Articles
The climate of mango producing areas: a case study on three islands
Article number
1415_3
Pages
25 – 32
Language
English
Abstract
Cultivation of mango (Mangifera indica L.) spread in the last 30 years to higher latitudes than the species’ native area.
This raises numerous questions regarding the species adaptation capacity, physiology and productivity.
We described the climate of three different mango producing areas located in three distant islands: La Réunion (21°S, France), located in the Mascarene archipelago in the Indian ocean; Tenerife (28°N, Spain), in the Canary archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean; and Sicily (38°N, Italy), at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea.
Air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, evapotranspiration, solar radiation, wind speed and direction were collected from weather stations located as close as possible to experimental mango orchards for the period 2018-2022. The climate of each orchard was characterized and they were compared across the three islands.
The orchards fell into micro-climatic areas different from each island macro-climatic areas as they are described in the literature.
The three orchards differed greatly for several parameters: the absolute highest (43°C) and lowest (2.5°C) temperatures were recorded in Sicily.
Temperatures showed little variability, both during the day and along the year, in La Réunion and in Tenerife, where the daily average temperatures ranged between 18 and 27°C. Also, the annual rainfall and potential evapotranspiration distribution varied greatly: the cumulated pluviometric deficit is negative in La Réunion during half of the year and during two thirds of the year in Sicily.
It was constantly negative in Tenerife, which was characterized by a nearly arid climate.
Moreover, rainfall is concentrated in different periods of the mango phenological cycle among the islands, thus affecting the potential productivity.
The 5-year data showed that mango can be cultivated in a broad range of climatic conditions, if the appropriate crop management is implemented to ensure sustainable fruit production.
This raises numerous questions regarding the species adaptation capacity, physiology and productivity.
We described the climate of three different mango producing areas located in three distant islands: La Réunion (21°S, France), located in the Mascarene archipelago in the Indian ocean; Tenerife (28°N, Spain), in the Canary archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean; and Sicily (38°N, Italy), at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea.
Air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, evapotranspiration, solar radiation, wind speed and direction were collected from weather stations located as close as possible to experimental mango orchards for the period 2018-2022. The climate of each orchard was characterized and they were compared across the three islands.
The orchards fell into micro-climatic areas different from each island macro-climatic areas as they are described in the literature.
The three orchards differed greatly for several parameters: the absolute highest (43°C) and lowest (2.5°C) temperatures were recorded in Sicily.
Temperatures showed little variability, both during the day and along the year, in La Réunion and in Tenerife, where the daily average temperatures ranged between 18 and 27°C. Also, the annual rainfall and potential evapotranspiration distribution varied greatly: the cumulated pluviometric deficit is negative in La Réunion during half of the year and during two thirds of the year in Sicily.
It was constantly negative in Tenerife, which was characterized by a nearly arid climate.
Moreover, rainfall is concentrated in different periods of the mango phenological cycle among the islands, thus affecting the potential productivity.
The 5-year data showed that mango can be cultivated in a broad range of climatic conditions, if the appropriate crop management is implemented to ensure sustainable fruit production.
Publication
Authors
D. Scuderi, M. Pourmohammad Shahvar, G. Marsella, V. Farina, M.G. Lobo Rodrigo, F. Normand
Keywords
climate change, phenology, Mediterranean environment, rainfall distribution, tropical horticulture
Groups involved
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