Mango production

Mangue
Mango
Mangifera indica.

In terms of volume of output and significance in the peasant diet, the mango is the most important of Haitian fruits. A testimonial to its role in the peasant diet is the statement of Laurent that constipation, abscesses and skin eruptions are most common when mangos are out of season.

Mango trees are scattered in the fields and along roads and paths and are clustered near the farmsteads. Some places there are mangoes in the coffee groves, but that is a poor spot for them because their shade is far too dense.

Except for dry areas and the exceedingly humid uplands south of Beaumont, the mango is well distributed. The trees in the environs of Furcy are kept small from pruning for firewood, and they yield little, sour fruits, for the mango does poorly in the cool foggy mountains. Most of the trees at high altitudes are of one variety, Mangue Fil.

Propagation is from seeds which do not breed true. After five to six years the mango begins to yield and continues for decades in a good site. Diverse varieties of mangoes bear ripe fruits from April through November, but the big season is in the summer. Mangue Ordinaire is the earliest and Mangue Mesquite is the latest. When they are at the peak of abundance in July, every second person that one sees, be he walking or riding, is eating a mango. They are for sale at numerous roadside stands for incredibly low prices, five cents a bushel at places remote from cities.

Many varieties of mango are raised in Haiti, of which a high proportion were introduced from Jamaica. Apparently, they first were introduced into Haiti about the end of the colonial era. In 1782, a vessel carrying plants from Réunion to St. Domingue was seized by the English and the plants were set out in Jamaica. Descourtilz noted mangoes in St. Domingue in 1803. Jérémie is renowned for its numerous varieties of mangoes - 22 in al1. Mangue Corne is the most common on the plain between Petit-Goâve and Lake Miragoâne. The varieties obtainable in the country markets are usually fibrous and have a tang of turpentine. However, at Port-au-Prince one can get the large green kidney-shaped Mangue Francisque and Mangue Batiste, which are very sweet and have neither fiber nor flavor of turpentine. These sold at the premium price of two cents each in July, 1953. Government nurseries commonly distributed Manque Francisque seedlings to the peasants.

Unfortunately mangoes are difficult to store or to transport; thus great quantities are fed to the hogs who eat the flesh and crack the pits to eat the seeds. No effort is made to preserve the mangoes, except for the tiny violet Mangue Cannele, which is used to flavor tafia. Mangoes were once exported to Turks Island in exchange for empty bottles and conch shells.