In the past, mango trees in Ilocos Norte used to be very productive. But not anymore. Of late, production had been going down and many of the mango trees have become sickly or even died.

The culprit is the abuse in inducing the trees to flower without applying fertilizers. This was revealed by Ricardo Tolentino at the recent national mango congress in Mandaue City, Cebu. Tolentino is the head of the mango growers association in Ilocos Norte. He himself manages several mango farms and is also active in marketing mangoes.

The decline in the health of the trees was to be expected because many of the mango plantations were contracted by people who did the spraying of potassium nitrate or some other formulations. They sprayed the trees with flower inducers but did not bother to fertilize them.

Alarmed by the decadence of the trees in the province, Tolentino convinced the lady governor, Imee Marcos, to help rehabilitate the trees. She allotted them P5 million for that purpose.

The main strategy adopted was to feed the trees with the right formulation to regain their vigor. Tolentino said that the governor would be happy if the amount budgeted by the provincial government would result in an increase in production of five percent.

Tolentino said that the season is just half way and the development is very exciting indeed. He calculates that the production will not only increase by five percent but most likely by a minimum of 30 percent.

They had the soils in the mango plantations tested so the right fertilizer balance could be applied. Fertilizing started last July. Rates varied, depending on the age or size of the trees, but here’s an example of what they applied to a 15-year-old tree. They applied 3 kilos of organic fertilizer, 2 kilos of complete (14-14-14) and 1 kilo of muriate of potash (0-0-60). Tolentino said the dosage applied probably was not fully adequate but was good enough. By his calculation, production of the fertilized trees will increase by a minimum of 30 percent.

He announced that by the time the 15th National Mango Congress will be held on March 13-15 in Iba, Zambales, the final results would already be known, and he will make the report on that during the congress. Hopefully, other LGUs will follow what Imee Marcos did for the mango growers in Ilocos Norte.The mango congress in Zambales, by the way, will coincide with the annual mango festival in the province. At the Cebu congress, the Zambales delegation came in full force headed by no less than their governor, former Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.

The AMIN Foundation headed by Tony S. Rola has also asked his members to give their full support to the forthcoming congress in Zambales. At the meeting of the group at the Rabang Farm in Abucay, Bataan, he asked them to attend the event.

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