Effect of rootstock age on success and growth of softwood grafting for Harumanis mango

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) belongs to the family Anacardiaceae, is an important tropical fruit and has grown in more than 100 countries of the world (Alam et al., 2006Ram et al., 2012). Harumanis mango is one of the famous fruits that has high economic demand and potential for Malaysia export business especially in the Perlis State in Malaysia (Farook et al., 2013). It is pleasant in smell and sweet in taste with orange pulp (Farook et al., 2013). Harumanis mango cultivar is included in the national agenda as a specialty fruit from Perlis, Malaysia, for the world (Farook et al., 2013). Usually, mango can be propagated by seeds or by grafting (Ram et al., 2012). For commercial purpose, grafting is the most appropriate method because it maintains the genetic characters from the propagated variety (Mandal et al., 2011Ram et al., 2012). However, the current methods used are time consuming and low in success. One of the major requirements for achieving the increased production of Harumanis planting materials would be the rapid multiplication and distribution of superior clones. Softwood grafting is one of the successfully economic efficient and rapid methods for the propagation of Harumanis. However, the success of grafting depends on different factors such as influence of environmental parameters, source of rootstock, rootstock age, grafting time and method of grafting (Shantagouda et al., 2008). The selection of suitable rootstock is as important as the selection of the scion cultivar. It has a strong influence on the growth, yield, fruit maturity and soil adaptability, among other things (Mandal et al., 2011). Hence, it is highly essential to evaluate the effect of rootstocks age on success and growth of softwood grafting for Harumanis planting materials. (Copied from article)