Wednesday 15 May 2013

Few steps on Pineapple cultivation

      Decades ago pineapple was one of the prominent fruit crop of Tripura however, over the years it's popularity in terms of total area under cultivation has dwindled.
      There was lots of hope and aspiration around pineapple; even pineapple processing plant had also come into existence but, all these hops and aspiration around pineapple seems to have taken in otherwise these days.
      Reason for present spat of development could be many but as a fruit, it's demand will not diminish.
      Therefore,any one venturing into pineapple cultivation in the present circumstances  will definitely profit from his pineapple orchard.
      Pineapple cultivation in the state is quite traditional as it's evident from it's presence in almost all areas of the state.
     Hence,people's knowledge in pineapple cultivation is quite common and easy,let it be learned or acquired knowledge.
     Let us plunge into cultivation aspects of pineapple.
Mode of propagation:-
    a.Vegetativethrough.
   i.Sucker.
   ii.Slip and.
   iii.Crown.
Soil condition:-
   a.adaptable to grow in various types of siol.
   b.ligh soil ensure good quality fruit.
   c.in addition,sandy loam & laterite soils are also suitable.
   d.soil pH:4.5 to 6.5
Climatic condition:-
   a.Temperature requirement 18 degree centigrade to 24 degree centigrade.
   b.Freezing temperature not suitable.
   c.Decreased temperature increases acidity of fruit.
   d.Requires high rainfoll from 1500 to 2000 mm anrually.
   e.Scorching sun is not desirable however, complete shade is also not suitable.
Planting methods of pineapple:-
   a.Heavy and torrential rain is avoided for pineapple planting.
   b.In Tripura condition,pineapple is planted from the month of August to November.
   c. In Tripura,since,pineapple is cultivated in gentle slope to sloppy hills and hence,irrigation is never considered.
   d.In Tripura,single row and hapaghard system of spacing is followed in most cases which accomodates not more than 25,000 nos. of pineapple suckers/slips/crown per ha.
   e.In high density planting,double row system is followed which can accomodate 63,000 suckers/slips/crown per ha.
   f.In double row system,plant to plant spacing is maintained at 25-30 cms.
   g.Row to row spacing within the bed is maintained at 45-60 cms.
   h.Spacing between 2(two) beds is maintained at 90-105 cms.
   i.White planting,soil around the plant should be tightly pressed.
   j. In case of pineapple cultivation no nursery bed is required.
Fertilizer management:-
    For optimum fruit size and yield manure and fertilizers application is aclvocated.
          However,in Tripura, generally fertilizers are not applies,pineapple comes up with inherent soil fertility.
          In case high density pineapple cultivation,there's bound to be requirement for manure and fertilizers application.
         Below are the recommended level of manure and fertilizers application in pineapple orchard.
        (a) 10 to 20 tonnes of cow dung manure per ha is applied before planting of pineapple plant.
        (b) In case of high density planting fertilizers viz:600 kg of N,400 kg of P and 60 kg of K is recomended.
         (c) Half the quantity of N and full quantities of P & K are applied 3(three) months after planting.
         (d)The remaining quantity of N is applied 10 to 12 months after planting.
Fruiting of pineapple:-
         (a)Flowering generally starts 12 months after planting.
         (b) In Tripura, fruit is marketed right from the month of June and continue to August.
          (c) Sign/indication of flowering can be anticipated once pineapple attains 40 -50 functional leaves.
          (d) maximum flowering occurs form the month of February to April.
          (e) In Tripura,there's off season flowering which matures during the month of January.
Production potential of pineapple:-
          (a) In Tripura,there was record size of kew pineapple reported to be 8 kg weight.
          (b) However,as nutrition management is not maintained therefore,average  production of pineapple in one ha remain within the range from 20 to 30 tonnes.
          (c) However,best managed and high density orchard can yield up to 50 to 60 tonnes per ha. 
         N:B: With the advancement in agriculture and variation of soils and agro-climatic  condition, actual package of practices for pineapple cultivation may vary place to place and country to country.

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Few steps on Papaya cultivation

   Before going to the cultivation aspects of papaya, let us see popularity and demand of papaya in local market.
   In Tripura condition, papaya is used in two forms one, ripened fruit and, two, raw fruit.
Ripened truit although highly preferred and recommended for consumption due to its inherent quality but in terms of demand it's much less compare to raw fruit.
   Raw fruit is in high demand for use in culinary purpose or vegetable purpose.
   Presently , raw papaya in sold in 10 to 12 rupees range in local market.The fact of the matter in one medium sized raw weighs up to 1(one) kilogram.
   But, fact of the  matter is there's hardly any papaya field especially meant for papaya.
Although,many farmers are in the search of alternate profitable cropping option but , this demanding crop seems to least tried by the farmers.
   Another surprising fact,papaya is in fact one of tree which finds it's place in almost all rural household but again, it's in the backyard.Taking this much long time to turrs this backyard to frontyard crop is one of the strangest things to look for .
   Growing or cultivation of papaya is not difficult,it;s more or less same like other fruit crops.
   Let us see the cultivation aspects of papaya:-

Soil conditions
        1.it grows in various types of soil.
        2.soil should be well drained.
        3.Light soils are good for papaya.

