A most important mango variety

The number one fruit export of Thailand and Malaysia — Chokonan Mango — could be the most important imported mango variety in the Philippines. It bears fruits year long even during dry season.

The fruit is shaped like the carabao mango.But the resemblance ends there. Its succulent sweetness tastes like honey, hence, it is called honey mango in the market. The unripe fruit is also ideal for eating as it is crunchy and not sour.

Chokonan is early maturing, unlike carabao mango. The fruit is sweet and will ripen even when harvested young and immature. Carabao mango, on the other hand, will not become sweet when harvested immature even if is induced to ripen by artificial means like using kalburo or lime.

At the DENR-PAWB-Dizon Botanic Fruit Garden and Techno-Demo Learning Center, Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center, North Ave., Diliman, Quezon City, chokonan mango is showing its good attributes. The original chokonan mango bears fruits continuously throughout the year even without spraying.

The variety can tolerate adverse conditions that even without spraying insecticide and fungicide the flowers will develop into quality sweet fruits. On the other hand, flowers of carabao mango are easily affected by humid condition, resulting in the dropping of its flowers due to attack of anthracnose.

The original chokonan mango mother tree was brought from Thailand to the Philippines by Dr. Tito Aguinaldo and Dr. Vinai Klajring (a Ph. D. alumnus of Central Luzon State University) from his farm in Chantaburi, Thailand.

Aside from chokonan mango, a lot of things can be learned from free seminars which the father and son team of Bernie Dizon and Garry Dizon hold on Saturdays and Sundays at the techno demo farm at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife. Thousands from all over the country have visited and learned a lot from these seminars.