Goa's Cardozo Mancurad to grow across country PANAJI: Goa's Cardozo Mancurad has reason to blush some more. It has been picked by the country's agriculture scientists as a mouth-watering choice for Indian farmers to grow.
The delicious and pulpy Cardozo Mancurad, now growing on a single tree in the Cardozo family compound in Mapusa, is poised to break its boundaries. "This unique variety has been registered by national bureau of plant genetic resources, (NBPGR) New Delhi on the basis of its performance and approved for release in the public domain," Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) director N P Singh said. The registration of the mango variety also logged a first of sorts for the state. "The recognition is the first instance of a plant genetic resource and also a mango germplasm," Singh added. After it bagged first prize at the Konkan fruit festival some years back, the luscious variety caught scientists' eye. "Its performance and various parameters were assessed and its potential was identified at ICAR's Old Goa lab," ICAR agriculture scientist A R Desai said. Considering its commercial potential, ICAR had applied to NBPGR for registration of the variety in March this year. Scientists are gaga over its characteristics and advantages. "It's a promising selection and a farmer's variety," says Desai. The Cardozo variety has several advantages over the popular parental variety Mancurad, including its regular bearing habit. "Normally, Mancurad bears fruit one year and no fruit at all or less fruit the next year," Desai said. The Mapusa variety has a better shelf life and an attractive colour as compared to the normal Mancurad. "Its fruit can last seven days while Mancurad starts rotting after three to four days. It also has a reddish blush to its skin as compared to Mancurad's uniformly yellow shade," Desai said. The fruit has a deep orange, firm pulp with scanty fibre and a better flavour. "We will raise a progeny orchard of this species to produce more plants for grafting," Singh said. While ICAR, Old Goa has the right to produce and sell the plants, the kin of late Dr A B Cardozo, owners of the tree are also entitled to marketing rights. His son Fausto Cardoso, who exhibited the fruit at exhibitions in the past said, "I am happy about the development as all steps can be taken to preserve and propagate this species, which has a few advantages, including its bigger size than an average Mancurad." By virtue of its selection, Cardozo Mancurad is identified as national active germplasm site (NAGS). "As a policy, such selections are conserved at Central institute of sub tropical horticulture (CISH), Lucknow, a national conservatory for mango genetic resources," Singh said. As plants and tropical fruits are natural resources, they are sought to be registered under Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act, 2001. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Goas-Cardozo-Mancurad-to-grow-across-country/articleshow/9780139.cms ~Avelino