Propagation of papaya:-
        1.Papapaya is propogated from seed.
        2.Sowing depends upon the choice of fruiting season.
        3.Seed are usually  sown in February to April month.
        4.Seeds are sown in nursery bed.
        5.Papaya deedlings are raised in poly bag.
        6.Seeds are sown in 1.5 cm deep tin the raised  nursery bed.
        7. Distance between row to row and seed to seed is 10 cm.
        8.Germination time is 3-4 week from sowing.
        9.Seed requirement is 400 to 500 grams seed/ha.
        10.Seedling are protected from rain and sun by erecting thatch.

Transplanting of seedlings to mainfield:-
        1.Seedlings are transplanted when they are two months old with four to five leaves.
        2.June is preferred  month for transplanting to main field.
        3.Pit is not essential but if pit is maintained with 20 kg to FXM,1 Kg of Neem cake and 1 Kg of bonemeal would be helpful.
        4.Seedlings are transplanted with a ball  of earth.
        5.Care should be taken that stem is not covered while transplanting.
        6.In case pit system of transplanting,3 seedlings are planted at 15 cm apart.

Spacing to be maintained:-
         1.Normal spacing is 1.8 x 1.8m
         2.In case of high density planting for different regions and different type of hybrid like dwarf, following spacings are maintained.
         (a) 1.33 x 1.33m
         (b) 1.40 x 1.40m
         (c) 1.40 x 1.60m
         (d) 1.60 x 1.60m and
         (e) 1.20 x 1.20m

Papaya Field management
        1. Weeding of field during initial stage
        2. Frequest and light inter cultural operation in the field
        3. Timely manuring & irrigation
        4. Maintenance of good soil moisture
        5. Controlled irrigation to avoid dampening of soil so is pathogenic growth harmful to papaya
        6. Irrigation at every 10 days interval in winter and every week in summer
        7. Application of N,P and K from 200 to 250 grams per seedling/plant/year
        8. Super phosphate and potash improves yield as well as fruit quality
        9. Enhanced rate of N, P & K to the range of 240 gram N, 500 gram P and 500 grams K Per plant/year is also applied in some improved papaya variety.
      10. Trenches are cut between the rows of papaya plants during rainy season for draining out of excess water

Fruiting of Papaya Plants:-
        1. Papaya plants starts flowering from five to ten months depending upon the region
        2. After onset of flowering, male papaya plants are identified and uprooted from field keeping only 10-15% of male papaya plants in the field
        3. Once fruiting starts, controlled thining of fruits are done wesen fruits are 2 cm long.
           Thining should be done frequently, objective is, fruits do not touch one another when matures and also ensuring proper growth of fruits.

           These are few basic steps in Papaya Cultivation however, actual package of practices of Papaya Cultivation will vary depending upon the soil and agro-climatic condition.

Monday 13 May 2013

Mango Varieties of India

      There are thousands of mango varieties in India, of this following are few which are quite popular in terms of quality and commerciality.

     1.Dasheri
     2.Langra
     3.Bombay green
     4.Samar behisht chausa
     5.Gulab Khas
     6.Fajri Zafrani
     7.Khas-ul-khas
     8.Krishan  Bhog
     9.Taimuriya
     10.Gopalbhog
     11.Zardalu
     12.Bombai
     13.Himsagar
     14.Krishna Bhog
     15.Fazli
     16.Sukul
     17.Bharat Bhog
     18.Sepia
     19.Bathua
     20.Mithua
     21.Bombai Bhutto
     22.Shadulla
     23.Alphanso
     24.Pairi
     25.Fernandin
     26.Cowasji patel
     27.Borsha
     28.Kesar
     29.Salebhoy
     30.Bangalore
     31.Neelam
     32.Rumani
     33.Banganpalli
     34.Mulgoba
     35.Suvaranrekha
     36.Dasheri51
     37.Sunderaja
     38.Subhash
     39.Menaka
     40.Niranjan
     41.Pusa Surya
     42.Mallika
     43.Amrapalli
     44.Pusa Arunima
     45.Ambika
     46.Gaurav
     47.Rajib
     48.Arka Aruna
     49.Arka Puneet
     50.Arka Neelikiran
     51.Arka Anmol
     52.Au Rumani
     53.Manjeera
     54.PKM-1
     55.PKM-2
     56.Alfazli
     57.Jawahar
     58.Safari
     59.Sunder Langra
     60.Neeleshwari
     61.Neelishan
     62.Neelphanso
     63.Konkan Ruchi
     64.Ratna
     65.Sindhu
     66.Safdar Pasand
     67.Lakhan Bhog

        These are the few mango varieties including selection and hybrid.