Document Type : Research paper
Authors
1 Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Plant Industry, Northern Territory Government, Darwin, NT, 0828, Australia
2 Department of Information and Technology, Faculty of Science, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia
Abstract
Nutrient resorption is a process of nutrient remobilization from senesced organs to living tissues inside a plant. Since the Northern Territory (NT) has relatively poor soil conditions and a limited supply of nutrients for plants, it is crucial to determine the suitable scion for efficient macronutrient resorption in the Kensington Pride (KP) mango rootstock. The scions used in this study were NMBP 1201(T1), NMBP 1243 (T2), NMBP 4069 (T3), B74 (T4), and KP (T5). The experiment was laid out in a randomised, complete block design with five treatments and five replicates. The results showed that grafting B74 scion onto KP rootstock resulted in trees with reduced canopy area (65.76 ± 4.39b) and volume (48.43 ± 4.92b), indicating that it is suited for growing with a narrow planting distance to produce more mangoes in a smaller area. Grafting the B74 scion onto KP resulted in a larger leaf area (6.52 ± 1.36), ultimately increasing nutrient resorption efficiency, which is beneficial in nutrient-deficient soil like in the NT. NMBP 4069 scion grafted onto KP rootstock had a larger canopy area (87.47 ± 5.37a) and canopy volume (72.23 ± 6.21a). These trees will need more space to grow and have reduced nutrient resorption efficiency due to the smaller leaf area. The scions NMBP 1201 and NMBP 1243 displayed comparable growth metrics and nutrient resorption efficiency when grafted onto KP. The scion B74 is the most suitable variety to withstand diverse environmental conditions, optimise nutrient use, and increase fruit yield on a commercial level.
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