A new revolution started when scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research successfully developed the Amrapali mango plant about 30 years ago. This is because its tree is very small and fruits also come in the tree every year. Its trees are small, but cannot grow in pots. Now mango plants of the Arunika variety have been developed, whose trees are 40 per cent smaller in size than Amrapali. It can be grown comfortably in a large pot.
The practice of planting more plants in less land by keeping apple plants smaller in size with the help of rootstock has been practised abroad for many decades. Efforts to make mango plants dwarf-like apples were started in the last century itself. Like apples and other fruits, dwarfs were not successful in the use of rootstock but some dwarf varieties were developed whose plants are small in size. The Amrapali variety became quite popular for its small size but it took 30 years for Amrapali fruit to come to the market.
In this direction, research was done for the development of dwarf species and hybrid varieties named Arunika and Ambika were developed by the ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture. Arunika variety of trees are about 40 per cent smaller than Amrapali trees. Due to the attractive fruits of red colour, the dwarf tree looks more attractive. Its second feature is that it also bears fruits every year.
Due to the large number of saplings being planted in less space in dense plantations, it is possible to get a very high yield in a few years. Fruits from small plants are easy to pluck and they also cost less to maintain. Harvesting fruits is a difficult task when the tree grows in size and at the time of harvesting, many fruits fall down and get hurt. In order to maintain the quality of fruits, they need to be carefully hand-harvested at the correct maturity and this is possible only with small-sized plants.
South Indian variety Neelam played the role of the father in the development of the Amrapali mango. Now Amrapali has played the role of mother in developing the Arunika and Ambika varieties. Hence arunika has the function of regular function and dwarfness. The interesting fact is that Arunika is dwarf shaped like her maternal grandfather. Arunika was born due to Vanaraja's association with Amrapali, while Ambika was born due to the hybridization of Amrapali and Jarnadan choice. Jarnadan likes the South Indian variety while Vanaraja is the famous variety of Gujarat. Both these varieties are beautiful and red in colour but are not as good in taste as Amrapali. Due to the use of Amrapali as a maternal variety, Ambika and Arunika seeds have regular function genes. These varieties got a beauty from father and taste and other qualities from mother.
After planting both these varieties in different climates of India, it was found that they can be grown successfully in most places. Arunika has a chance to showcase her speciality in different climates too. Be it the wind of Uttarakhand or the Orchards of Orissa. The Ambika variety has been successful in many states including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and produces a lot of fruit.
