Don Ataúlfo Morales: the man who “perfected” the Mangoes in Mexico

It was in 1948 when Ataulfo ​​Morales Gordillo bought a property planted with mangoes from Manuel Rodríguez.

Ataulfo, being an agronomist, experimented with the mango trees on that property, creating grafts until he achieved the perfect mango that contained 69% pulp, 19% peel, and 8.5% stone.

It was then that from Mexico to the world, the Ataulfo ​​mango was born, in honor of that curious agronomist who dared to experiment with mangoes.

The Ataulfo ​​mango has its origin, like the Manila variety, in Filipino mangoes, brought from the Philippines to Mexico in 1779 thanks to the Manila Galleon between Manila and Acapulco. The precise origin of the Ataulfo ​​mango is unknown since there is no record of who its parents were; it has been mentioned that it possibly comes from a mutation or is a natural hybridization.

In Tapachula in 1948, the Chiapas jeweler Don Ataúlfo Morales Gordillo bought a property from Manuel Rodríguez. Contrary to what is believed, Don Ataulfo ​​did not grow the mangoes, but they were already there.1 It was estimated that they were born in 1943, that is, they were already about five years old. These trees produced such good mangoes that by 1950, they were famous among the residents.​

So much so that the news reached agronomist Héctor Cano Flores, director of the former Mexican Coffee Institute (IMC). Cano asked Mr. Morales for permission to create new grafts, obtaining a mango clone that he identified as “IMC-M2” and propagating it throughout the area.

He named the mango Ataulfo ​​in honor of the owner of this land. The vegetative material was transferred from the IMC to the National Fruit Commission and from there this mango was spread throughout the area.

The Ataulfo ​​mango is, like all varieties of Philippine origin, of the polyembryonic type. This differentiates it from the varieties of Indian origin, which are monoembryonic.

The Soconusco area has the right climate for mango cultivation.

Around 15,000 hectares are cultivated in the Chiapas municipalities of Suchiate, Frontera Hidalgo, Metapa, Tuxtla Chico, Tapachula, Mazatán, Huehuetán, Tuzantán, Huixtla, Villa Comaltitlán, Escuintla, Acacoyagua, and Acapetahua, and 176,000 tons are produced annually.

Due to its good acceptance in the national and international markets, it is also planted outside of Chiapas: in Nayarit, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Sinaloa, Michoacán, Veracruz, Jalisco, Colima, Tabasco and Campeche.

Source: El Financiero

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