SANDOZ. Sandoz averts the danger agqln. Crop perfection, Sandoz protection. ",and again -... and again

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2 Sandoz averts the danger agqln ",and again and again Yes, crop after crop, year afteryear, Sandol prevents insect pests and weeds from completely destroying your crops. Eka lux EC 25, a wide spectrum contact insecticide, proves deadly.. to chewing pests. ~ Ekatin and Anthio are systemic insecticides that destroy u variety of sucking posts._ ~ Dosanex Is a powerful, post emergent selective weedicide for wheat. These are all products of Sandoz research. Research that is backed by sophisticated technology from Basle, Switzerland. And field tested and _ recommended around the world. In fact, :' I~ ' in India, Sandoz products have been,." extensively tested by various.'..., agricultural universities, research..' '. '. institutions and scientists.. ::' Sando%- in the servlco of the Indian farmer, Crop perfection, Sandoz protection For further delails, write'to: SANDOZ SANDOZ II NOlA) LIMITED Agrochomi_cal D!v~ion~.s.ando~ Hou!.. Pr,!)~I~ e.o'''nl Road, Worll, ~~mbay 400 Q I 8, 1 _

3 INDIAN HORTICULTURE Published Quarterly, Vol. 27 No.1 APRIL-JUNE 1982 Editorial CONTENTS Know peach cuiti var, of Do on Valley R.K. GIljJ 1nJ Y. 1(, Aro/'{l and D. Sh"k{" 2 Keep vegetables fresh in.!'jumll"lcl' Sus(l1Iia K. Roy ancl D.S. K fl1l.l'dijl(j Correcting nit.rogen deficiency in apple V, 1(, Sharma. Important practices in raising bel' R. S. Sillghrol and,hullish N[akhija 9 Clove bean-a perennial {\'uit vegetable Sliliklll/yJose/)h, ]1. A. Celille a"d K. ]1. Peler Composting belters mushroom yicl.d 13 T. 11. S'wlldi!Ytl Export potential (or populi,,' chips 19 ].C. Alltllld, S. lj. lvil/illi and Bri.jes/t ljiwml A solar dryer for fruits and vcgcta,blc.s S. B. lvla-irti J l1rijesh DiwaJl, S. 1(' Gllpta and J.C. Allalld 21 Cullivating tile water ch est'nut 10([. /vi. Syamal a nei S.P. Verma 24 Growing bl'injnl in Pir h Ol'np;a.rh 27 -AI. C. N allli),al and H. Lal New, roundup 28 Our COllcr: lviixctl seasonal fl owers Pilato,' Gl.ll'charan Singh ADVISORY BOARD M.S. Rondhnwa D.R. 811umbl C. Pr asad.. S.K. Sharma J.P, Singh B. Choudhury M.H. Marl Gouda C.M. Singh ' Sukhdo' Singh D.N. Borth.kur V.S. Bhatt ' P.L. Jalswal Eolting : I. J. Loll Associate: P.S.N. Sarma Production ; Kllsh.n Kumar and R.N. Monocho Art: M. K. Bardhan and A. Chakravarti Business Manager : M. Prasad Singi. Copy : Rs 1.25, Annual: R. 6 II I RESEARCH REVIEW ON FRUITS n Itldia a variety of fnlils arc gro~vn in d ific~'ei1t parts ~f the country. Some of lhese fruns arc speclfio to certam c1in1at\c condhions and arc; therefore grown i1\ a. particular agro-climatic :t.one. Thus, research on fruits like any olher agricl.\ll\u't\\ crop, arc bein.g conducted at differen.t locations l\mlcr tllc various -projec ts of t.he lear Institutes, All India Coordinated i?.. cscl'll'clt P r~iccis and agricultura.l universities. R ecentl), lite All India Coordinated Fruit Impl'ovcl1lcnt Prqjcct. of the lcar organised a combined workshop at the College of Agricu llure, P Ul'lj<tbrao K, ishi Viclyal)ccth, Nagpul'. T he works hop was attt~ndcd by about 200 delegates fi'om a ll over lhc count ryj represented by 19 agricultural universities, five l OAR InsLitu tcs and fou r State Depm tmcnts. The main objective of the WOI'kshop was to review tlte progress made under the variolis rccal'ch programmes all thdts And to exchange views and suggest remedies to various problem, hampering the progress of fruits production. Some of the recommcndations of the workshop would be of much interest to the renders. One of the recojtii11.enc1ation was about thc release orne\.\' fruit: vanellcs. The workshop recommended that pl'ornising hybrids, bud sports Cle., should be tested simultaneously with respect to their yield, fl'uil qua1ity and resistance to pests and diseases hefore their release in tlte ngl'o~climatic regions. This is vcl'y important from a grower's point of view that Jw receives the tested val'ictics which ensure a better yicltl Every fruit should be given. a reason~\blc period of yield tesling before il is rccom.luendetl und grown on a. large sca le~ According to thc workshop '" llu'ce yea,', yield testi ng should be considered adequate \1\ crops. SUcll as grapes, pal1aya, banana, pomegranate, guava) pc:'1ch and piuln whereas five years ht citrus, sapota, and apple crops. The introduction of improved gcnertic material of different species of "'uit crops. is a m(\}or factor in fruit cultivation. For this the workshop recol11mended the constitution of a conunittcei,l the lear for fol'llll)laling g uidelines/polioy of import and CXP(wt of plilnling ulat<lrial of fruit crops and screening of proposals recclved from various quarters. If implemented, these J'ecOl'lltnCndations will help ill soruug out 50n1e of the problems. H\ccd by the fruit gl'owc1 S.

4 A bunch of peach on a branch KNOW PEACH CULTIVARS OF DOON VALLEY R. K. Gupla, Y. K. Arora and D. Shuk'la, Central Soil and Water Conservation Aesearcl) Bnd TTilining Instituto, Dehra Dun B ECAUSE of the various factors such as competition for land, time-scale for forestry operations, dispersed distribution of benefits from forestry and scasollal shortage of labour, growing of tl'ces did not find :t proper place in the rural economy_ Currently, there is emphasis on growing multi-purpose trec crops nlong\v11h oth.er cereal and cash crops. Such studies have been generally ignored even if they existed at all times but played the most important role in l'\wal economy. Very little is known of the various agri-hol'ti. and agri-silvi systems in India except for the 'Taungya) which is now well over 10() years. III the broadest sense, agro-forestr)" implies combinations of u'ec wilh crops Or \vith domestic arlimn1s 01' both. The c0111bination may bc eithcr shnultaneous or sequential in time and space. It aims to 'optimise' production per unil area wilh. sustained yields. Cultivation of crops with peach is considored to be all ideal situation keeping the above ideals, Earlier peach cultivation was con:fincu onl)f to the hilly temperate ],egions since most of the cullival's introduced carli er had longer chilling requirements (above 600 hours) below or,\t 72.2 C ill the season to break its dormancy for flowering and fruiting, Therefore) temperate fruits could not be grown commercially in suh-tl"dpical condilions ill the country. Wi th the ill trod llctioll of su b tropical cultivars requidng only 200- to 300 hours chilling duration it h«3 now become possible fo grow peaches throughout northern India. and also in the plains. The selection of high q\lality eultivars with low chilling l'cquiremcilts suitable (01' various agro-c1imatic regions, thc r cfq~c, is a pre-requisi te for its success Sjnc(~ the plants, pl'oducc fruits at a time when fresh fruits arc l'alhcr scal"cc in Olt r markets l there is a great scope of extension of its cultivation 1)01h in the plains '" well as in the hilly regions of north India. Already, it Jlas caught the fancy of fruit!p'owcl's as a commercial crop in north India. The area un.der this fruit is incl'(!as~ ing rapidly because of its high yield India" fiorliclilt!ltr.

5 'J'AIlLE I. PERFORMANCE OF DIFFERENT CU1,TlVARS OF PEACH ON CLASS-II LAND Cllltiuors 0/ Panch 1 ~((II ' (/f Survilllll Av. het Ill. {UI} Av. mmm flia (m) Frlli/sel(%) Av..)'itld of flu!iimits' AV.,rre/d /d(l/ili".1j % (kg),i,,, offllits) ] em ] CAl If/iJial Fiual 7r ' ( m (k.e) (A ll. ofj~lir )'enr.s) Flordmmn 19)o! RO.O 6.H ,0 43, Nactcfinc SUI11'cd B ,G ' hcdn ~. tq ~, :l.ll ~.\1 4.(\~ 5.00 Q.~O ''\'nldoo ~ B.B 3,5 l f Sharbnl i al.6 'J..Ol,~ ' 'f l'f.30 Ventura , E(ll'IyAlllbc.:I' l.fi Not yet fruited Sungo\(l 1976 ~>O,O C. f CAl = ClIt"I'CJlt A nl1l1all11cl'clllcnt Yield dropped due to long drought durillg Septembcr I 1979 to Mny 19aO (\39 mill rain) polential and good cconon;.ic returns. In an evaluation trial, sevcral pcach culdvars ha.ve been inlroduced si nce 197<\ in Doon Vallcy at the Experimental orchard of the Central Soil ancl Water Conservation Rc Senl'cil and Training Institute at Sclak"i (DehL'Udlln) and their perfonnancc assessed under l'ainfcd conditions Oll class II land. Performance of di(l'c.l'cnl c.ullivars is "ccorcled ill Table 1. From this Tal~Ic it may be Seen 1hat almost all the nvc. cullival's tried exhihited 80 to loa pcr cent "ll'vivn\ Ilms indicaling their suitability for the region. A t six yeo"r, of age (1980) of the tl'ces, it hns been observed th~\ll."\ordas \\n. a.n(.\ Ni\cLcl'inc Sunn~ tt cullivars arc vigorous in g rowth as thoy g "ew abollt 7 m in height witll a crown diamcter of 1l1,orc than in sprc<td. Other cu ltival's showed less vigorous growth as their heig ht reached about with. crown diameler bctwecll4 and in spread during six: years of piantt1tioll. On the basis of theil' yield performallce during , cultiv!u' 'Florc1asun' has!il\own potentiality fol' c011'uncl'cialisat ion by yicldij'lg the maximum (@ 52.5 kg fresh fruits/tl'ee) only in the mill year 01 plantalion. Nacterinc Sllnl'ec\ yielded next best (@ '1 0.6 kg/tree) whoreas othel' cllitivars gave yields bolow 22 kg/ tree. It'l'olll the view poin t of cash return, 'Flol'dasun' has better pros- April-June peets than others because of its l'cmal'kably nluch carliness in fruidng. Usually, it sta.rts hearing froln the last week of April and continues up to middle of May under Doon Valley. It is most liked in the market o.ncl fetches higher price during April May when no peach fruits arc available and other fruits arc Also scarce. Analysis of the qualil y characters in the (rulls of tluec promi.~\ng cul.ti. val's was done and is givcn in Tablc w 2. It may be seell that Ihe fruits of 'Ii'lordasun) arc most preferred o]les bec"use of relalively better keep~ng quality for transit) its fhlit being hca\liel' (25.9 gm.) because of morc pulp, lcss moisture and smaller slone size thalt lhe other two next good cultivars (Nacterinc Sunred and Sharbali) v,r11i ch come ill bearing quite late and do not fetch hetter price due to glut in Ihe market. Inlcrcropplng Peach ean be inter-cropped with both rabi and kl/(ji'ij Cl OPS. During the rabi seasoll due to its deciduous lutlure it docs not provide shade eflect 01\ the C\'cp. "NlorcG'fc\', the TABLE 2. QUALITATIVE UHARACTERISTICS IN THE FRUITS OF 1'EACH CUI.l'IVARS ON OLASS 1l Lil.ND. Clllliv(lrJ Au, wr.of.4fl. size ofafruit Au. size f!!jioill Au,pfllp fruit Length Brendlli ung,/l Brenrllh dept" (elll) (elll) (,m) (elll) ('m) (CI/I) Flordaslill ) Nactednc S~\t\l'cd Sharbnti , TABLE 3. YIELD (KG/HA) OF DI.H ERENT INTERCROPS IN PEAOII OROHARDS llilercroj' \974 \ AUfra(6 Soyabc<1n (beans) Oowpcn (beans) TUHnc.dc (Rbh,omto) G19<l 1Q B GingCl' (Rhizome) 352, i'licllfh{l arqllisij (J?rcsh herb) AJetllllo Piptrala (fresh herb)

