Part of the Hellenic Agricultural Organisation – ELGO Dimitra – the Chania-based Institute of the Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops and Viticulture has been trialling the cultivation of tropical fruits such as the mango on its premises for the past 4 decades. Now, as an article in Haniotika Nea explains, the increases in temperature brought by climate change are producing a more favourable climate for their production and growers in Crete are becoming increasingly interested in the mango. The fruit is popular among local consumers but has hitherto been only available as an expensive import from far-off countries such as Brazil.

The increases in temperature due to climate change have produced ideal conditions for the cultivation of tropical fruits in Chania and the rest of Crete and as a result more and more producers are experimenting in particular with growing mangoes.

Haniotika Nea recently interviewed farmer Dimitris Katsaros at his well kept-patch of three stremmata in Kalyves. The biggest trees there were planted in 2020, the smallest in 2022, and the former are already bearing fruit which is due to be harvested in the coming days. Asked how he embarked in this project, Mr Katsaros said: “An agriculturalist friend, Nektarios Kokolantonakis, urged me to try it, so I went ahead. I had some doubts as I had previously planted aloe and I had to take it out because it failed.”

He is growing the mangoes organically, neither using pesticides nor spraying for weeds, which he takes out with a strimmer. “I also have avocado,” he told the paper. “The mango is a purely tropical fruit, it has a stronger root system than the avocado, but its branches are more sensitive to winds and frost. The biggest problem is cold. Mangoes needs less water than avocados, so long as they are well established,” he says.

As regards income, last year Mr Katsaros distributed the crop in local shops at €5.50 per kilo, but this year he will sell it through the Organic Farmers’ Cooperative at a price starting at €7.00 per kilo. “I find that there is a lot of interest from the public, they like it a lot. As it is cut when ripe it has all its aromas, it’s juicy and wherever I’ve offered it, it has been enthusiastically received,” said the grower, who thinks that he will have to continue the production of mangoes in a greenhouse.

Experience of the Institute
“Our Institute has had this species growing for more than 35 years, we have a very large collection of different varieties and we are seeing how it develops with the changes in the climate,” says Thiresia-Teresa Tzatzani, a researcher at ELGO Dimitra’s Institute of the Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops and Viticulture, who specialises in subtropical and tropical plants.

The mango originates from South East Asia where, as she explains, “conditions are dry in winter and wet in summer. That is the exact opposite of what happens in Greece, where we have rains in winter while the particular crop needs watering from spring until autumn. The winter rains in conjunction with low temperatures always affected the crop negatively and it was very difficult for the producers to cultivate it in the open air,

“For years we at the Institute recommended cultivation under cover, not necessarily in a greenhouse but with protection from the uncontrolled winter rains. In the past few years the rainfall has unfortunately diminished [in the quantities required] for all the other crops and this combined with the increase in temperature has contributed to the development of crops such as the mango which have become better acclimatised.”

In Chania, the plant is grown chiefly in Κountoura [near Palaiochora], where there are over 25 stremmata, and at different places in the plain of Chania. Noting that the mango is being grown successfully both in areas near Chania and in Eastern Crete, Ms Tzatzani says that the Institute has organised two seminars on the subject and is preparing a growers’ guide which should be published by Christmas.

Conditions for cultivation
As regards the particular requirements of the mango, she says “it needs water, evenly administered and not in large quantities compared with other crops. Avocados grown in greenhouses have problems over 37 degrees, while the mango does well even up to 45 degrees. It needs deep soil so that the root system can develop, and good drainage. Its vegetal development takes place after the harvest (October to November), when it needs half of its annual amount of fertiliser.

Asked if there are prospects for the crop in Chania and in Crete. Ms Tzatzani said: “When there is available water – and it must be emphasised that we don’t need large quantities – then on the basis of the [current] temperatures, I think that the cultivation of mangoes could be increased not only in Crete but other areas where we are trialling them, such as the Peloponnese.

“These two areas would favour their cultivation, and perhaps in a few years we could talk about its organised production in Greece. It is a very popular fruit which is consumed both in Crete and throughout the country. Also the harvest period, which starts at the end of July to the beginning of August, could be extended up to Christmas, giving farmers the possibility of having production for a large part of the year.”
(Haniotika Nea 05/07/24)