Evaluation of pruning waste of Mangifera indica var Harumanis cultivated in greenhouse

Abstract

Mangifera indica var Harumanis is one of the exotic mango cultivated in Perlis, Malaysia. It economic importance increased in recent years due to the popularity attributed to it excellent taste, sweet and aromatic fragrance. Supply of Harumanis cannot meet market demand, mainly due to the difficulty of raising the crops and the short and uncertain harvesting seasons. The cultivation of Harumanis in greenhouse was found to be feasible to mitigate the short coming. However, the cultural practices of high density planting in greenhouse calls for regular pruning to meet the desired canopy. Regular strategic pruning produced pruning waste with potential economic value. This research was done to quantify the by-products produced by pruning from three 1/2 acre greenhouses, under the ecological and climatic of Perlis. The fresh biomass of waste collected during primary, secondary and tertiary pruning were determined. The pruning waste produced was 0.676kg per plant equivalent to 146.4kg per greenhouse during primary and secondary pruning. Estimation of fresh biomass waste produced during floral induction determine by regression was 816 kg per greenhouse with the expected total of 40.8 ton from 50 greenhouses. In view of the fact that the mango plant management practice was from the clean agricultural, the waste can be potentially utilized for green manufacturing. This was the first attempted to quantify pruning waste in mango cultivation before further utilization of pruning waste.