Growing Mangoes Naturally

Everyday man is looking for ways to make life easier for the world.  At this time of my life, I have my fill of instant food like coffee, noodles, juice.   Chicken, eggs, shrimp, fish, vegetables are being mass produced to feed the world population which has been growing by leaps and bounds.  Advances in technology and science are mind-boggling.  The earth is becoming smaller with the advent of the internet and lately science is saying that man can live up to 150 years old!

Though contributions of technology and industrialization today cannot be discounted allowing several things to be done at the same time, I still long for food cooked the old way, food grown the natural way.

The Philippine's pride, the carabao mango with scientific name mangifera indica was not spared from being grown commercially.  When before mangoes can only be enjoyed during the summer months from March to May, now locally grown mangoes can be had anytime of the year.  Of course, they cost more on other months of the year.  They are also at their sweetest during the summer months.

According to Rex Rivera, an agronomist and mango specialist,  growing mangoes using the natural farming system is slowly gaining ground nowadays.  People are beginning to eat healthy and that means naturally grown food.  Mango is one of the cash crops of the Philippines and fetches a high price in the market.  Growing it and making it into a business make sense.  Because it is a centennial tree, one is expected to earn income from farming it for a long time.  At its peak at 45-50 years old, a tree can yield  2,000 kilos of mangoes.  While traditional crops like rice, sugar, rice and corn will earn P15,000 to P60,000 per hectare per year, a hectare planted to 50 trees of mangoes can yield P600,000 to the farmer.  

Mango has many uses.  Aside from being a popular dessert, the unripe or green mango is a favorite appetizer or juice.  I prefer eating it fresh, either yellow or green but the dried form is a favorite pasalubong item.

My dear readers, let's start planting trees and earn a lot at the same time.