6 thinning/prl111tling opera(iolls carried out wilen the plant is dormant during the winter season provide phytomass approximately ranging from kg pel' Irec which could be used as fuel. In addition to this, on an average, a five-year-old Iree provicles about 10 kg of leaflitter during the month of November-December. This gets recycled into the soil, thus providing 35 kg N, 8 kg 1',0" 25 kgk,o and 15 kg Calha pcr annum, Several intercrops were lested during 19H- 78 beginning from a year old 'Flo rd. sun' peach orchard with a view to study the extra income which could be derived to the farmer wilhout adversely affecting the main crop and minimization of soil loss due to runoff during monsoon months by acting as cavel' (:rops. 011 the b asis of 5 years pooled data summarizeu in Table-3, it has been inferred that rjlizomatous crops could be grown consislcntly as intcl'cl'op in. peach orchard from the second year of raising orchard. Among the rhizomatous crops hu' meric (Curcuma tonga) performed petter than ginger (:?;illgiber ojjicil/ali!) and produced 7+50 kg/ha of freslt rhizome, Othcr crops like beans and men /Ita coujd not grow well consistently up te> 5 ye."s, Both the leguminous crops (soyabcan ancl cowpea) p erformed badly under Ihe sh"de of peach ttecs. Their yields decreased gradually as the age of t he trees a dvanced..aijelllllo species coujd survive only for three years as rainfed and yielded poorly, Economics Rhizomalous crops like ginger and turmedc gave a net income of Rs 2500 alld Rs 1500 per heelare o cr annu.m respectively in the peach vt'chard as intcrcl'ops. T he commercial fruiling in peach pcglns from flft:h ycar onwards. From the sixth year onward a net income of Rs 6,500 per hectare pel' annlllu Calt be had from the 'FJot' daslin I peach orchard (Table-4), Regarding economics of intel'e l'ops from peacll orchard from a study (Nambial' 1975) it has been found that turjlleri~ gave gross income of R~ 5,563, ginger Rs ll,024, sayabca n Rs 270+, """alii 11.,2,430 and cowpea Rs 3 12 pel' 11a during , "ADLE 1, COST OF CULTIVATION OF l'eacf{ Prepal'alio1lojlll.lld a) Tr;!'clor llloughing bi Tractor cullivator c Tractor planling Pial/Is & planlillg "l No. ofp l a n t5/ ha~200 b Digging ofptls.rc ' / llil c) Planting/hn 3 labout'/ ha AJamlres & Ferljli.z.~"J "jpym 10 tannes/h", b U rca 250 kg for 5 yes c Superphosphate 500 kg for.') yrs dllvlul'i:.ltc of potash 250 kg fol' 5 yes c Manuring 50 men Ajlcrcare Operatiolls a) 10 pc of piallting cost b) In.tcI'GultUl c 20 men/weeding 100 men/season X5X500 c(watch & 'Ward 1 mall f01' 5 h n/ycar for 1 man/ha for 5 Yl's Rate of il)t lo p.c all total cos t ~'I i sc. (Insecticides etc.) 'fatale xpcucli hl rcjha rield of }ruus ill s;.\:/i, 50 kg ( tree, 100 q/ha cost Rs J56{q, gro3s income Net lncome ill sixth yeat' Due to i ~fcsta li o Jl of P;'ylojJl;'cra, cowpea d.d not pcrforlll well and hence gave very pool' I'eturn. -I : -2 : -2 : NOW GROWING VEGETABLE IS ALMOST A CASHCROP WITH Producers INDO AMERICAN HYBRID SEEDS 101) GOO [lao INDO AMERICAN HYBRID SEEDS F, TOMATO 'KA~NATAKA' Yield, TOMATO 'MAN GALA' Yield TOMATO'SHEETAI' Yield TOMATO'VAISHAU' Yield WATERMELON 'MAOHU' Yield' CAPSICUM 'BHARATli' Yield BRINJAL'SUFAI' Yield CUCUMBER 'PRIVA' Yield IdVSKAIE!DN 'SWARN~' Yield 90 tori per hllel. 90 loniptir heet. 90 lonlper hclet. 90 lons per hltl. 70 toni per heel. 50 lonl,pllr hecl. 50 lonlpar hoc!. 20 Ion. ptr'hect. 2DI""',., hocl, USE HYBRID VEBETABlE SEeDS FOR BUMPER AND HIGH YIELD CROPS Meln OilUitlutors 42/1 YltliyU!, K,fI. RGild. B.nuhlnbr, II St.p. 8.ngllarl 5BO 070 P1>o",: CIbII: I~D!MSUD NAVALAKHA AGENCY Kri,hI Bhmft, 1379, 8hnriPtdl. 1'w>t,4lI DOl '_': m C"': kamohlnu, , per hit 6,500 per ha 4 lnr/ian H~rliclJllurl

7 KEEP VEGETABLES FRESH IN SUMMER SUSANTA K, ROY and D, S, KHURDIYA Division of Horticulture and Fruit Technology Indian Agricu ltural Re search Institute New Delhi RUITS and vegetables are essential pa rts of our diet. F They start loosing their fl'eshness soon after their harvest beca use of their highly perishable na ture. Slu,j veiling of [I'csh vegetables owing to high tcrnpcralw'c 311d low humidity is n (calul'c commo nl y observed p ar ti~ cul a rly in the northern parts of tj1c country dul'ing su mmer monlhs (Nray-June). Because of this, they become unfit lor markeling and unacceptable to the conslimer. 17rcsh fruits and vegetables arc living cnlitics. ThQr c~ fore theil' licb processes such as transpiration J respiration and othel' bio-chemical changes conti nuc even afler their harvest. If the rate of these activities a rc reduceg, Ihe shelf-life of (hese commodities call. ue increased, A simple technique is evolved lo reduce the tempera ture. By building-up the humidity the transpiration 1035c, can be controlled, Hased on the principle of evaporative cooling th.e fo llowing [our cool!\lorage c hambers were made u5ing low cosl casil), available materials which coldd be ulilized by the l'u raj masses a nd economically lhlckwnrd class. C namlle.r 1. The storage space (lank) was made by using cheap qualit y highly porous bricks alld J'iver-bcd sand, The nool' was made with single Jayer of bricks, lhe side walls with double layer of' bricks, filling ill lhe space (7,5 ern) bc tween tlte bricks with salle!, C:HA~IlJP.R 2. The slol'agl: space was made in. an ol'ci il1 al'y eal'then pot. The carlhcn pot was sul't'olmdcd by sand which had been placed in a (ank made of bricks. GHAMLlt::R 3. T he storage SprlCC was made in an anli.. na.ry canhcn PO L TJ1<: earthen ptlt wns surrounded by sand which had been placed in an ordinary wooden box. CI{t\\tlH'.R 4, The slorage space was mad(~ in an ordinary earthen pot. The earthen pol was surrounded by sand which had been placed in an ordinary fruit baskel. The bricks, santts and catlhen pots were soa.ked in water lill they \\fere saturated, T he tops of the chambers were covered with gunny bags soaked in water, It was cxperijticlttally observed that Ol1Ce t-he chambcn were saturated with water, watering once in the morning and April-]",u 1982 Storing space provided In an oarthen pot 011(:C in the evening was enough lo nmintain temperature and humidity. r n order to avoid the dcvelopmenl of bad odour in the soaked gllnny bags during stot'age or vegetables it is suggested that the g unny bag3 should s:;ither bo ","ashed llaily ill the morning; or lwo sets of bags should be lised a lterna tely so that one call be used while. the other call be cleaned and dried, Thc avcrage t<;mpcl'alllrc and JWl11idily values imide the chamber.1) and ambient (1'0011'1 temperatul'e) as recorded in the Il'lonlh of May-June are given below. Temperature %C Relative Hmnidlly % MAX MIN MAX MIN Control (Amhic"t) 39,1 24,2 36,0 9,0 CHAM"Ell NO, I 25,2 23,0 97,0 94',0 CHAMBER NO.2 26, 0 23,5 97,0 91,0 CHAMBER NO, 3 26,5 23,85 97,0 94,0 C~lAMBE" NO, '" 26,5 23.B ,0 5

8 " 1 Sum mer vegetables such as bhind, koj't/fl, chijji, dhnl1i?, linda, Ltnd jmdil10 in fj'esh form were purchased from SUb~ l ~ rnandi early in the morning. T he vcg'ctablcs WCI'C cleaned and kept in all the clu~l~bcrs as wen as under ambient temperature and hululdlty as control. Tile storage behaviour of these vcgct'ablcs was found (0 be more or less the same in all the chambers. The contr?' samples of leafy vegetables such as PI/dill(l a nd. dli.iit" became unmarketable in less than a day while the samples kepl in the cool chambers remained fresh up to three days... At the end of three days storage. the physlo!oglcal losses in weight (P.L.W.) i.e. losses pnmanly owmg to transpiration and l'cspit:alion. was found. to be ~3.1 7 per CCllt and 44 per cent In pudma and dlwlha rcspccl1vcly in case of control samples. Whereas in the cool chambers the P.L.W. in put/ilia varied from 14to 19 percent and in dh,"ia 13to 18 per Not costly It appears that the cool chambcrs designcd fol' starting fresh vegetables during summcr ''n o nlh ~ a.rc ~ ~ : I'y liseful a nd among all these chambcl'sl the one No. 4 l~ not only very easy to make but is cqual.ly very cheap. ~I[orcov(~r, it can be placed anywhere III the com er 01 a house. Chamber No. I can howevcr be utilized fol' bulk storage purpose for these commodit.ies. Apart from st?~' ing fi'csh fruits and vegetal?]cs these chambcrs:can be ullll'7.cd fol' kecpjng other pcl'ishablcs and food Itcm~ such. as milk, cooked food l flo wers etc. foi" a short pen od dlll'lng summer months. Affiuent city dwellers having rcji'igcratol's C~ ll also reduce the load on their l'efl'igcrat'ors by adoptmg the above menlioned method for stol'jng frcsh fruits and vcgetables which a re mainly responsible for frost rorma~ tion and high electric con~tll1lption. These cool chambers wtll not only conserve these ocrishablcs but wij] also b instnnncntal in providing belter nutrition to rural masses. The storage tank cellt only for the same storage period. Other vegetables such as linda, chilli, kat,la and blll lii!i became unmarketable within 1 or 2 days when stored at ambient temperature, while they remained m arketable up to 6 days when kept in cool chambers. The P.L. W. of these vegetables kept ill cool chambers and at ambjent temperature up to 6 days varied from 5 to 9 pel' cent and 32 to 38 pel cent respectively. Photo above shows the condition of Mindi stored for 6 days in different cool chambers as well as at room temperature. 6 POCHA SEEDS PVT. LTD. Near Sholapur Ba~nr, Poona ~1 001 Phone: ["dian l1ortic,dlur~

9 V. K. SHARMA Rogional Fruit Resoarch Station Mashobro. Simla CORRECTING NITROGEN DEFICIENCY IN APPLE / ITROOEN is an essential plant N macro-llut.l'icntnccdcrl in sufiicient quanlily by the apple t.rees (or SfLlisbctory maintenance of their growth and cropping. It controls many vital processes of the tree such as the: iniualion and development of fruit bulls, quality of nowers and fl'uit set, growth. of pollen lube, I'cccptivilY of the stigrnas in nowers) the quality and quantity of the fruit and finally the tree size. SyuI,lioms When the supply of avocilablc nitrogen is insulticient for normal functioning of the plilnl, certain characteristic visual symptoms appear on the foliage and other parts of IJ10 lree. The common syrnptoms arc: 1. Leaves al'e usually of sm;:dl size and they Lurri pale-green in the early stage. Later they become yellow with red tints and tend to droop and fall ofr be" f(lre the normal leaf-fall in the season. The olde,' leaves arc first "ffected (tuming yellow) because their nitrogen is withdrawn and is transferred to younger foliage which result. ill the loss of chlorophyll (a pigment rc'poj1.siblc for green colour of the tissue). This leads t:o lack of manufactu1'e of carbo.. hydrates and subsequently re" suiting in slow U'cc growth and April-J,,,,, low yields. 2. Shoots arc t hin, slcnder having restricted growth and bark rcddish. 3. Flo\Vering.is usually reduced. <f. Fruils though reduced ill size but may be brilliantly coloured (depending upon tile colour of the skin of fruit which val'ics from cullivar to cultivar). Fruits are usually good textured Le. hard wilh n pale gl'o", lind colou,' :lnd ha"d nesh. Its taste may be sweet. Keeping quality is bcuer than the fruits receiving normal 01' high dose of nitrogenous fertilizers. 5. Yield is reduced. 6. Tree size is reduced. These symploll1s help an orchar" dist to determine whether 01' not the ll~ces arc in need of supplcll1cnhu"y. \ lulrogen.. Estimation of the fo iar i~itrog~l~ concentration is the be t method to find lhe occurrence of deficiency and.. to assess the nitrog"cn needs of the' apple trce. On a.n aycrage, the leaf nitrogen concentration for a normal healthy lree is above 7. per cent on dry matler basis and this is consi~ dered as a sufficient range fol' foliar parts but the deficiency symptoms may even appdtll' when the leaf nitrogen concclitrntion is below 1.5 per cent under our soil and climatic conditions. Deficiency CtlUSCS There cnn be one 01' mo1'c of the following reasons which may account fol' the appearance of deficiency symptoms :in apple trees: 1. Excessive growt.h of weeds and grasses competing with Lhe growth of apple trees in the orchal'd. 2. Low moisture content in the soil docs not allow the nilrogen to becolllc dissolved and avail ble for the plan t. High mois" ture content tends to drain oft the nitrogen from the soil thrcby making it unavailable t.o the plant. g. Lack of organic maller content in the soil as plants can absorb some nitrogen. from the soil which is ill this fonn but before its absorption, it has to be broken down into simple ions and for this breakdown bacte~. rial and microbial actions are "equircd but with the lack of either organic matter 011 the brea'kdown agencies, nitrogen cannot be taken up by thc J.hri.ts. complex nitl'ogcnous compounds like proteins, amino acids and amides al'c con. verted into simple ions like NO-, and NH+. ions. CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

10 WHO DOESN'T LIKE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SO FRESH AND LUSCIOUS? GATOR ROCKING SPRAYER MOSI idea' for spraying over plan191ionfl., gardens, row crops and vegetables. Fitled with PVC piston thai developes maximum Pl8SSU10 with mjnj~ mum number of strokes. Forged brass parts and brass ball valves, 2 discharge lines con also be attached. BUT TO REAP THEM YOU HAVE GOT TO PROTECT YOUR PLANTS FROM PESTS AND DISEASES WITH THE HELP OF ASPEE PLANT PROTECTION EQUIPMENTS GR-tO I, MARUTI FOOT SPRAYER The right sprayer for orchards, field crops, gardens and plantations. Spraying call be done With one or two spray lances. or spray boom with as many,. 6 nozzles. All rotged btl.. pe~. bta~!i. ~\,'r. ~ A MRI-I ASPEE HTP POWER SPRAYER For spraying field crops. paddy. sugarcane. cotton, groundnut,jowlr. can also be used for spraying orchards, coffee and rubber plan 1.llon,. All working p.rts.tllubrlc'ta~ by all bath. MER/CAN SPRING C PRESSING /forks lto. ~ P. O. BOX Malad West. Bombay ~ Telephone: (5 Lines) Gram; KILLOCUST MALAD TELEX: ASPEE BROTH All ["dian Horticrllture &DrUlln" ~t~m ",.=- ~

