Hermaphrodite/Monoecious Type (rare)

Bears both male and female flowers on same tree, solving the 50% male tree problem of dioecious breeding. Reduces plantation inefficiency. Konkan Sugandha is the sole released example.

Key facts

Figures are indicative, compiled from public agricultural sources (ICAR institutes, State Agricultural Universities, the Spices Board and the National Innovation Foundation) and vary with soil, season and management. Confirm with your local package of practices.

Hermaphrodite/Monoecious Type (rare) in detail

The only formally released hermaphrodite mace variety, Konkan Sugandha bears both male and female flowers on the same tree, addressing a major inefficiency in nutmeg breeding where, in normal dioecious trees, roughly half the seedlings turn out male and produce no spice.

Origin & story

Released in 1998 by the Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth (DBSKKV), with breeding work at its fruit research station in Vengurla, Maharashtra. The variety was selected from naturally occurring hermaphrodite (bisexual-flowered) forms that appear sporadically in mixed seedling populations at an estimated frequency of about 5%. Konkan Sugandha remains the sole released example of a hermaphrodite nutmeg cultivar.

How it grows

Grown under the humid tropical conditions of the Konkan region. The released variety is described as high-yielding, carrying medium-sized nuts of about 5 g and reported at around 500 fruits per tree. Detailed agronomy (rainfall, elevation, soil, exact maturity period and harvest window) for this specific variety is not well documented in public sources, so general nutmeg practice applies.

Quality & character

Bears both staminate (male) and pistillate (female) flowers on the same tree. Because it carries both flower types, it eliminates the wholly unproductive male-only trees of dioecious nutmeg; the released selection is noted for a good fruit-set percentage. Nuts are medium-sized at about 5 g. Technical work on monoecious nutmeg reports pollen viability somewhat lower in hermaphrodite flowers (79.74%) than in purely male flowers (90.77%).

Why it matters to buyers

For growers, the main appeal is plantation efficiency: a hermaphrodite tree avoids the roughly 50% loss inherent in conventional dioecious nutmeg, where about half the seedlings grow into unproductive male trees that must be identified and culled or top-worked. This reduces wasteful replanting. Per-hectare mace yield still depends on planting density and management. As a rare, single released variety, planting material is limited and is most likely to be sourced through Konkan-region channels; wider availability is not well established.

Other mace varieties

• IISR Viswashree
• IISR Keralashree
• Konkan Sugandha
• Konkan Shrimanti
• Punnathanam Jathy
• KAU Puthara
• Malabar Type (Traditional East Indian)
• Keralashree Elite Seedling Landraces
• Bombay Nutmeg Type (Myristica malabarica)