Mango breeding is beset with many problems. It is out breeding species and thus highly heterozygous and has remained unchanged for generations because the commercially adopted varieties have been vegetatively propagated.
Vegetatively propagated trees are also characterized by more or less prolonged juvenile phase which they are either unfruitful or bear fruits uncharacteristic of the mature tree.
Juvenile becomes even more pronounced when trees are propagated from seeds – a necessary procedure when hybridization is the adopted method of breeding.
Obtaining large population of hybrids is problematic. The problem is complicated by occurrence incompatibility factor in the backcross of the hybrid with superior parents, resulting in negligible number of backcross progeny.
The occurrence of nuclear embryo (polyembryo) in the seed parent interferes with production of hybrids.
If the gametic embryo is such combinations happen to be very week, these may be naturally eliminated in the progeny, and thus the objective of hybridization is countermanded.
However, of these happen to be vigorous, it would ne difficult to distinguish them form nuclear seedlings of the seed parent.
Limitations in Breeding