11 IMPORTANT PRACTICES IN RAISING BER R. S. SINGH ROT and MUNISH MAKHIJA Department of Horticultur& Haryana Agricultural UniversitY Hissar T is woll known that growing of bel' (:(,}zyplms mauritiatlfl Lalnk.) has become a choice of the fruit growers I ill add tlnd semi-arid regions. But there is Jack of experience in raising nursery and bel' orchards. Extensive trials have been conducted at Hissar during the last three years (0 plug the gap of increasing demand for grafted bel' plants. It has been observed that raising of seedlings is directly cffected by,election of seeds, depth of sowing the time and distance and buddingtime. Therefore, in the present paper the effect of above factors has been discussed. Selecffon The ripe seeds of Desi Gola should be collected during the month of March. The seed, should be extracted fi'om fruits of uniform size and well developed colout'. It h as been observed tha t the seeds of full size taken fmm green fruits do not germinate. Similarly, germination of seeds is adversely affected by a depth of sowing less than 2 em or morc than 4 em. Therefore, fol' prompt germination, sowing depth should be 3 cm. Sowing distance should be kept at 30 X 5 em but seedlings should be thinned at a distance of 20 em when four to six leaves arc grown and also do the gap filling. if necessary, with the help of a earth-ball of 10 X 10 em size. Sowing time AlU15ccd treafluent Before sowing, seed bcd sholiid be well prepared after mi:odng farmyarll manllre. It shou ld be free Jj'om weeds as the seedlings become elqngatccl d.ue to shading eflect of weeds. The eltcct of seed treatment and sowing time on the germination is given in Tilblc l. There was no germinatioll when tile seeels were sown on 1st March in 1977 and It was observed that the seedlings become budd able after abollt 90 to 100 days of sowing. A seed ling is considered budd able after attaining 0.5 em stem diameter at 15 cm above gl'oulld level. Most of tho seedlings raised lip to 20th May can be buckled during July and August. Dudding time The time of budding has a bearing on budding success and mortalily orlbesprouts (Table 2). Bnddingsllccess,vas good fi'om May to August. Conversely, mortality was high after August budding. Like btlc\ding success, slibseqtlent growth orlhe btlddlings lvas more during May to August (Table 3). Later on the growth of the buddling' TABLE 1. EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TIMES OF SOWING AND SEED TREATMENTS ON GERMINATION Seed treolme,,(! COli/rot Wa1er.soakjtlg 48{:~rs Acid soaki"g for 3 TII/mllt:s Ii mimlfes 9 mil/utts A1t(JII IJ J Mean April-June \ ': ;._.:. ~ f... 9

12 TABLE 2. El'I'ECT OF DII'FJ1RENT TIME OF BUDDING ON DUDDING SUCCESS DateD! Pcrcm/{lgeq[Sjlrolits Pucelll Buddil1g Dtl)'Sl1J1t r mot/amy budding lifter 40 dll)'s G,5 ' ~ B B ' ~ B For a regular, healthy crop growth,spray with plantomon.( (PLANT HORMONE SPRAY) Spraying tho leav~s wilh this horrnono ncccl(lrnt{!s healthy growlh, enhances sprouting of ffuit IOT?,ln9 shoots and thus helps to emiuro,prqfuso floworrng and fruiting. This ultimately results In lu)curiant quality ploduca. TABLll 3. En 'EUr OF BUDDING TIME ON THE GROWTH OF RUDDINGS Dalt o] 0:!_wlt oftht bu.ddling nfl" 40 do)'! a/blltlding buddillg Height Dioll/eler q{ NlIIllbuof (till) sprolilts /11 base ftavtsper (em) sproul B !"!D O.H ' B was less only 10 falling down of the lower limits of minimum tcmpcratm c. Care of huddling: The growth of buddling is rapid immediately after sprouting. The appropriate stage for sale of budd lings is 6 to 10 mature leaves on the sprouts. At this time these plants should be sold or transplanted in the nursery area to maintain the size for better ha.ndling and subsequent good success in fanners field. Ie has been observed that June-July budded plants can be Iransplanted in the field 01' in polythene bags during August. Late budded plants can be successfully tl'anspjanted or sold to farmers with high success in the middle of February. It is recommended that for better germination, seed should be sown 3 em deep after soaking in water for 4B hours during later sowing but for early sowing acid soaking seems to be morc beneficial. For obtaining buddable seedling during July-August, sowing should be completed before June. For high success, the planting should be done during July-August and again in the middle of February. 10 ~ J(AMDHENU PESTICIDES KRiSHI BHAVAN 1379, BHAVANI PETH, PUNE PHONE: 26825, A(I!oductol_. _ct>... dofh"ntt"",. 'li,'f'tovl,... o,.";' Ay~In""'I~ IfpM'Oldttr...'UCfI' tl. 20T... "',"...,C~. ;t:=d<am~'. ~::~:bih a::~=~, ~L,l'O"""',_ ""'1 'Ll'OlYrIM<-_ so Ih..."."H><';, For record breaking yield, Improlled quality end nutrition spray with plantovii Besldos supplying millor nutrients Iiko.!litrogen phosphorous and potash, II supplies minor and unco clements and growth promoting harmonos 10 ensure hoalthy vigorous growth of crops Sprayrng Plllnlovll on ClOPS eliminates problllllo doricioncy disorders like tess fruiting (lorheaci, formalion, liowor shedding, flult drop, irregularly shnpod frulls, stunted growth of crops ote, end onsures lu xurlont qualily produce. KAMDHENU CHEMICAL & FERTILISER INDUSTfllES KAISH[ BHAVAN 1379, BHAVANI r)eth, PUNE PHONE: 26825, Indian l:lorlicultllrl

13 CLOVE BEAN-A PERE.NNIAL FRUIT VEGETABLE SALIKUTTY JOSEPH. V. A. CEL INE and K. V PETER Kerala Agricultural University, P. O. Vellanikkara, Trichur LOVE DEAN christened as such C is because of the resemblance of its thickened pedicel to cloves of tree spice. It is a perennial SOUl'CC of vegetable grown in isolated pockets of Kerala. This crop has been neglected so long and has remained uncxploit.cd though it has goo,l potenlial for development. The swollen pedicel of the flower j5 lised as a delicious vegetable called vernacularly as michi in Hindi and in Bengali) garayo in Gujarali, kauttllwli in Tamil, gariya. in Marathi and li thya vazllllllwllfl in Malayalam. The clove bean is seen growing from sea level as in western coasts of Kel'ala to an elevation of 1700 m in the Himalayas. The crop is being grown in the Gangetic plains and in Deccan Hills. T l is also grown in other countries such as Upper Burma Sri Lanka, China and Japan. Mcdicinal ])ropc1'tics ]n addition to its culinary values clove bean has gal many medicinal properties. Among the trihals of ChoLa Nagptll', especia lly the Mundas, thc powdered seeds of clove bean arc a known remedy to cure fever. The juice of the plan Is is sprayed to kill bugs in ami around the house. Clove bean is a large climbing plant with muricatc stem. Its leaves are broadly ovate, entire and glabrous; the base is deeply col'date. The pedicel is Ihickened upwards bearing the fruit which is a capsule. Th seeeds are polished black. There nrc t.-wo forms unclei' cultivation. One form has clark cap!hlle with largcr pcdiccls and the other has lighter coloured capsules wilh stt1.allcr pcdicels. No named varicllc:'> arc available. A w:trlu season crop This fruit vegetable is essentially a warm season crop. llcan be grown in almost all types of soil, acidic soils being preferentially suiled. T he secds arc sown direct just before the onset of monsoon in lhe month of May. Seed lings can also be ra\scd in polylhene bags filled wilh potting mixture and the grown-up sccdjings shifted 10 the main field. The plant starts trailing within 10 days of sowing. The fruits arc ready for il<l1"vcst within another 45 days provided lhc sowing is clone in I irnc. 1\ spacing of 1 X I m is sllmcicnt enough for n good crop. Tl'cHics or branched twigs can also make an cm~otive support fol' the trailing plant. In many pbces farlne!'s grow it ovc!' their fcm.:cs 01' even. on thatchcd huts. Pilsof30 x 30 x 30cm dimension arc taken. Pits are filled wilh well I'otlcn [,li'itiyard 10 kg/pit and covered with I.Op soil. Top dressing in the form of' foliar spray is done: with urea (1.5 per cent) as and when plants exhibit stunted growth and yellowing of its leaves. When clove beans arc planted in. open [\,clds., s.takingof plants are done. When sown ncar fences or near t.-he huts the growing seedlings arc trailed ov~r, fruits arc harvested in the tender green stage. The edible fruits arc prepared into tasty curries as jn bl'injal or in okra. So far no seriolls pests and diseases have been observcd in this crop. Being a hardy plant not mllch atlention is usually needed. Once the crop is established it remains there as n perennial source of vegetable. The name Nitiryll V(lzlmlhlltUl in Malayalam has been given because of t he characteristic perennial nature of the crop. Allcmpls to coheet variabilily in this crop have been iniliated at the Kerala Agricultural Univcrsity. Sample seeds a,'e available at Ihe Departmcnt of Olericul ture, Kcrala Agl'icultural Univel'silY, P.O. VeIlanikkara, Trichul'. 11

14 WE GROW IN THOUSANDS Best Quality ROSE TREES, BOUGAINVILLEAS DAHLIAS, CHRYSANTHEMUMS GLADIOLI, PALMS, CROTONS CONIFERS, A VENUE TREES FLOWERING SHRUBS & FRUIT TREES In hundreds of varieties Also 'RANCHI GIANT, Papaya Seeds Please Visit our Nursery or write for price list MULlICK'S HORTICULTURAL NURSERY Telegram 'NURSERY' Ral1chi KANKE ROAD, P.O. RANCHI (INDIA) PIN Telephone Ranchi Terms of Bllsiness : As followed by Division of Horticulture Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi India.. Horticullure -

15 Mushroom is D delicacy in food USHROOMS have fascinated man Msince times.immemorial and arc a delicacy in food and Conn one of the choicest table dishes. There are a large number of mushrooms that grow in every country naturally. India with its diversity of soil and climatic conditions su pports rich. variety offlol'u lncluding many edible mushrooms. In most parts of the world many edible varieties are gathered each year and offered for sale. Howev<fl', only a few species have been c'llltivatcd and have attained jmpol't \llcc as an article of international commercf'. Agaricus bispoms (Lange) Imback is tho most commonly domesticated mushroom and is presently cultivated in many parts of the wod,l. The first serious attempt for cultivating of this variety of lnushroom ill India was made at Mushroom Research Centre, Solan, by using long met1lod of composting (LMC) as recommended by Mantel <t. at. (1972). Later Seth A.p ri 1- J un. 198 Z COMPOSTING BETTERS MUSHROOM YIELD T. R. SHANDILYA. Mushroom Research, Centre Solan and Shandilya (1975) used a formulation (LMC) in whkh an inactive COlnpost is prepa.red over a composting time of 28 days with incorporation ofnemagon as achcmical pasteurizing agent, a procedure which was practised on many farms in India before the introduction of short method of eomposting (SMC) technique. The yields obtained in these formulation. were slightly highel' than those of Mantel "to at. the Cannulation wilh which 5 or G kg of ~nushrooms per sq meter was obtained. As the yields obtained by LMC were quite low as compared to that of established nlushl'oom growing countries, Shandilya (1976) and Hayes and Shand ill' a.(1977) developed a technique of composting known as short lncthod of composting (SMC) for growing mushrooms under fndian conditions. By adopting thi, technique of composting the yields of mushrooms have been doubled. There arc some advantages in using SMC teohnique. - There is an enhancement ill the yield. - Compost takes a shorter time for preparation. - More trays can be filled by SMC technique than by the LMC technique. - Loss of production is eliminated in SMC tcclmique. III the present article the COlnposting process, composition, pasteurization and som~ of the important factors involved in SMO technique have been ducidated. Oompost by the SMC technique was prepared fo, the first time at the Mushroom Research Centre, Solan. Com.posting process FORMULATION. According to Shandilya (1976) and Hayes and Shandilya (1977) the formulation fo, SMC technique should be: Ingredi,nts Qilnnti!J (kg) Wheat straw 1000 Chicken manure (MRO-l'* I) 13

16 REPAYMENT OF COMPULSORY DEPOSIT INCOME-TAX PAYERS Have you made any deposit under the Compulsory Deposit Scheme (Income-tax Payers) Act, 1974 during the financial years , , , or IF SO You are entitled to repayment of the amount deposited with interest in five equal annual instalments, commencing from the expiry of two years from the end of the financial year in which the deposit was made. DEPOSIT MADE DURING to to to to to THUS REPAYMENT IN FIVE EOUAL INSTALMENTS WITH INTEREST ON , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , HOW TO OBTAIN REPAYMENT 7 Apply in Form E to your 8ank alongwith YOllr pass boo:" your Bank. HURRY Form E will be available with Claim the repayment already due on , , & ALSO DO NOT FORGET To claim repayments in respect oi the subsequent instalments falling due for repayment on , and etc. REMEMBER From 1 st April, 1981 the depositors will have the option not to w:thdraw the instalment amounts and interest thereon on their becoming due. In that event, the amount not withdrawn shall earn int~rest, so long as it remains in deposit, as if it were a co npulsory deposit and the provisions of the Compulsory Deposit Scheme (Income-tax Payers) Act, 1974 will continue to apply in relation to such amount or interest thereon. The depositor is not required to file any option for this purpose. DIRECTOR OF INSPECTION (Research, Statistics Et Public Relations) INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT. New Dolhi dovp ~1/ Illdian Horlicullur'

