood can be used probably by yourself to make a little cottage or barn.
Cashew for the labours and house hold enjoyment. You are in indapur right. the katodis out there would like it.
Chiku so that you get a little variety for home and friends, Amla is also pretty cool.
Papaya can be commercial. Drumsticks can be commercial. Bannanas are ok if kept on certain corners in clusters. Pineapples dont come in anybody’s way if planted sensibly. Shahtoot plants are small they are fun to eat. You now can have a full fruit salad from your own orchard.
Drum sticks get these nice ants hanging around them they dont bother you but can easily be rid off by applying turmeric powder.
Once you have all these going on you can chop off any tree or plant which is coming in the way of your main crop.
I am all for intensive integrated farming, so lady fingers and tomatoes can also be grown in between atleast during rains and then when ever you need to cut them out use them in the orchard for retaining moisture and reducing soil erosion.
I am no guru. I have my mango orchard in Shriwardhan area near the dam at ranveli. If you need any professional help do hit upon me.
There is more to an orchard like the contour of the land etc. There are ways to cut fertilizer costs etc. Any way hope this helps.

1 Like

Hi Mr.Manne,

I believe we have some annual drumstick variety also which can be cut after taking 12/18 months. So, can we not go ahead with it as intercrop in Mango?

Raj.

Mr. Manne - Any further thoughts on this?

Thank you Bhayya

The Varieties are PKM -1 and PKM -2. After ONE year these trees have to be Prouned and not be removed. These TWO varieties will survive for Three Years with Economical Yield. After 3 Years, they have to be removed.

MANNE.SN,
for vasudha Green Farms,
Reliable Farm Consultant in India,
Operating from Hyderabad Telangana,
9133498366,
Mail ID: vasudhagreenfarms@gmail.com,

Dear All,

Just wanted to provide an update on this. Finally we’ve gone ahead with papaya as the intercrop within the mango and now we are enjoying the harvest by sharing the fruits with friends & relatives apart from selling to the market. We did not use much chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Fruits are juicy and very tasty. After eating these, unable to eat the fruits bought from outside… Overall happy though it was not a click commercially.

Regards,
Raj

Dear Mr. RhythuBidda,

very nice to know that you have done inter crop in mango farm & the fruit full results generated income & papaya gift to friends & relatives. i request you to write complete procedure you adopted for this achievements. So other farmers will try and enjoy in same way that you adopted.

Best Regards,

Azhar2345

Have not followed any special measures other than the regular ones…

dug the pits of 2ft size; allowed it to dry for 3 weeks; filled the pits with well mixed top soil + FYM + SSP + Neem Powder and planted the 50days old saplings (Redy Lady 786) bought from some local nursery. Followed the regular watering (through drip), de-weeding around the plants, application of NPK bi-monthly and sprayed micronutrients 6 times so far. One thing I’d like to mention here is that… it took lots of time for the ripening of the initial batch of fruits; instead of spraying chemicals for faster ripening we’ve allowed them to take time for natural ripening and ultimately they started ripening on the plant after few days and have reciprocated with very sweet taste… :slight_smile:

By the way, Azhar, I didn’t say income was fruitful (yet to retrieve the cost); however enjoying the fruits and the happiness of sharing them with friends & relatives. :slight_smile:

Regards,
Raj