Mango is one of the most important fruit crop in the Brazilian Semi-Arid region. The cultivar Tommy Atkins has been grown in 85% of total area dedicated to this crop. The goal of this research was to evaluate strategies to reduce the juvenile period and to replace the laborious hand pollinization in order to accelerate the development of mango new cultivars to the region. Isolated plants of 'Haden' and 'Espada' were identified within a commercial orchards established with "Tommy Atkins' in a farm dedicated to export mangoes in Petrolina, PE, Brazil. Seedlings with six months old were transplanted to field. Floral and fruit setting were accomplished with pruning, irrigation management, application of paclobutrazol and potassium nitrate. DNA extracted from progenies and parental was analyzed with Mangifera indica published microsatellites. The combined management was efficient to induce flowering and fruit setting in, approximately, 70% of the progenies, after two year and half of field establishment. Among ninety-four individuals analyzed with three microsatellites 83% were identified as true hybrids of 'Haden' x 'T. Atkins'. Among four hundred and one individuals analyzed with only one microsatellite 10% were identified as true hybrids of 'Espada' x 'T. Atkins'. The adopted strategies were efficient to reduce the juvenile period and the laborious hand crossing in mango. It was estimated that the development of new mango cultivars could be accomplished with eight to ten years of work, including the complex agronomic evaluations.
Mangifera indica; microsatelites; breeding; PBZ
