The mango, Mangifera indica L , belongs to the Anacardeacea family. It grows in a perennial tree of medium to large size with a symmetrical top. It flowers in panicles ten to twelve inches in length. The flower is hermaphroditic with male and female flowers in the same flower panicle. The fruit varies in size and has a fleshy pulp. The skin is leathery and varies in color from yellowish green to red. The seed is found in the center of the fruit.

Mangoes come in hundreds of varieties, from plum-sized fruits to those weighing four pounds or more. The varieties grown commercially, however, are round, oval, or kidney-shaped, and are usually about the size of a small melon or large avocado. Much of the U.S. supply is imported from Mexico , Central America, and Haiti ; about 10% of the commercial crop is grown in Florida .

It grows best in well drained sandy loose soil with a pH between 5.5 y 7.5, in a dry tropical climate with rainfall between 200 y 2,500 mm per year. It needs two to three months of a dry spell to induce flowering. The optimum air temperature is between 23.7 y 26.6 ° C. These are the climatic conditions that prevail in the northern coast of Lake Managua where the Mangosa farm, Fatima , is located.

. History of Mango: Mangoes are native to southeastern Asia, especially Burma and eastern India where they have been grown for more than 4,000 years. Because the mango seed can't be dispersed naturally by wind or water due to it's large size and weight, it is believed that people who moved from one region to another transported the fruit to new areas. The spread of Buddhism assisted in the distribution of mangoes in Southeastern Asia . Mango cultivation has now spread to many parts of the tropical and sub-tropical world, where they grow best. Mangoes were carried to Africa during the 16th century and later found their way aboard Portuguese ships to Brazil in the 1700's. Later, in 1742, mangoes were found growing in the West Indies . In 1860, mangoes were successfully introduced to Florida along the East Coast, where only a few varieties were grown. In 1889, the United States Department of Agriculture introduced a grafted variety from India called the Mulgoa, also known as Mulgoba in the United States .

Freshly Picked Mangoes Ready
for Delivery to the Pachinghouse

The mango is still considered an exotic fruit by many. Due to its attractive color and physical appearance, good taste, flavor and smell and its high nutritional value, it has acquired great demand over the last few years in developed countries. It is a splendid source of beta-carotene, as its vivid orange flesh would suggest. The most outstanding features of this fruit is its low fat content, free cholesterol and low in sodium and high in fiber. It also supplies plenty of vitamin C, some vitamin B6, and even some vitamin E. and A. When ripe, the flesh is soft and exceptionally juicy, to the point where eating a mango can be a fairly messy business. But the taste is matchless, somewhat like a mix of peach and pineapple, only sweeter than either one.

Trees grow up to 50 ft high and have a rounded canopy that may be low and dense to upright and open, with dark green foliage that is long and narrow. It is widely grown in the tropics for its succulent fruit. The fruit, which is a fleshy drupe, is kidney-shaped or oval, from 3” to 6”in length; greenish, yellowish, or reddish in color and contains a large flattened stone. Like many

tropical fruits, they were spread from Asia into the Middle East by Persian traders and thence into East and West Africa and on into South America by Portuguese traders. Mango is an annual crop, with some trees bearing fruit on alternate years. Mango is ideally suited to Mangosa 's farm climactic conditions, making it an ideal export product.

The mango tree grows best in deep, loose, Well-drained soils with a healthy level of organic content and a pH ranging between 5.5 and 7.5. Mango trees thrive in tropical climates at an altitude close to sea level, in temperatures that range between 74.66 F and 79.88 F and in areas where precipitation ranges between 200 and 2,500 mm per year. The stress caused by the lack of precipitation for 2 or 3 months incites the mango tree to flower, marking the beginning of its annual production cycle. These are precisely the conditions that prevail at its plantation.