17 Brewer's Grain 72 } Urea 14 Gypsum 30 The most important facto r:; in formulation of compost by SMC arc that t.he nitrogcn (N) pcl'centage and moisture level should be between 1.5 to 1. 6 pci' cent on dry weight basis and 75 to 77 pci' cent respectively) at the start and should be 2.2 La 2.3 per ecltl a'td 68 La 70 p CI' cent moist.urc at the timeolpawning. Growers should always cnsure adjusting t.he pcrcentagc of ni lrogen and ingrcdients used ill. composting should be suila bly checked. J\'itrogen nrijuslml'lll. According to S handilya (1976) the nitrogen should be calculated on dry weight basis as 1I11t1cr: Total dry weight= T otal weig ht of N = Pcrcentage ofn in dry mpttcl' = 1.51 pel' cent As thc natul'a l product vades in moisturc and nilrogcll content fro m pbee to place and from sample to sample, this m('ans that the suppli es should be analysed frequently on dry weigh t basis. Moisturc content. Moisture contcnt of compost can be dctcnnined by weighing too gm of colr,post which should be oven dri cd ovcrnight and the percentage 0 (' thc n,10islul'e can be calculatcd by thc [ollowing formula: lvfoisture pcl'ccntagcmwet weight of compost-dry weight of compost X 100 Wet weight of compost 1vloisllll'c of the compost can be adjusted by adding more water and in case it is less 0 1' even if it is more then it may be alio'wed to evaporate. 1'01' the SMC, the composting prog ramme of -4, -2, 0, +2, +4, +6, +8, alt(l + 10 days is followed. Compost prepared by SMC technique is achieved by completing two phases Phase I and II. P HASE I (OUT-DOOR aomposting). Completed by mixing raw materials on a platjorm and turnin g according to schedule. April - June 1982 TABLE 1 Ingrediellt Fm hwtighl P crrru((lgt. lll(l(r l' D ry IVI (kgj PrrcelliN WI. 'If N(kg) Whent straw Chicken mnl\mc Dl'cwcr's grai n Urea Gypsum T otal dry weight '1"OInl Weight of N l)crecntngc of N in dl'y mallei' tooo.o,too.o BO.3 t per cent PHASE II (INDOOR-COMrOSTINC). Achieved by filling compost after completion. of p hase I inside a room called either a pastclll'is;;ttion 1' ' a peak heat room. IL is the conditioning of compost in a closed environment. Details of both (Phase I & Phase II) p"ocesscs are given below: IlHAsE I PROCESS. T he ra w materials (ingredients) arc mixed together, watered and periodica lly turned according to the following schedule : Day 4: Preli minary stacking of straw, poultry manure and consolidated by trampling to encourage uptake of ltioistul'e and encourage phase of anaerobic fcl'm e n ~ tat ion. Day 2: Turned and made into a slightly smaller stack a!ld added morc water. Day 0: Standard SLack (\Veth Lh e help of boards as "sual). Mix 14.5 g. urea. Day+2 : li'il'st turn. Day +4: Second t"rn. (mix 30 kg gypsum). Day +6: T hird turn. Day+B: Fourth turn. Day-j- 10: Filled into trays for phasc II. PHASE II PROCESS. First phase completed as soon as composting lnatcrials becomcs pliabi~, dark brown in colour and odour of ammonia is sharp. Phase II completed e ith er by introduction of hot a il" and live steam (A) or fumi gation with nlethyl bromide (il) !i ' (A) STEAM ANI) 1I0T AIR. T his eo n ~ sists of the usc of hot ail' and live steam and includes the following steps. (a) HEAT UI'. Trays evenly ftlled with compost are stacked in a pl'e-warmedl'ool11 as quickly as possible to avoid h eat losses. Sufficient space is ke pt between trays to allow fresh ail' to move in be tween and across the trays. Compost volume to air volume is maintained between 1:6 0 1' I :8, all ventilators and doors M arc closed. Hot ail' is in.ro d uccd (0 bring the a ir tempera ture up Lo about 35 to 40'C and Inaintained fol' about 12 hours. (b) PRE-PASTEURIZATION. By closed e nviro nment the compost tem- 1)cl'atul'C goes up due to micro~ bial activities to about 45-50'C. Now fresh ail, is intl'oduced slowly and gradually by controlling the ventilation system and temperature is maintained for 24 hours. (c) PASTEURIZATroN. After prepasteurization stage l all the doors and vent ilators arc closed and live steam is inj ected to M raise the air and compost tem perature to 60 0 e for four hours in order to achievc the desire d pasteuriz.ation 0\' achieve peak heat. (d) POST-PASTEUR1ZATION. After achieving pasteurization live steaill introduct ion is stopped and dry h eat is applied only to maintain an ail' telnperatllre of 35 to 40 C and compost temp- 15

18 TO RESTORE & MAINTAIN NATURE'S BALANCE NODIN NATURE'S OWN PLANT NUTRIENT WHAT IS NATA...?" WHAT IS NODIN? NatrTn,. II (JroduCl containing over 15 kinds 01 Iree '",'ng baclerla wl,'ch tlx the nitrogen from the air and promote maximum growth and Increases plant', resistance to pest attack. Nodin Is a product that has strains of Rrzobla (BacterIa) provet!=i most effective tor tormlng nodule. on roots and fixing nl'r9gen. Field trials have gl';en extremely good resulls-wl1h both grain Bnd looder ' 'fields Incre.as' ng from 20 to 501);', ' ADVANTAGES OF NATRIN AND NODIN Improved.seed germlnatlon, Be.nel plant stand~ Absorbs NltrQpe~ Irom air \. Ind fe.eds "tc the roots. _.;.,..._, _._. :.1.'ncreases the yield. More.lollage. Mar. yield. Bec6u 01 t~'s the pl t and roo'.. lone become:strono. Improves thf!v~ol'", ManUfacturers: INDIAN ORGANIC CHEMICALS ~Mpoll. 01., : RAIGAO. Mahar.shl,. Sial. ~ Sales Qllico : Mehta Mehal, Mathew Road, Bombay-!l-OO 004. \ = Reap more harvest at Jess cost... VARDHAK NAA PLANT HORMONE SPRAY Timely spray reduces dropping of buds, flowers, immature fruits cotton bolls,enhances growth and increases your yield of COTTON, GROUNDNUT,WHEAT, PADDY, BRINJALS, CHILLIES. MANGO, GUAVA. CHIKU. APPLES ETC. ~ PAUSHAK LIMITED. ~I ALEMBIC ROAD. VADODARA India/) Horticultur.

19 Cl'atul'c to a level of about 55 to 5BoC for 48 h ours or till there is 110 sr:nell of ammonia. Thc ammonia can bc detected by both smell and ph of compost. Smell is not a true test to judge whethcr the compost is frce from ammonia or not because scnse of smell varies from indi.. vidual to individual and at 55 to 50 0 temperature, one may altogeth.er losc thc sense of smel l. Anothcr way is to brn ing thc sample of compost Ollt.. sidc peak-heat room and smell. but there is every possibility that some of the ammonia may dissipate to the atmosphere. Surc test is to mcnsure the ph of compost, which should be neutral Ot' slightly alkaline. (c) COOLING FOR SPAWNTNG. When compost is free Ii'Q_lIl ammonia full fresh ail' is introduced to bring thc com.post tempcrature to the desircd level for spawn~ ing which is in gencral. (B) Fm.fIGATlON Wl'rH METHYL liro MIDE. In this process of pasteuriza. tion all principles rcmain the same as for hot air and stcaln pasteud. zation. Pasteurization of compost with methyl bromide is done as follows: (a) Compost is filled evenly in trays and stacked in the fumi~ galion room in the same way as for melhod (A). (b) After stacking all doors and ventilators are closed, hot a ir is in.tl'ocluccd to bring the ail' temperaturc to 35 to40 C and bed temperatlll'elo 45 t055 C. This is maintained for 24 hours by adjusting ventilation system. (c) Hot ail' and frcsh ail' introduction continued when (d) bromide is applicd immediately with the help of an Ib/IOOO eft to achieve the miniolum concentration of 600 ozs. hour/1000 eft. Gcncrally this concentration can be achieved by applying only 12 Ib/ 1000 eft. but allowances for lea.kogc havc to be considercd. (e) After 24 hours fumigatioll room is completcly VClltilated by introducing frcsh air. V\'hcn compost temperat ure rcaches to 25 C and is frce fl'o111 methyl bromide sl11011, trays can be spawned. After preparation of compost by SMC teclmiquc, compost was seedcd (S-II) with optimum quantity of spawn per tray (Shandilya d. al., 1977) by spawning metllod recommended for Indian conclitions (Shandilya, ct. (/ ). Spawned trays were kept. in a room at 25 0 for 14 days before casing with fil1'111w yard manure (Hayes and Shandilya, 1977 and Shandilya, 1978) previously treated according to the procedure suggested by Shandilya and Gldcria (1978) except that the steam treatment was donc at 65 Q C for 4 hours. Hydrogen ionnconccn~ tl'ation was adjusted and standa.. - dized at B.O by calcium carbonate. One week anci' jhc trays were shifted to growing roon1 where the tempcrat tlrc was maintaincd at 16 to 20 0 and acrated and watered rcgularly according to the standard normal practice. Compost pl'epa~ed by SMC technique was compared with LMC fo r yields. Yields recorded from these treatments for diflcl'clll years arcl'ccordcd in Table 1 It can be inferred from the Tablc 1 thnt the yields obtaincd in compost madc by Slv[C technique arc much higher than that by the LMC. The compostillg fol'll1ula and technique was subseqttcntly released for tests at commercial 11l.t1shroom farms and thcsc farms have confirmed the resuhs obtained at our centre. This technique is now being widely adopted by growers. Though the yields obtained arc lower to those obtain.ed in the established n.1l1s1u'oom gj'owjng count.ries but arc the higl1cst under Indian. conditions. A mud house was constructed adjacent to the mushroom house at the Mushroom Research Centrc. After preparing compost by SMC technique jt was spawned nnd equal number of lrays were stacked inside lhe mushroom house as. wcll as in. the mud-house. Facilities such as the compost tc111pcl'fl.ture stal'tcd ----=:::.::..::::.:::.:== declining to 40 to 45 C and amn10nia evolulion ceased, all clool's, ventilations and cracks are completely sealed with scalants. After sealing the room methyl April-Jun li'[lisltrooill$ growll {II Mushroom h()usc Mud house TAIlLE 3. Al1ernge yield per S(j met,.e dllring 1976 II/crop 'bulcrop J.rlcr()p nd crop

20 fan ctc. for velltilation purposes were provided in the mud honse. The yields of these tl'ays were recorded foi' a period of 60 days and FROM PAOr, 7 4. Insufficient quantity of in.organic nitrogen in the soi l which is owing to tile lack of supplementary nitrogen at the proper time and Wilh suit able method and dose. Correcting the rlc'iicil'lic}' Deficiency can be corrected by lite addi.tion of nitrogcl1ous [erlili',;.crs to the soi.l but this mel hod is slow and is suited foj' a mild deficient tree. However, lhe fcrt iiizer can, de added in the spring season 01' after t.he pjckiug of [I'uits. 'rhe quantif), to be applied shouicl be just morc than the normal dose which vary li'ojn compared and is mcntioned in Table 2. It is Lhus clear that mushrooms NITROGEN DEFICIENCY place to place and should be ealculatcd on the basis of leaf and scil analysis oc the deficient tree. In case of acute deficiency, foliar application of urea (ha.ving low biuret colllcnt) at the rate of' l.0 pci' cent mily be made dllring the spring season but if repeated spray is needed, it ll1ily bc mutlc after 7 to 10 days ofthc fil'stspraying. AS;l general practice for thc deficienl orchards, a spray of urca al petal lau and lhe other at an interval of J 0 days is rccommendcci. Orc}U\rdisls should add the normal recommended dose R of nitrogenous fcrrili?crs as per rc grown in a mud-house can be constructed nl cheap Co.st) can provide ample insulalion and can be used again and a.gain for growing. commendations of the Dcpart.ment:. Under Himachal Pradcsh condit ions, thc normal dose is 350 g N pci' tree to young apple trccs but for Uttar Pradesh areas, 700 g N pcr tree is a st.andard d03c. This dose may be lilercascd if the tree is l'norc vigorous and heavy bearer. O n the appcru ancc of' deficiency symptoms, a spray of urea may be made. II is advisable Lo add some slicker/spreadcr jn the Solulion fot' spray and Lhe spray should be made on a cleat' sunny clay and it should coj1dnljc l.ijl few dmps fall on the ground showing tjlcrcby that Ihe whole of the foliage has been covered with the spray solution. WORLD~S CHOICEST ROSES For 7r.bf!1 She hlo Qm4.Apply prnrpp 9'?O$e.m.alfU"4l-- Wrirt' for ('(lft/iorue 10: Anand Nursery Gnndhi Nagar JAlPUIt 302U04 18 In.dian Horticulturl

