Alphonso (Hapus)
Grafted planting material, not true seed. The GI-tagged Konkan variety that commands India’s highest mango prices — the export and premium-retail trade is built almost entirely around its name.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Mango
- Type
- Planting material
- Season
- All seasons
- Maturity period
- Bearing from year 4–5 (grafted plant)
- Expected yield
- 40–60 kg/tree at full bearing — lower than Dashehari, priced well above it
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Release
- Konkan landrace tracing to Portuguese-era grafting in 16th-century Goa — not an ICAR-bred release. 'Alphonso' has carried a GI tag for five Konkan districts (Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Thane, Palghar, Raigad) since 3 October 2018.
About this variety
Alphonso mango is named after Afonso de Albuquerque, the Portuguese viceroy of Goa from 1509 to 1515, per a directly-fetched Wikipedia article. Jesuit missionaries in 16th-century Portuguese Goa (roughly 1550–1575) began grafting mango trees to breed firmer, sweeter fruit that could be 'cut and served' after shipping to Europe, and Alphonso was one of several Portuguese-named results of that effort, alongside grafts called Fernandina and Phillipina. It is grown mainly along the Konkan coast — Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, plus Valsad and Navsari districts of Gujarat — and today's fruit weighs roughly 150–300 g, with golden-yellow skin showing a red tinge where mature, rich creamy non-fibrous pulp, and a harvest window from late March through June. Since 3 October 2018, 'Alphonso' has carried a Geographical Indication tag covering five Konkan districts (Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Thane, Palghar and Raigad) — per further WebSearch-corroborated reporting, this single registration merged three separate applications originally filed by Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth and by grower groups from Ratnagiri and Devgad; a directly-fetched Devgad Mango blog post describes roughly a decade of effort behind securing that recognition. Export markets — Japan, Korea and the EU among them — reopened after a US import ban (1989–2007) and a later EU ban (from April 2014) were both lifted, the EU ban ending in January 2015, once export and pest-treatment protocols improved. The variety's best-known weakness is spongy tissue disorder: a directly-fetched Ratnagiri Alphonso Mango blog post describes it as an internal physiological problem where part of the pulp stays unripe, white and spongy — invisible from outside the fruit either at picking or when ripe, and only found when a ripe mango is cut open — linked to heat, nutrition and irrigation stress on the tree during fruit development, plus rough post-harvest handling and ethylene exposure that can make it worse.
Key characteristics
Yield & maturity
Maturity period
Bearing from year 4–5 (grafted plant)
Expected yield
40–60 kg/tree at full bearing — lower than Dashehari, priced well above it
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
Pest & disease considerations
Major diseases
- Prone to alternate bearing and spongy tissue disorder in a hot year
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- India's highest-priced commercial mango — the name alone commands a premium in domestic and export markets, now including Japan, Korea and the EU since import bans were lifted
- Rich, creamy, fibreless pulp — the fruit quality that built the reputation over centuries of grafted propagation from the original Portuguese-era stock
- GI protection since 2018 now legally restricts the 'Alphonso' name to fruit grown in the notified five-district Konkan tract
Things to consider
- This record's own diseaseResistance field already flags spongy tissue disorder in a hot year — sourced detail confirms it's an internal physiological problem linked to heat, nutrition and irrigation stress during fruit development, invisible from outside until the fruit is cut open, and a genuine export-grade risk
- Alternate bearing (also flagged in this record) is common to old grafted mango landraces generally — nothing Alphonso-specific on that trait turned up this pass beyond what the record already states
- The 'Alphonso' GI itself is a 2018 merger of three separate original applications (a university plus two grower groups) — the protected name today covers a wider five-district area than 'Devgad Alphonso' or 'Ratnagiri Alphonso' alone might suggest to a buyer
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Maharashtra
- Gujarat
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called 'Alphonso'?
It's named after Afonso de Albuquerque, the Portuguese viceroy of Goa from 1509 to 1515 — Jesuit missionaries in 16th-century Goa began grafting mango trees to produce firmer, sweeter varieties for shipping to Europe, and Alphonso was one of the results, alongside other Portuguese-named grafts like Fernandina and Phillipina.
Is fruit called 'Alphonso' from anywhere the same thing?
Legally, no — since 3 October 2018 the 'Alphonso' GI tag protects the name only for fruit grown in five notified Konkan districts (Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Thane, Palghar, Raigad); the registration is a merger of three earlier separate applications from a university and two grower groups.
Sourced from: Alphonso mango — Wikipedia, Devgad Alphonso Mango Got Its Very Own GI Tag — Devgad Mango, Spongy Tissue Disorder — Ratnagiri Alphonso Mango. editorial policy.