An Israeli expert recently brought to Ethiopia 5,000 scions of mango, and conducted a special grafting project in south Ethiopia, according to a press release from the Israeli embassy on Saturday.

The Israeli expert, Itzhak Regev, assisted in the grafting of 3, 000 of the total 5,000 scions in Arba Minch and the rest in Butajira. Arba Minch and Butajira are the two small towns in south Ethiopia.

Known as "Tommy Atkins" and "Kent", the two different varieties of mango scions are internationally recognized for their capacity of resisting diseases and pests as well as immense productivity potentials, the press release said.

Grafted trees will begin to produce in the third year after establishment, and mature trees will be capable of producing three to five loads.

Aimed at improving the quality and enabling Ethiopian mango to enter the ever growing international market, these two varieties were brought to Ethiopia and grafted after an assessment of the climate for the production of such varieties, according to the Israeli embassy.

The scions were brought as part of a trilateral joint technical cooperation program signed between the Israeli Center for International Cooperation (MASHAV), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

As part of the agreement, MASHAV will continue to provide Israeli scions of avocado to Ethiopia this year, it said.

It is believed that this special project will bring to the Ethiopian agriculture a new start with a developed variety of mango that is well known to the international market, it added.

Source: Xinhua