21 EXPORT POTENTIAL.. FOR POPULAR CHIPS J.e. ANAND, S.B. MAINI and BRIJESH DIWAN Division of Horticulture & Fruit Technology Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi OTATO chips are a popular snack. It is mainly P prepared on a cottage scale. The quality of market chips va1'ies clue to lack of standard procedul'c adopted in theil' preparation. Many times, non-conditioned potatoes from cold stores arc used. These potatoes have a higher content of sugar which gives browning discoloul'ation to the potato during processing and storage. Pre-treatments such as dipping chips in water 01' in ~alt solution or blanching in boiling watcr arc essential to obtain better quality chips for marketing and storage. Recent studies carried out in our Institute showed that vegetables such as cucumber, cauliflower, peas and turnip can be easily preserved up to one year by steeping the material in watel' containing 5 pci' ccnt salt, 0.1 pcr cent potassium nlctabisulphite and 1.2 pel' cel1t glacial acetic acid. As potato is an important colnmcrcial orop and is consumed in every home in one form 01' the other, it has been thought worthwhile to study this formulation for the storage of potalo tubers. Initial studies carried out showed that potatoes could be safely stored by this met.hod for ovel' thrce years withau t any morphological 01' histological changes in the luber. However) the prcserved tubers even. after prolonged refreshening in cold and hot water retained sourness and saltish taste besides taking a considerable longel' time in cooking Studle, Studies to restore the cooking quality of the tubers by steeping thenl in sodium bicarbonate before cooking or cooking them in this alkali medium; substitution of a~etic acid with cio'ic, tartaric or malic acid or lnodi- April-JIllle 1982 licaton of the steeping formulation by reducing the propol tion of acid and salt did not oocr any material propol'tion of acid and salt did not ofter any material advantage in cooking time. However, it was found for safe storage, sleeping solution could be diluted having a formulation containing glacial acetic acid 0.6 per ccr,t and potassium metabislljphite 0.2 pel' cent without impairing the keeping quality of tubers. This formulation however, did llot improve the cooking quality. It was also observed that during storage, the phenolic compounds were leached out of potato tubers into the steeping medium and some of these colnpounds arc known to ]mvc anti~microbial activity. Phenolic compoullds thus played a complimentaty role in the presel'vation of potato tubel's and these could be preserved even at a lower cqjlcentl'ation of aeid and exemption of salt as compal'ed w ith sleeping prc!l :::rvation of other vegetables mentioned earlier. The whole potatoes prescl'vcd as above were found to lend themselves for easy slicing as fresh potatoes and quite suitable for tile preparation of chips as in chipping and subsequont drying operation) most of the acid was lost. The following operation was found suitable for the preparation of chips in a,olar dryer. For d"ying at horne spreading slices on black polythene sheet worked equally suitable. CJllps preparation Potato chips (2 mm thick), were prepared from steeped potatoes of variety Kr{/ri C/lalldromJlkl,i and kept in plain wate!' for an hour, blanched for five minutes ill. boiling water, cooled in water, drained and dried in a "fol'ccd indirect solar ail' dryer" developed by the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. It has a 19

22 solar energy catching area of 6 squal'c meters painted with an ordinary black paint. Drying chamber measuring 2m X 1.5m can accommodate 45 t]'ays (4 0 em >< 65 em). Ahout 40 kg fresh material can be dried in one batch. A temp. of 60 to 68 0 can be obtained when the atmospheric temp. varies fl'(.'oo 29 to 30 C or mol'c. It took 7 or 8 hours to dry chips in this dryer'. T he chips wcre stored in polythelle bag (200 g) for 6 months at ambient temp (30 to M"C). The dried chips wcre found to retain bettcr coloui' as compared to potato chips prepared from fresh potatoes. Further on frying ellip. prepared Ii-om steeped potatoes retained whiter colour and gave better taste than from fresh potatoes. In fact, the two compounds viz., polypl1cllolos and reducing sugars wllich interacted to turn the product brown during storage were actually leached out during steeping. T he quantity of solulion required to pt'esct'vc the tubers is genera[y 1.25 to 1.50 time. the weight of tubers used and can be lised again after supplementing the constitucjlts like acetic acid and K.M S picked up by the stored potatoes. Excluding the cost of j ar which can be: used again and again the cost to prc crvc one kilogram of potato come.<:; to around 25 paise only. The method described alone is: simple, cheap and easily applicable for smal1-scalc manufacturers of potato chips. The chips obtainecl from steeped potaloes proved w hiter in colow' and retained better qllality during storage llij compared with those obtained from wjd stored potatoes. The cost of storing potatoes is around 25 paise a kg in this solution as compared with 25 to 30 paise per kg of cool stored potatoes. This difference may further increase if the solution is used again and the losses of potatoes due to dessication and decay are taken into account in cool stored potatoes. 'INDIAN READ FARMING' Reliable plant protection equipments id I~f\i{ ~ i. ~ ~ =~ ~~~~!~~ s~a~rusters \ r I NAVAL Knapsack Sprayer ~ : ~~~~L H~~~e~~;~~~~~t~i. lti ~ JAWAN Rocking Sprayer K)SAN Hand Compression Sprayer,/ ;. KISAN Hand Compression Sprayer _. For detail! PleBse Contect: mnavalakha '" mil agro equlpmen't Shankershet Road, Pune ([ndla) Phone: , , _.. FOR BEITER & BEAUTIFUL GARDEN SOW SURTrS FLOWER SEEDS IT'S THE STRAIN THAT COUNTS I FREDI SURTI COMPANY HORTICULTURISTS GAJlDEN CONSULTANTS LANDSCA.PE ARCHITECTS SEEDSMEN d NURSERYMEN 2, SAKLAT PLACE, CALCUTTA ["dia" Horticulture

23 RESERVATION of food by drying P is one of the oldesl methods adopted by mankind. In fact, more fruits arc prcscl'vcd by drying than by any other method as they have major advantages such as g'rcatcr concentration in dry form) some arc cheaper to produce with minimal labour, in processing equipment, in lype of dryer is that il can be stretched and folded,with ease; no pcrmanent steel and glass structure is needed as in the conventional solar dryers and its capacity Can be multi. plied by adding to the length of the tube 01' putting up morc additional length. J10lded film will occupy minimal space for storage when not in ward loss. The bubble polythene beneath the dryer acted as an insulator and kept up the efficiency by checking heat dissipation. Material could be dried easi ly by passing ail' at one end of this tube by electric fan which removed the accumulated moisture inside the dryer. A SOLAR DRIER FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES S. B. MAINI, BRIJESH DIWAN S. K. GUPTA' and J. C. ANAND Division of Horticulture & Fruit Technology I.A.R.I., Now Delhi storage and in distribution cost. Fruits and vegetables can be dried by using solar 01' electric energy or a combination of the two. Sanitary conditions are controllable within a dehydration plant whereas in open field drying, contamination may be caused by dust, insects, birds and ro~ dents excreta. Dehydration is, how ever, becorning much more expensive than sun drying owing to rising energy costs. The ma in disadvantages in sun drying is the susceptibility of exposed material to dust, insect and rain damage. These discrepancies. can be removed by using solar dryers. How~ ever, most of the solar dryers cleve loped till now have been expensive, batch type and are difficult to dismantle for shifting from one place to another. At the Indian Agricultural Researcll In.stitute, New Delhi, a simple, cheap and efficient field type tubular dryer was developed in collabora tion with National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. An advantage with tlus usc. It consisted of glossless black polythenc which was stitched to a sheet of bubble polythene. To-this an ultra violellight stabilized polypropylene was stitched on one longitudinal side whereas on the other side, polypropylene and black polythcnc wcre closed with a friction tape zip_ This zip facilitated the opening and closing of this tube-like structure to keep or remove the material to be dt,jed. The black polythene acted as inexpensive solar energy absorbcr and U.V. stabilized polypropylene as unidirectjonal window to let solar energy inside but prevent its out SOLAPo. OA.Y[R Products which are highly sensitive to light may also be dried by keeping the malerial on shelves in an enclosed chamber and passing hot air collected by this dryer thl'ough tubular structure over the material. The cost of construction of this solar dryer worked to 0 bout Rs 10 sq metre and a temperature of 35 to 40'C above the ambient can be attained in the solar dryer. Table (page 23) summarises pret rcalments and preparatory processes prior to drying for some fl'ui IS and vegetables. Scientist, Solar Ene"gy CrouPI Na.tional Physical Laboralory. New Delhi-l Ap, ii-jun

24 Periodicals in English ICAR PERIODICALS 1. INDIAN FARMING (Monthly) Conveys tested and proved research results of grodt practical valu e in a popular style. Contributions from top scientists and senior research work.ers higlllioht {flo latest advances in agriculture and animal sciences. Irs wef/mplanned Special Numbers, crop and discipllne wiso, constitute source malerlal 01 immense valtjo to all connected wi th the disciplines and to the farmers who are taking energetically to the now practices. Single Copy Re Annual Rs INDIAN HORTICULTURE (Quarterly) A poi)ulat and illustrated journal in Engli sh on fruits, vegetables and ornamental gard ening. With con1ributions from specialisls, the journal Is a praclical guide to orchardists, vegctable growors and clty~ dwellers who want to mise thoir own smal l gardens. Single Copy Rs Annual Rs THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES (Monthly) Meant primarily for agricu ltural scientists and research workers, the j ournal ca rri es articles on original researches conducted in Indi a on ag ri c'lj ltu rg and Its alli ed fields. Sing le Copy Rs Annual Rs THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCES (Monthly) Prosents articles reporting the original rosanrch work on diseases of anirnals, their husbandry and related -subjects conducted primari ly in this oountry and in other countries. Single Copy Rs Annual Rs Periodicals in Hindi 1. J<H ETI (M onthly) Providos highly useful information concerning lat est research findings in tho field of agriculture Md animal sciences for tho benefit of farming and student community and others. Articlos on new farm techniques, IDleSt advances in realm of diseases <lnd pests of crops and animals, farm impiemar.ts and agricu ltural chemicals appear regularly. Single Copy RB Annual Rs PHAL PHOOl (Quarterly) The n()wly started illustrated quarterly deals with fruits, vogotables, ornamontals, landscapo and gardening. It caters to tfle needs of kitchen gardeners, vegetable growors, orchardists, professionals. horticulturists and others. Single Copy Rs Annual Rs KRISHI CHAYANIKA (Quarterly) A unique digest magazine of its k.ind providing useful inform ation, collected from a large numbor of national and international journals. concerning original researchels in the field of agriculture and animal sciences. Single Copy Rs Annual Rs Prices are inclusive of postage.1 Place your orders with remittance. Student concession 25% ENQUIRIES: THE BUSSINESS MANAGER INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH KRISHI BHAVAN. NEW DELHI , 22 Illdian /Iortic.dturl

25 TABLE I. \,1j,t~~~~l~~l;NTS FOR SOLAR DEHYDRAT10N OF FRUITS & Fruits & llegrtah/es FRUITS Applc Aprico t Peach llenr Plum M:mgo pulp for l)\t\ngo lc«lher (Al'o pllpci' GI'cell mango for raw mango powdcl' (Amchur). Potato Onion Pea Garlic CaTrols Cabbage Cauliflower Spinach, coriandcl' Mint, Methi, Iviu5hroom PI'L/JIlflltioll Bhmc" ill,fji./(lii)! (ill boiling Waler),' ---- SlIil,hilillg,;;;;;;r;;;;;; (ky. dipf!irlf~ ill 1%.:I"O~ 1/1( 1011 of /,OI111.r;1II1I /1U!inbisllfjlhile KillS) for 10 millllies S li c('~~ or rings No Yes m 'Whole or halves No Yes - do- No Ycs Quarter or 1/8th No Yes Dip jn 2% sodabiclll"b. Sol. for min &. wnsh. No No T ake OlLLjuicc Peel and slice No Add 0.5 pcr cncl KivfS No Yes Chips 2-3 mill or d ices. 5 min 5mm slices No Yes No TO OUR READERS Tho Revised Rates of subscription of of 'Indion Horticulture' w ill be as fallows Single copy Ann ual Foreign: 1.00 or S 2.50 (annual) PLEASE RENEW YOUR Inland Rs Rs P rick or punclure Blanch in 1-2 % soda w ilh a sewing bi carb sol. ror 3~5 needl e min & wash. SUBSCRIPTION Remove the paper shell, chop or cut, if desired. No Pcel and sliec (4tnm) 5mitl Yes Chop and shred 3 mi n Yes Cul in to small pieces 3 min Yes Remove undcsh'abl(: ~V~~I~L~'l' Jl <llvcs 15 Olin. in watel' nt (JooG No 3 m in No ON TIME ROSES BOUGAINVILLEAS DAHLIAS & CHRYSANTHEMUMS HYBRID CARNATIONS, MARIGOLDS, PETUNIAS, ETC. HYBRID AMARYLLIS, GLADIOLUS and Flowering & Ornamental Trees for Shades, Roadside Plantations, Avenues and Parks Available in bulk' and retail CALL OR WR ITE ltmadpur NURSERY P.O. AMARNAGAR, FARIDABAD Telephone : 82: '3 MUlllonl Delhl-Mlth.II liold. Blhlnd HIYIII Jult 20 mlnut drivi from Connlught Clreu New Delhi April-]",

