Today I went to Expo Mango 2013. this year the event started tied in with an International Mango symposium .
I will update with videos and pictures in a few days.
Anyway, this year had plenty of varieties, and I was lucky enough to obtain a few mangoes to try out for the first time.
Nam Doc Mai, ( Flower Nectar or whatever its translation ) is exactly that, a very sweet, silky smooth mango with floral overtones. I loved it, My wife called it "a very feminine mango", because or the sweet aroma, smooth texture, and pointed shape.
St. Maui, Very nice looking mango, very colorful like a Tommy. it felt soft to the touch, so I decided to try it. it was not 100% ripe yet, but this didn't seem to matter, it tasted really good, very different than the NDM, St. Maui had a slight pine aroma, but just a hint that gives it an interesting flavor. I would like to try a fully ripe one.
The got plenty of surprises at the expo, I did not expect to see Gary Zill and his wife, at the event, very friendly.
I also met Noris Ledesma she was a speaker at the event, extremely nice person. the whole group did tours to some plantations and packing house, which I filmed.
hopefully I will have this edited and uploaded this week.
I also have a question regarding the St. Maui. I noticed the seed was rather big in relation to the fruit, which leads me to think it could be polyembryonic. does anyone know for sure? Poly or Mono?
Update 3: 4th Video upload.
I finished the first of a series of clips, here Noris Ledesma, gives her opinions on various subjects related to commercial mango growing, one of her suggestions is that the D.R. should breed or select a signature variety that is well adapted to the tropics, and does not require chemical flower induction, like many varieties bred in Florida. which are more adapted to a sub-tropical climate. another issue is regarding the Keitt variety, she says that there is good progress in the DR, but one thing one must take into consideration is that Keitt mango variety is being planted all over the world, and soon the DR will be competing for the same market using the same mango variety.
http://youtu.be/qVHu0o7rr74Second video:
A short clip of the varieties being sold to the public from the vendors at the event. the big Pascuals sell for around 25-30 pesos which is like 0.55- 0.75 cents dollars.
and the medium sized fruit sell for about a US1.50 a dozen. One thing you may notice is how clean the fruit are in regards to anthracnose, which is rarely seen on Mangoes grown in this area of the country, salt breeze and little rain. make it the perfect place for growing mangoes.
http://youtu.be/u8afGh830iQ3rd Video upload:
This is a video of the varieties display tables, this year they covered the fruit with some kind of oil, I suspect this was doe to prevent flies or to preserve them for display, but I noticed that it had some affect on the coloration, causing some kind of variegation in the skin. anyway, if your bandwidth allows it, watch in 1080p.
http://youtu.be/zATZtkgBaUc4th Clip:
I had the chance to visit a private mango orchard, the owner has 100 varieties. the owner gave permission for a small group to look around. my only problem transportation was leaving in 30 minutes. so I had to rush things a bit. although I may get another chance to film inside again, but now is the best time because most trees had fruit on them.
This place was one of the best kept orchards I have ever seen here. the trees you see that are heavily loaded with fruit, are Keitt of course.
http://youtu.be/Eg_uI71ZW4wOther video on the way, >plantation tour,