Okinawa, Japan, April 23, 2009

Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 02:14:02 PM

For the Love of Mangos - Philippines, Thailand and Japan

Curator Noris Ledesma delves once again into the world of the mango with an ambitious agenda of adventures to capture the true spirit of the Asian mango and her people. In the Philippines she will take in the celebration of the mango in Guimaras to capture the 'Carabao' in her full glory. It is then on to Thailand for a photographic tour of the Bangkok floating market, Talad Thai and the orchards of South Thailand - her lens recording the subtle shapes and expressions of the mango and her people. Then she is off to Okinawa and the modern world of the dwarf, intensive cultivation of the orient. Mangos destined for the upscale markets of Japan and beyond. Ambitious yes, but she is equal the challenge as Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden goes to the orient for the love of mangos.

In the morning we visited the Fruit Research Center in Nagao . Satoshi Nakasone and Masato Matsumura made a tour at the station. I was impressed with the size of the trees. They are developing a breeding program, and horticulture techniques for the local growers.

The most important cultivar is 'Irwin' , but they also are testing other Florida cultivars such as 'Valencia Pride', 'Haden', 'Keitt' and others. The Japanese preference is for red mangos. Researchers at the station are trying to extend the season of mangos in Okinawa with greenhouses. Normally fruit is harvested when fully mature and is commercially available from June to August. This is the standard type. But other types are in development to extend the harvesting period from May to August.

In the afternoon we went to visit the largest commercial mango grower on the island. Mr. Yasukichi was waiting for us. Proud of his trees, he showed us his 'Irwin' mangos. He controls the temperature to have mangos one month earlier than the rest on the island. Prunning is his key and his 20 year old mangos have been pruned every year, removing wood to rejuvenate the canopy and have more points of production. They have challenges with thrips and anthracnose to overcome. Pollination is promoted by flies during the flowering season using fish and opening the green houses. In order to attain a full red color they carefully expose the fruit to the sunlight until they get full ripenes and can be harvested. The price of mangos in the early season is about 4000 Yen/kilo and it drops to 1500 Yen/Kilo in July during the peak of the season. The local mangos in Japan are very expensive, but they satisfy urban consumers by replacing the low quality imported fruit.

My time in Okinawa is finished, and I will bring with me a good lesson of horticulture, based in the Japanese culture that for almost one hundred years has been changing the nature of the mango tree, converting it into a small and productive expression of a bonsai Mango. Thank you to my friends in Okinawa, where the goverment and industry support me in this experiece for the Love of mangos.

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