26 CULTIVATING THE WATER CHESTNUT M, M, SYAMAL Asstt, Prof, (Hort) Aojendra Agricultural University Campus. Dholi. Muzafforpur 5, p, VERMA Project Co -ordinator (Tuber crops) ICAR ATER~CHEST\JNT or water caltrops commonly known W as 'Singhara" 01' 'PaniphaP belongs La the nalural OJ'del' Tl'apaccae which has two species. One with two spines is known as Trapa bispillosn Roxb. and the other witll four spines is known as TTllpa 9fwdrispiJIOSfl Wall. Besides India, it is cuiljvatcd in Sri Lanka, Arden, South-eastem countries of Asia and the U.S.A, But the varieties arc different. In India, it is found mainly in Bilta.., U.P., Tamil Nadu, and in pal'ts ofmaharashll'a, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. In Bihar, it is cultivated on a laj'gc -scajc in the districts of Darbhanga, Samastipur, Madhubani, Muzaffar PUI', Vaishali, Patna and Bhagalpur. In some of the rivers, it comes out of its 0'\'11 but it is usualjy grown in small ponds and ditches where the waler is stagnant and shallow. A few districts of Bihar have got small ponds and ditches in abundance and the agl'o-climatic conditions are suitable for its cultivation. In these areas, water chestnut has got considerable scope for large-scale production with economic gains. Watcr-chestnut is a floating annual hcl'b having dimorphic, sllbmcrged opposite, pinnatipartite leaves with fihfonnsegments. Its leaves are very villous on dorsal side and arc 6 cm hy 8 em (approximaetly) in size, Its l'oot anchors in the lnud, the stem remains in watel' and the leaves float on the water surface. It has one node on the stem of about 3 to 5 cm thickness on the lower side of the leaf which keeps theleaf floating on the surface of water. The colour of the leaf is reddish-green. Its flowers are: auxillary, solitary pendent white in colour and have the pe(iole with a spongy dilation ncar its apex, The flowers come out from the upper vegetative portion and the fruit sets below the surface "fwater. Thefl'uit is bony, one-celled, nearly 3 em long and broad indchiscent with a short cylindcric beak at the top through which the radicle is protruded. The fruit has folll' angles and two out ofrour develop in case of Tl'aJ)(I. bi.(piilosa and lhc o the r lwo angles arc sometimes obsolete. Each of these two opposile angles has I'Clrol'scly scabious spines. There is on.ly one seed having very unequal cotyledons. VlIrlctics (n Dlbllr In Bihar on1y the two~spincd species arc usually cultivated. It has got many varieties but the following foul' are morc prevalent 'which are specified on thc basis of importance of locality of odgin. l. Kanpuri, Patna, Dcshi Dig, and Deshi Small. The Ihlit of the first titree are big but the fourth one is small. There are differences in shapc, colour of leaf and fruit among these varieties. The fruits of 'I{anpuri' and 'Patna' arc palatable when they arc at young stage and these varieties arc of table type. The frujt of'dc,')hi Small" is consumed after boiling. Pond selection Clean ponds with muddy fertile soil arc best suited for its cultivadon. It should be kept in mind th.at the pond shollid not go dry, It Can be grown in dirty water ~Iso because watet' chestnut has got the capacity to check pollution and to clean the waler to some extent. The rooky soil with rocy hase is unsuitable and a lower yield is obtained. Fishes arc not harmed by the plant but while catching fishes, some difficulty may he experienced only to the e~istcnce of plants. To get rid of either you don't grow the plants the year in which you are going to catch the fishes or catch the fishes when the plants are not there. Indian Horticultu"

27 Method of planting The planting is divided into two parts: propagation of planting materials and transplanting or direct seeeling. In January matured fruits are kept in a earthen pitcher which is filled with water, This pitcher is kept in a warm place for one month. It should be kept in mind that the seeds do not go dry. During this period the seeds start germin ating and the upper hard skin of the fruit starts rolting. Nursery pond After the seeds have started germinating, they arc broadcast. in the nursery ponds 01' in small and sha llow ditches which h avc morc than 45 to 60 em deep water. This is donc during March-April. The germinated seeds get stuck in the mud and roots and stem start emerging. Roots anchor in the mud and stems start coming up towards the surface. Leaves are initiated and covel' a ll the water surface. New roots start coming out fl'om the nodes of stems after a few days which also anchor in the mud. In this way, from onc plant sum.~ cient planting material may be obtained. TrBl1splltnting Fina1ly, during June-July, these new plants from nursery ponds arc transplanted into big ponds or in some reservoir, Mother plants arc left at a distance of about 1 m to 1.2 m in the nursery ponds so that fruits can be take" from them also. Gaps are filled by taking plants from other places. The distance of planting depends upon the fertility of the soil. In a less fertile soil the distance from plant-ta-plant and row-to-row is kept 00 enl to 1m whereas in fertile soil it varies fronl 90 em to 1.2 m. One hectare nursery pond can provide planting materials for 8 to 10 hectares. It should always be kept in mind to keep the [caves floating on water surface and adjustmcnts of vine into the l11ud should be done accol c1ingly. Sometimes abrupt rain. damagcs the crop entirely. Under such circumstan.ccs the vines are retransplanted. In the second met hod of planting, instead of keeping secds in the earthen pitcher) the sceds nre directly broadcast in the nursery ponds 01' they themselves fall down in the water after th.e end of the season. New plants come out from these seeds during April-May and they arc transplanted in the same way as in the first method. Cultural carc Before transplanling, the weeds are removed to make the base of pond clean, This operation stirs the soil and is effectivc as a substitute for inter-culturing. No concrete recommendation. on manurial requirements has been made as yet and there is dearth of reseal'ch on th.is aspect, However, it has been observcd that application of 40 kg of nitrogen, 4 0 kg of phosphorus and 60 kg of potash pel' hectare can give a good l'esponse. It should be borne in mind that undcsl'jable vines should bc pruned out from time to time to avoid overcrowding and to have efficient photosynthesis. This April-JUlie 1982 overcrowding has got adverse effects on t he yield and quality. Harvesting and marketing Fruits arc hal'vcstccl from September to Octobe!'. The harvesting continues up LO December-January. It is a usual pl'actice to harvcst fruits at int.erva.ls of a to 10 days. At the timc of harvesling the size, softness of the pulp, gl'ccl1nss 0(' co lour and the ea.sy separation of skin are ci<:sll'ablc cha racters for the markel. On an averagc, a yield of 40 to 50 qjhac is expected but from fertile soil a yield up to 100 q!i,ae may be taken. Due to its high conten.t of water, it ha.~ been obscrved that iffl'liits arc storcd in the sun for long, thcre is shrinkage of fruit and loss in the pl'ocil.lcl. The skill of fully matured fruit becomcs hard and lhe col out' turns black which is not suitable for table purposs. These fruits a"l'(~ kept for seeds or eaten afler boiling or may be used for prcparation of other products. "Uses - The immature pulp of the fruit is taken raw or after frying, - The mature fruit is submerged in water overnight and next day it is boiled lightly. After drying tbe boiled pulp thoroughly. it is used in preparil\g deliciolls dishes. - It is also used in preparing coloured powder like fabir'. - It has got Cel'talll medicinal values and in some placc.'i, people usc it against diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Planning to Grow Coconuts"/ Read All about Coconut by G.S. Barve lt~ Garden Centre (Publication Division), 75, Dr. Ambodkar Road... iiiliiiiiitii... r 0PP. Byculla Aly. Sln.(E), Bombay , Phone: Price Rs Plus Postage Rs

28 'GOOd hilbltfo; courser Like hts marked preference for, quality hybrids developed by Mahyco research. ~-" Mahyco hybrids increase his produce, line hr. (,_ 'pockets with handsome profits end his fact-with"!!!llies. Buy!.he bes_t:::!uy M8hyc~. (T ".... v Early maturlnlj. ' high yielding. downy mildew, resistant I.. mahqco MBH-nO ~jr~ybrlct Fer good yield _..,.... of Malle in onlv 110 days','- ' For a revoilltiorwry Cotton yield.. mah"fco MCH-1 MCH-11 mahltco MMH-1 For a bump9_!) Jawar crop \, mah\.ilco MSH-33) MSH-37\ "J-{;~~ Jowar hybrid. ~. ~./.Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co. Ltd. - - ~ I " P.O. BOX NO. 27,"'::, SARDAR PATEL MAM'J JALANA ' 26 llldian I-Iorticul'"rt

29 M. C. NAUTIYAL and H. LAL Government Valley Fruit Research Station Pithoragarh GROWING BRINJAL IN PITHORAGARH ITHORAGARH district is located in the Central Himaw P layan in Uttar Pradesh which is bounded by Nepal and Tibet on its eastern and nol'thcrn sides respectively. Its high peaks arc covered with snow glaciers. This valley hrs an area of 7234 sg km at 29' 25'N to 30' 49'N lalitudes and 80' 05'E to 81' 31'E longitudes. There is an extensive mountanous tract of lower I-lima layas with an average elevation of 1615 m. A.S.L. ranging fi'oln temperate to sub. tropical climatic conditions. The annual rainfall is about 100 to 150 em which varies from place to place depending upon the clevat ions of surrounding hills. The soil of this area is rich loam, sl ightly acidic in nature with ph ranging between 5.B and 6.6. The fanners of this valley arc not aware of the potentiality of growing brinjal in this arca. Th.is is owing to the lack of knowledge of cultivation practices, irl'igational facilitics, non-availability of seeds of improved varieties, resistant to drought, diseases and pests. The problems pertaining to irrigation can, however be solved by cultivation of brinjal under rainfed conditions. To advance brinjal production in this valley, eflorts have becn made at the llorticullural Research Station, Pithoragarh, to evaluate vadetics of bl'ir"ual for growing in the hills under SUIlllnCl' to rainy seasons and standardise ccrtain cllltivalion practices. Sclection or varielics FOUT varieties of brinjal such as) 'Pusallurple Long', 'Pusa Purple Round,' 'Pusa Purple Cluster' and 'Pusa Kranti' were assessed in summer-raiuy season 1979 under agro-c1imatic conditions of Pilhoragarh valley. A perusal of lhe above data indicates that the variety 'Pusa Kranti' performed the best. It yielded leg per plant. The yield of 'Pusa Purple Round' (2.560 kg/plant) and 'Pusa Purple Cluster' (2.371 kg/plant) was aho s.atisfactory. These varieties are, therefore recommended for April-Julie 1982 gl'owing under Pithoragarh valley conditions. These vari.eties arc also rcconunendcd by the I.A.R.I. Regional station, Katrain, for cultivation in Kullu valley, Himachal Pradesh. The acidity of soil was corrected by proper liming farn1yard 20 to 25 meh'ic tonncs was broadcasted and soil prepared by four ploughing, 350 kg of superphosphate (single) and 100 kg of potassium sulphate were mix:ed in the soil before the fourth ploughing as suggested by the LA.R.r. Regional Station, Katrain. Two hundred kg u,'ea was applied in three split doses i.e., the first two doses were given at an interval of 20 days stmting a fortnight after transplanling and the: third of tel' two pickings of the fruits. Each dose of fcrtilizer was applied after the ruins. The scedlings were raised in nursery during February March and transplanted during April at tlte spneing between the rows and plants em. Tbnc to time intcrclilture operations such as hoclng and weeding were also incorporated. All va"ictics took about 80 to 115 days from planling to first picking of fruits. Fruits were allowed to attain a good size and they were picked at an immature stage for \ \'hich they do n.ot lose their bright and glossy appearance. A bout 5 to 7 pickings were obtained in most of lhe varieties. J list after each picking the fr:uits were sent to the market for sale. Insect pe.~t Bnd dlseascs FRUl'f AND SHOOT BORER. 'I'he pinkish caterpihal' (Leucillod6S arbonnlis (Guen) borcs into the young fruits and shoots and feeds itself there. The willing of young shoots is indicative of it'; presence. Fo!' its contra) the withering shools should be cut-off and the damaged fruits picked up and buried into the deep soil. Spraying of Malathion per littc of water has been found effective. 'Pusa purple Cluster' and tl>usa ICranti' val'ieties were found 30 to 80 per cent resistant to the incidence of this pest. Not any other serious disease 27

30 was observed in. this crop under summer season. Taking the above facts into consideration, brinjal cultivadon should be increased in the agro-c1illlatie conditions ofpilhol'agarh valley witli the aid of improved cultural practices and by adapting cultivat.ion of these varieties under ra.infed conditions. 'PUS,l Purple Cluster', 'Pusa Kranti' and (Pusa Purple Round' varieties are recommended for this vaue)'. Temperale,'cgciubles for rainfcd culture ill S hcvroys RIALS conducted at the HOl'ti~ T cultural Research Station, Yerc8t1d, [1' to select 'he p1'omising culdvars of cabbagc, cauliflowcl'l French beans, peas and carrot for rainfcd caltivation have revealed that in cabbage out of 59 cultivars tested 'Eclipse Drum H ead' and 'Early Wonder' recorded the highest mean yield of tonnes pel' hectare. In cauliflowcr, out of 40 cullival's, 'Second Early' rcgistercd the highest mean yield of 5.58 tonllcs of ClIl'd follow'cd by 'K.unwari' with tonnes per hectare. inter-crops under I'ainfcd coi\diliolls in YCl'c<tlld hill ranges. Their suitable time for sowing 01' planting is South-West mon June-July after soon sets in. In French bcans, out of 103 variet~ ies screened 'Kentuky 'Nonder' Character (pole type) ranked lirst witll 9.69 tonncs pci' ha whereas 'French White' (bush (ype) closcly followecl :~J1l11 cjght in lllith 7.29 tonnes ofgl'cen pods/pci' ha. No.ofpril1lal'}' In peas out of 37 varieties eva~ branches luatcd, 'Bonnevill e' and 'Supcl'fcc~ Number of po tis/ don' proved superior with 5.33 ancl plant 4.45 tonnes of grccn pods pci' hec- Pod length;n em tarc respectively. Numbcl' of In carrot, out of 17 cultivars asses~ seeds/pod sed, 'Pusa I(csnl" and 'Nantes' cxccl~ Gcnninatioll led the others with yields of 3.65 and percentages Effect of irrndiatlon in Fenugreek UTATION" breeding has been M taken up in fenngreek USing different doses of gaml1hl. rays, namely 5 kr. 1.0 kr. 15 kr. 20 kr. and 25 kt. The data recorded all Ml gcl'leratioll 1'12 veated the possibility of obtaining lnutallts, a Accting the stature of plant, crop duration, branching, pod length, number of pods and grain yield. The following table summarises the eficct of irradiation. Ccnlml B lrrndi(j~ ted /Ilnnls Eff'" ofirradi(ltio/' or O tonnes pci' hectarcs rcspectively. Yicld/p.lan l (g) The above varieties can bc profi- ~ _ tably grown either as pure crop Or as The luean values fot' the qttanti- 28 ta.tive characters exhibi ted both. positive and negative shifts. Characters sli ch as plant height and germination percentage showed a negative shift and the other characters showed a positive shift. These results have indicated the scope foj' obtainjng desirable variants by indl~cc cl mutagenccis. Selections have been made in MI generation for further SC l'c c n~ ing and t.o develop improved varieties. Horticulturists honourctl FtVE J'cknowncd senior Indian ltorti... cultllrists were honoured by t.he Mahal asht.ra Santra 13agcyatclal' Sangh, at Nagpul' recently for their outstanding contribution to research and developll1ent in various horlioultural crops. These arc Dr K, L. Chadha, Djrcctol', Indian Institute of HorlicuJlul'al Rescnrcll, Bangalore; Dr S. K. Mukhel:iee, E'mcl'itus Professor, Calcutta University; Dr D. R. Thaku1', Pro-Vicc Chancellor, H. P. Agricultural University; Dr J. P. Singh, A.D.G.. (Hart), IOAR; and Dr S.N. Rao, Director of Rosearch, APAU,. Rajendranaga1', Hyderabad. Shri Kandal'kal', a progressive orange gt'owcl' wa.s also felioita.ted along-' with these horticulture scientists for his outstanding yield. India" }/orticllitfire'

