MANGO LEAF GALL FORMATION: VARIETAL SUSCEPTIBILITY AND WITHIN TREE DISTRIBUTION

The present study was carried out to screen most commonly cultivated mango, Mangifera indica L., cultivars for their susceptibility to gall formation. Sarooli cultivar proved to be the most resistant one by having a minimum number of galls per 100 leaves. The abundance of galls in four quadrants of the tree i.e., east, west, north and south, was also studied which revealed that east quadrant had maximum number of galls while the abundance of galls in the remaining quadrants was variable. Gall formation on mango leaves seemed to increase gradually with increasing height from the ground level, reached a maximum at the height 12 ft to 16 ft and then declined. Leaf area measurements and nutrient analysis of the leaves were also done to see their impact on gall formation. Correlation analysis revealed that gall formation was positively linked with leaf area and the amount of Zn (ppm), P (%), K (%) while N (%) had negative correlation (P 0.05) with gall formation. In conclusion, the findings of the present study could be helpful in the management of mango leaf gall formation.