INDIA – Indian scientists have successfully created a seedless mango with a rich, sweet and distinctive flavor.

“We have developed a seedless mango variety from hybrids of mango varieties Ratna and Alphonso,” V.B. Patel, Chairman of the Horticulture Department at the Bihar Agriculture University (BAU) at Sabour in Bhagalpur district, told IANS.

The fruit weighs 200 grams and its pulp has less fiber than other mango varieties.

“We are happy and enthusiastic as well as confident and hopeful of improving the seedless mango variety,” Patel added.

India Today reports that the new variety is called Sindhu, and trials are underway at different locations throughout the country.  Early trials were developed at the regional fruit research station of the Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth at Dapoli in Maharashtra’s Konkan region and showed good fruiting on a three-year-old plant this year with fruit maturing in the middle of July.

BAU Vice Chancellor M.L. Choudhary said that the university has, on an experimental basis, agreed to recreate plants of this variety to make them available to Bihar’s mango growers during the next season, according to India Today.

“The seedless variety also has good export potential.  The university would provide quality plants to mango growers in 2015 to exploit the export market,” he added.

According to India’s National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Bihar is third in mango cultivation and covers about half of the total fruit area in the state and produced 1.5 million tons of fruit last year.

For now, we will have to wait and see what impact this new variety might have on the export markets.