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32 Suttons Seeds excel In quality. purity and production. All seeds have to pass many tests before they ere permitted to bear Suttons' neme. Suttons' production techniques. careful packing and strict quality control ensure good seeds which produce beautiful flowers and tasty vegetables. Fcri..opq~ AUd.4, Ch~ Sutton & Sons (India) Pvt. Ltd., 13D. Russell Street CalcuttG' (.., Prinled lnlndin althl.: Nalioual Printillg\VOI 'k~.io, Dar)'agflnj. Nl!.w Delhi , nud published b)' leu. CIlPIlL, Und(:r-S(:l'I'l:tary. (or the Indian Councilor Ag"ic:ultuml Research, Nr.... Delhi. Edltoriu\ nlid Bu~ilH.!ss Oflicc: Krishi Uhnwrt.t1 t New Delhi liooo I.

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35 INDIAN HORTICULTURE Published Quarterly. Vol. 27 No.2 JULY-SEPTEMBER 1982 Editorial CONTENTS Golden Barrel- a fascinating plant 2 -A.N. Sharga Horticu1tuyc in 'T\'~))U"I:a.. -D.C. Dhatuiar, Matllllra Rai and S. Balakrishnan All about sweet potato of Bihar 9 -KP. Sillgh, DX, Singh and B.K. Sillgh Raising pineapple production in Kerala 11 -N.K. Nayar Grow a white flowering cultival' of Cassia fistula 13 -O,S. Srivastava and T. Ram Controlling black mould rot of mango 15 -D.K. Cllakrabarti A pricking machine for: aonla preserve 17 --S. StldasivQIl Nair and Mohatl Lal Jail! Banana cultivation in Gujarat 20 --B..S. CllUlldawat Correcting chlorosis in mandarin 23 -A.K Misra. and M.M. Gallapatll)' News roundup 25 Our cover,' Dashchari mango (Pusa) Photo: Gurcharan Singl~ ---- ADVISORY BOARD M.S. Randhawa D.R. Bhumbt C. Prasad S.K. Sharma. J.P. Singh B. Choudhury M.H. Marl Gau~da.. C.M. Singh Sukhdav Singh D.N. Borth.kur V.S. Bhatt P.L. Jal,wal Editing : I. J. L.II A.ssociate: P.S.N. Sarma Production :, Krishan Kumar and R.N. Manocha Art: M. K. B"dhan and A. Chakravarty Business Manager : M. Prasad Singia Copy : A. 2.50, Annual: R. 10 SOCIAL FORESTRY Forcsts are our wealth. But there has been an ever-increasing devastation particularly due lo felling (If trees and man's greed to increase the area ultder farming and his overall econonlic activities. Consequently, in lhe absence of commensurate afforestation programmes, all the accessible forests are eithcr shrinking or disappeal'illg thus cul'tai ling the numerous sources of beneficial herbal plallls, lood crops and industrial products. A side effect of this defon:station is reduction in plant and animal spe.cies in marginal and dry are.as. During the last decade, India has lost more than a hundred million acres of forest land. As many as 250 million Inetcrs of trees ;1.re felled every year in the country to be used as firewodd as morc than 80 PCI" cent of rural people depend on it as a SOurce of fuel. And it js a fact that our fol"ests cannot meet the fuel-wood needs of the country. Perhaps integration of forestry with agriculture, which in ultimate analys is would mean diversified production on agricultural lands) is the only answer. Trees have to be ra;,ed not only on field bu nds to provide a protective umbrella against wind and walei' erosion, village forests have also to be developed on a massive scale in rural areas to meet the needs of fuehvood, foclder and hutting material. Trees need to be planted along the roads for shade and beauty and along the railway tracks fot' soil conservation. Trees in urban areas besides beautification help in controlling noise and air pollution. Trees call be raised in home gardens for fruits and flowel's and in schools alld coljcges f01' educational purposcs. Thus. the trees helve to be a part of our social life and this is what social forestry is. Quite alive to the problem, the Government of lndia has drawn up a Rs 100 crorc plan to promote social forestry in the Sixth Plan in 100 districts. The state governments too have drawn ambitious schemes for replantation. In Rajasthan, whel~c denudation is caused due to heavy grazing, plans to reforest 22,500 hectares of land under various development programmes arc afoot and some 55,000 hectares of land is to be covered under this project. It may be mentioned that out of a total forest area of 35,89 1 sq km only 13,000 sq km bears a good forest cover. In Har'yana, a Rs crore World Bank aided social forestry programme Was launched on. April 1 this year. The plan will l ay special emphasis on farin forestry for which a sum of Rs. 16 Cl'Ore has been provided during the Sixth Plan. The State Forestry Department will spend around 50 pel' cent of its budget on this project. Under the Siate'. al'l'orestati<>n programme 100 million trees at a cost of Rs 15 crol'c will be planted in And fifty per cent of these trees will be planted in desert areas of the Statc. In an Indo-US social forestry project in Madhya Pradesh thc villagers inhabiting around fo,'est' are being provided forage for cattle, timber for agricultural implemcnts and hollsing, and fruit trees and medicinal herbs, so that they fecl inspired to preserve the foj'est wealtll. The US Government has signed an agreement t-o provide $: 29 luiltion for a period of six years for this multi-purpose project. Under this project 63,000 hectares of land will be planted with a mixed variety of trees to increase the supply of fuelwood, fodder and other forest product. Saving our forests is a national task and it is gratifying that the Union and the State govern01cnts have launched ambitious afforestation programmes in a systernaticand planned way.

36 I A close view of the plant GOLDEN BARREL A FASCINATING PLANT A.N. SHARGA OLDEN' BARREL, botanically kndwj'1 as Ecllillocacills g/'usonii Hild,l. is considered to be' a pride G collection amol\gst cact.oph.hes a.nd tloricu~turis(s alike. It belongs to the family Cactaceae and is a native of Central Mexico. The other fancy " ames for tlus fascinating plant in vogue arc Barrel Cactus, Golden Ball, Goldcn Ball Cactus and Mother-in-Iaw's Chair. Usually it has got a simple stmn or is in small dustcz's, globose 90 em thick, completely cdvered by a mass Df almost transparent golden spines which give the plant the appcarance Df a ball of gold; libs 21 to 37; spilles golden yelldw, becdming pale and eventually brown, radial spines B to 10 to 3-10 em lang, central spines mostly 4 td 5 em long; fiowers red and yellow 6.27 em nong; fruit 1.86 cm long. Propagation Unlike most globular forms of c4cti, Echiuocactus grl/sojlii Hildll. does not readily prdduce offsets and is usually multiplied by seeds. Since it has been inu o duced ill India few years back, the plants under culuvalion at many places have not yet come to -flowering stage. The seeds are tllcrefdre procured by most of the leading nursery thcn of India dealing in cacti and succulents either from its native place orfroln the reputed nurseries from abroad. Seeds are sown in a mixture made up of sandy loam Nationa' Botanical Research Instltuto, Lucknow soil, leaf mould and charcoal dust in 2: 1: 1 ratio. The surface shduld b~ made very smooth, and the seeds are pt'cssed lightly into the soil with the bottom ofa flower pot or with some other object having flat sllrface an.d then covered wi.th about 0.09 em of fine sillier sand. This allows tile seedlings to push through readily. It is quite intel'esting to fmel out that the seedlings at first look rather more Hke Mammillarias than fulything else. With the advajlcement; of age the characteristic ribs develop ajld the plant gl'd'i's illtd a handsdme golden globe. 2 India71 HOTtieulturI

37 Usualiy seeds 011 p lanting produce seedlings with <1 single stem forming Hingle headed normal planl speci mens Jal.<.:)' on. SomctilllcS chanct! seedlings with more than one stem arc obtailled formin.g two, three, [our, five and even six-hcadgd unique and CLU'jOLlS looki ng specirncns may he owing to injury to the apical gro'\... ing bud at the initial sta.ges of growth felching fabulous prices ill the mar]{.ct. The percentage of such chance seedlings is quite low i.e. about one pci' thousand and s11ch unusual specimens of p la.nting give a fantastic look to the landscape. Cultur.e Its a versatile plant and capable of growing under varied set of conditions i.e. an open sun, semi-shade, in places with sufllcicnt diflusc.light and inside cactusho\lse as wcn. Under north Indian clilnatic conditions it grows exceedingly well almost tluollghol,1t thc year. However, the active pcriocl ofgl'owlh is from N[al'ch to November. The hot-humid spell during rainy seas()n (J uly-j\ugust) is t he WOrs t; part of the gl'owing period and may advcrsely ancct plants if not p roperly looked after. It is advisable to keep plants llnder constant watch cluring this period especially for stem rot as the weather conditions remain conducive for it, Direct sunlight dllring summers (April-June) is vcry inj urious and rcsult-s in sun scalding which ma.y be prevented by covering the p lanls \lsi ng palm leave:;. Being higlily SlIsccpti.hlc to wal~!r lagging, il i ~ aclvisabh: to plant it on a roc~cry or m 50111(; clov::ucd place while maldng lise of il in the landscaping. 1.\ pcrfccdy wcll Mdraincd, llloclcnltcly ricll sandy loam soj] is best suited 1'01' its cultm'c. For pol culture, a polling mixture made up of sandy loam soil) leaf mould a11c1 bdck rubble in 2: l:l ratio is lhe most suitabh.' for ils growlh. RepolLing once in a year in the moath of Fchruary-~ IIal'ch js most desirable. fol' the hcnlthy growth of lite p lants. It requires no spccinl treatment beyond nonnal cultivat ion methods lor relatively hardy cacti. The chances of this p la nt co l11ing into bloom (l.re to be ma lure enough to flo\,vc l'. It call assume a size of 80 em diameter and L30 em height in clue counc of timc. Il'I'igation The pl;nl.t docs not l'cquirc mllch of watcl'jng except to keep the growin.g medium just moist taking illlo consideration the wcalher eonditiol't.s. Usua.ll-y wat.ering is to ~c done at 4 or 5 days interval during sum11lcrs and 10 to 15 days inlcl'val during winlet's. Insecta, peats and diseases The p l ~l1t is seldoll'), attacked by )nsccts, pests and diseases. However, an appllcalion of FlIl'adall SG! CONTINUED ON PAGE 27 ROSES BOUGAINVILLEAS DAHLIAS & CHRYSANTHEMUMS HYBRID CARNATIONS, MARIGOLDS, PETUNIAS, ETC. HYBRID AMARYLLIS, GLADIOLUS and Flowering & Ornamental Trees tol Shades, Roadside Plantations, Avenues and pillks Available In bulk and retail CALL OR WRITE ITMADPUR NURSERY P.O. AMARNAGAR, FARIDABAD Telephone: 82: 5373 '4/3 Milestone Delhi-Malllura liold. Behind HI.oIl,J~" 20 mlnut~ s drlyllrom Oonnlugh, elre.l, New Delhi July-September

38 Pineapplo is the pride fruit of Tripura HORTICUL TURE IN TRIPURA RIPURA State is located bet. T ween longitude and E and latitude and N. It enjoys a tropical to subtropicaj climate. It receives an. average annual rainfall of about 2000 mm tnninly distributed from Apr i.l to Septembe,. The upland (tilla land) soil which constitutes the major portion of the total cultivable area, is sandy IOaln in texture with ph I'anging from 4.5 lo5.5. Because of favourable chmatic and soil conclilions, this state is ideal for gl-owing different horticultural crops. Area and productlon Out of the total cropped area of 3.82 lakh hacta!'es, about 35,371 4 D. G. DHANDAR. MATHURA RAI and S. BALAKRISHNAN I.C.A.A. Research Complex. Tripu," C<ootre,,Lambllcherr8 hectares arc reported to be undcl' thc horticullural crops. The statistics pertainin.g to the exact ru'ca and production unclei' different horlicultural crops in Tripura arc still lacking. flowevcl', as pci' the latest estimate, the fruit e!'ops covel' about 21,295 hectares and the remaining 14,076 hect.ares arc under vegetable and tuber crops. The approximale area and pl'ocluction of va rio lis fl'1.1its, vegetables and tuber crops is as follows. The majol' fr ui ts gl'owll in the stale are pineapple, jack-fhlit, mango, lemon) lime, banana, l~tchi, papaya, guava etc. In fact, pineapple of Tripura is considered to be one of the finest qualily produced in India. The total annual producdon of tltis fl'\iit in the state is about 11,215 tonnes. Outofthis,onlyabout 700 to 800 tonnes are exported outside t.he stale. The existing three canning factories utilise about.l.j30 touncs anm,lally for fruit preservation. It is estimated that the marketable surplus of pineapple may be to a tunc of about 80 to 90 pel' cent of the total production. Similarly, mandarins of this state, belonging to Khasi orange groups possess excellent qua.lity and hns secured eminent positiol1 in the All India Citrus shows. It is mainly cultivated at Jampui Hills in the north ll'ipura. The earlier planta.tions mostly comprise age ' old olles 'having Indian Horticulture

