Suitable Climate and soil conditions for Mandarin Oranges in India

Mandarin orange 

       

          Mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) is most common among citrus fruits grown in India. It occupies nearly 50% of the total citrus area in India. Though, it is grown in every state, certain belts/pockets have emerged as the leading producers. Nagpur Sangtra (mandarin) is chiefly grown in Satpura hills (Vidarbha region) of central India. Hilly slopes of Darjeeling (West Bengal) and Coorg (Karnataka) are other major belts of mandarin production. In north-western India, Kinnow mandarin is being grown satisfactorily in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh. In south India, Wynad, Nilgiri, Palney and Shevroy hills are major mandarin-growing belts, while hills of Meghalaya (Khasi, Dusha, Garo, Jaintia), Mizorum, Tripura, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh have predominance in mandarins. In Assam, Brahmaputra valley and Dibrugarh districts are famous for mandarin production.

Climate and soil

             Mandarins grow successfully in all frost-free tropical and subtropical regions of the country. They are adapted well to sub-mountaneous tracts 370–1,500m above mean sea-level and temperature 10°–35°c. In Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, it is grown in humid regions of Coorg, Wynad, Nilgiri and Shevroy hills. In these regions, mandarin is not grown as a pure crop and is intercropped with coffee. In north-eastern India, climate favours the production of excellent colour and quality mandarins. The areas around Nagpur, with an elevation of 370m and annual rainfall of 100–120cm provides an excellent climate for the cultivation of world famous Nagpur mandarin.

            Kinnow appears to be very exacting in its climatic requirements. It needs sharply contrasting warm cool temperature with a chilling temperature during winter for good cropping and high quality fruits. Kinnow has adapted well in Punjab, Haryana, parts of Rajasthan and foothills of Himachal Pradesh. Though Kinnow has completely failed in humid tropics of Andhra Pradesh (Tirupathi), it performs exceedingly well in Nagpur and Akola regions of Maharashtra, where it attains very good fruit quality comparable to that of Nagpur mandarin.

            Hot winds and excessive heat during flowering and fruit set are highly detrimental for fruit bearing and cause fruit drop and sunburn of the fruit. Low humidity favours colour development, whereas plants not having adequate sunlight produce low yields of poor-quality fruits.

             The mandarins may be grown in a wide variety of soils but medium or light loamy soils with slightly heavy sub-soil, well-drained with pH of 6.0–8.0 are ideal. In Nagpur area, mandarins are grown on typical black clay soil which cracks on drying. These soils are very shallow and are underlaid with a porous subsoil of murrum. In Coorg and Wynad tracts of south India, mandarin flourishes well in deep, well-drained, black and red loamy soils. In Assam, mandarin is grown in valley land where soils are lateritic type of sandy loam with pH of 4.5–6.0. In Punjab and its adjoining states, Kinnow is grown on alluvial soils with pH of 5.0–9.0. In Himachal Pradesh, Kinnow and desi santra (mandarin) are grown chiefly in acidic laterite soils (pH 5.5–6.0).