39 originated from seeds and arc not free fi'01ti decline although severity of incidence is very low compat'cd to other citrus growing tracts. The incidellce of greening virus in these orchards 1S less than 6 per cent. However, the new orchards belween tile age group of 20 to 30 years arc in a healthy stage. Furth.er, leaf sample analysis carried out by the Division of Horlicullurc, LC.A.R. R,ese"reh Complex, Shillong (Ghosh,I (/ ), revealed that major and micro nutrients status in the trees of these ol"chanls was around the optimum level cxcc~ rling Zn and Ca, which were low-deficient level. These yollng orchards are in good productive stage with an average of 275 to 350 fruits per tree.. So far as jackfruit is concerncd, it is one of the established fruils, There exists wide variation in size and sha.pe of fruits, quality of flesh and time of fruiting Rnd ripening) thus leaving much scope for selection and further hybridization. Vegetables wl'ich arc successfully cultivated include bottlc-gourd, pumpkin, ridge~gourd, okra, cowpea, beans, radish, brinjal, tomato, potato, kno.l khol, cabbage, cauliflower) amaral1thus etc. Tuber and rhizoma taus crops such <L'; tapioca, sweet potato, dioscorea, colocasia, ginger an(\ t.urmeric gl'ow well in this state. Of these, sweet potato and tapioca offer better scope considering their excellent performance under rainfcd conditions. About tl,ree-fourth o[ the total land of Tripura is hilly by nature (tilla land) ranging between a rew feet up to a maximum of 3,000 feet in altitude. The plain land representing only one-fourth of the total area is already under intensive cultivation of agricultural crops and it may not be possible to spare that area [or horticultural crops. But the vast area of tilla lands is yet to.be ~tilised economically, possibility being growing of horticultural crops. According to the Techno Economic Survey of ],dy-s,pt.",b" 1982 Tl'ipul'a conducted by the National Counci I of Appli ed Economic Research, there nrc nt least 20,000 hecla res of!i li a Janel available which call be immediately covered unclei' dih'crent horticullural crops. Research Initially, the Department of Agriculture, Government of Tripura jntrocl uccc1 different varieties or vadolls fruit and vcgetahle crops to test their adaptability unclei' local agroclimalic conditions. Among the different mango varieties introduced) the variety 'I-Iimsagar' has been found to adapt well un del" local conditions, Sinlilariy, Muzaflarpul' variety of litchi is also ])m'[ol'm.ing well in this state, In pineapple both the Queen and the.}('clu are giving excel lent performance under Tripllra, COl\ditiolls. Among the diflercnt varieties of tomato tded catlier, ' Pus a Earl Dwarf' gavc colnparat.ively higllcr yield. It w~, also observed that there was a signif1cant increase in the yield of tomato with increase i.n dose 0(' feflilizc:r. Further, tlte higll dose of N (80 lb/acre) and l' (60 lb/acre) pt'odllced significan'ly hi gher yield than their zero Or modi urn IOvels (40 lb Nitrogen and 30 lb/p,o./acre). The Forest Departmont, Government of Tripura has successfully introduced rubber and cofree in this Sweet pot,atd is a success In uplands state, Attempts arc also under \-vay to habita tc cocoa as an inl c.rcrop in fort st plantations a ncl as a pure crop. 'rhe Forest Development Corporation undertakes coll1 mcrcial cullivation of rubber and citrondla. About 20 progeny orchards h,wc been established in the stale for Tendering service to the cullivc\tofs and for product ion and supply of qualily planting materials, The Research work on hol'llc\,llural crops was intensified with the establishment of Research Centre at Lembuchcrra under the I.C.A,R ~ Res. Complex foi" N.E.H. R egion, Shillong in April, The researclt work was concentrated primal'ily on pineapple, sweet potato, tapioca and vegetable crops. The main findings of research WOl'k during the last four yeal's at this centre m'e sui"tlmarised here under, O ut or the 17 varieti es of swect potato tested so fal', the variety '01'os$-4' gave thc highest yield of tonne'fha followed by 'V-35' wh.ieh yielded tonnes/ha. The si7~e i\l\cl qualily of tubers or th,csc varieties were follnd Lo be good. Pla.nting of sweet potato dudng ritiny season, instead of usual practi.ce of r;\bi cropping was found lo be mqre economical and July planting was found to be thc best. In a fertilize]' lrial, it was observed tllat the application of 120 kg potas

40 W ho doesn't Like Vegetables so Fll"esh and Luscious? But t o Reap them you have got t o Protect your Plants from Pests and Diseases with the help of..., "" ASPEE PL ANT PROTECTION equipments j MAR UTI FOOT SPRAYER, " The richt sprsylor for orchards, Hold Crops, gald ens, plofltn1it'lns. SpraYIng can be dono wilh one or two spr ay boorn!i with ns ll'lf1ny &5 6 no zzles. All foroed bras!> parts, br as s- ball va lves. CODE: MRI-6 Far spraying field crept, paddv, sugnrcano.. cotton, groundnut, lowar. Can also be used for spraying orchards, coffee Ilnd lubbor plll1'lt8lion. All working parts aro lubricated bv oil balh.. CODE: 1'5-12 Most Ideal for spraying over plantations, oardorrs, row ' crops Bnd V()getablos. Fitted with PVC piston that dovolop:} maximum pressuro With minimum number of shokes. F()rged brass parts and brass ball valves. 2 discharge lines can also bo o,ttl1ched. L, I!~~~~~_, Gram: 'KILLOCUST- Malad, BOMBAY G Talex: ASPW IN PHONE: (5 lines) 6 111"ioll HorticIlltrlYl

41 A bumper c;op of tapiocel o n uplands Fruils._ _ Mnngo Danana Onmgc. Lemon> Lime & Others Papnyn Pineapple.. Area h(clards ' '1 2(126 GOGG 239B 19!'.l I'roJllclioll (formes) H Not available 2!1l12 Jnckf, uil Gunvl:l, Litchi, Woocil1pplt:, Del. llcrry, Coconut, Pnlm Cashew (::t) t\gri. LIlnd and Orchard 35() v:q~- ~~ TOTAL.' V cgcta bjc.~ and Tu])cr erops Polalo Sweet polato Tnpioca Onion Khnrir vcgct'ablcs Rabi vcgulhhlcs TOTAL: GRAND TOTAL: ---35"""371 (Source: Djrcctoralc of Stat is lies, Covernrnc'nt oftripura. sium and 700 gill boron pcl' huciare coupled wi.h lhe preplanling (rcatm.ent of cuttings with 50 ppm cthrcl were efl'ecti vc in increasing t.he yield of good quality sweet potato tul)crs, Among the 10 varicllcs of tapioca. leslod, eh_i6b?' ga.ve the lna:xinll.l1n yield of '10 tonnes/ha, closely fhhowcc1 by the variety 'H-36 I H', Application "rllo kg/h" each ofnili'ogcn and potassium gave the highest yield in case of bol..h the varic\\cs July-Sopl,mber 1982 Arc~ (ha) Production ( Ionu ~) 201;4 2<0000 W IOU Not twailablc 1'100 NOI available 5571 NOlllv.dlnble 14ii7G- ~0-- 3H572. :H-1637' (42.62 LOJlneslha) and 'H-312' (34.78 tonnes/ha). F'roll1 the different trials conducled on 'Kcw' variety of pineapple following conclusiolls have beell drawn. In a staggered planung t.rial, it was ol)scl'vcd \ hat suckers planted during Augtlst/ScplClnbcr gave maxill1lt1l1 yield (52.0 Conneslha) of thdls. The application of 40 ppm NAA or. 25 ppm llthrcl -I- :2 pci' cclll U, ca per cent Sodium Carbonate was found vcry co'l:cti.vc ill inducing ani Aeial no-wcl'ing in pincapple va.r~cly 'Kew'. Rice bean (Plin5eo{lls ca/caratus) wa~ follnd to be a good inlcr-cl'op \H bdwccn tht; rq'...!-j of pincapple in the first year of rhuuing thus helping in arl'es Ling th.e weed poplll i'hlol1 for a period of lwo years, Sil1lila1"ly, :t1l1ong the ciiflcl'clll Jllllich materials lriccl, the lliack polyl.hcne sheet gave belier results followed by thatch grass in arrcsling 'vced population and tlte helping in conserving soil moisllll'{', Among the lwenty varieties of tomato test.ed, 'S~12 ' ourt-yielded the other varieties, giving a record yield of tonnes/hlt. "fhc \1(~rfo t'tnancc of 'Pusa Dccpali,' an cady variety of cauliflower was satisfactory, Out of 10 varieties of turmeric tried, 'CA-G6 GL!llU'l.lIn' perfol'lncd well under I ca l co"ditions, TILe l'creoi ma.ncc of cpusa Purplc Round' was better in comparison to 26 ' other brinjal varieties trjed at this centrc. Among the di['cl'cnt: varieties of r.n.dish, 'Pwm Chclki' gavc the highest yield (33.0 tannes/ha) and exhibited its superior pcrformance under Tri- CONTINUED ON PAOE 19 Jack fruit is in Dbundanco in Tripura

42 t Independence gave us e opport nity "THIS AGENDA FOR THE NATION has been dovetailed into theoverall plan of development. It pinpoints areas of speciel thrust which will show immediately tangible resu Its for various segments," Successful Implementation Needs Co-operation of EVBry Citizen " LET EACH ONE PLAY,FOR THE TEAM "This programme is for each one of you, and for this nation which is ours to serve, to cherish and to build. I seek your wholehearted cooperation in making the programme a succesll." _Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi 36th Year of Independence-Year of the 9th Asian Games. dovp.ay16 1 Indian Horti cu lture

43 ALL ABOUT SWEET POTATO OF BIHAR K.P. SINGH, D.K. SINGH and B.K. SINGH Raiendra Agricultural University, Dhon, Bibar ESlDES a higoh yield or food and fodder per unit B area and lime, wide adtl\)tabilily to agl'o~climatic situations) LOlcrancc to drought and sca.'lonal vadations with which sweet potato (Ipomoea halalas L.) is blessed, its production profitability in mono as well as in multiple cropping sequences has been very high find as slich few crops can be compared. High production profitability of sweet potato has been amply evinced during the course of dissemination of improved technology through demonstrations condllc~ ted in the adopteel vilh'ges by the R'\icndra Agricultural University, Cal'i1pus~Dholi) under 'Integrated Rural Development Pl'ogramn'lc.' For this, a large numbcr of demonstrations on various crops, were conducted in the farmers' field durillg Rabi sca.<;on crops besides others, included sweet polato, whca1, maize and Septembcr sown (lrilar. For "\lol'king out the production economics, J'clcvantinfol'rnation which included ~thc produclion cost, gross and net inco'me pcr ha and income and expenditure frorn sweet potatd and othcr existing crop rotatidlls was gathered, Operational details consisted of what was actually pressed into practice by the fanners. The cost concept for woi'king out tllc production cost and net rctllrn was based on the cost of all variables (input costs +interest on expenses), Outhc basis o[ the data obtained [1'001 the large-scnlc demonstrations, profitabilily of swcet potato production was compared with other important rabi Cl'OpS and is presented in this paper, The information 011 the expendilure and income of sweet potato production (Table J) has revealed thatcvon with the adoption ofimpl'ovccl technology, its production cost has been quite low that is, Rs 1643 per ha or Rs O. I Ilq. As ag'llinst this, the net l'ctu;'n has been Rs 3807 ha whic11 means that each rupee investcd in its procluction, generates net income of Rs 2,31, 1'''13[.E l. SWEET POTATO PRODUCTION ECONOMICS E.\'/Ilmdilll,.e (RS{HA) II/COlli e Awoufll {fellin/income Four ploughings (20 pnit, R, to) /< }1l:l.nting male'fial (n'om 1/20 Fodder t050 hal 99 Plnnting (50 Rs 5.50) 275 Gross Income 5150 Fcrtiliscl' 40:40:40 NPK 396 Plant protection 99 Net income Rs One weeding (50 labourers ~R, 275 Hal'VCsling (J J ) 275 Intercst au variable cost Totnl expenditure t619 2'~ J643 Edibles 200 or AlI/olI/ll It was also noted that labonr cost was the Inajor input cosling Rs 82j/h.a which accounts for 50,90 per cent of the lotal cost of p l~oc\nc1i.on. Since STIla\\ and mal'ginal [armel's who do Ilot engage hired labour are the major producers of sweet potato, they thus 5avc the expenditure incurred over this item and their production cost could be reduced to Rs 813lha. Furthe.!', based Oll the mean number of days ofcl'op harvests and avcrage yield obtained from these demolls ~ lrations, Ihe net return per ha and per day was worked out for sweet potato along with wheat, ral>i maize and September sown arlwt J the thrce niajol' crops, which had been de1')l.(}.l1.stl'atcd simul taneously, This is represented in Table ~. ' 'INDIAN READ FARMING' ]u[y-s,pt.emb.,

44 TABLE 2. NET RETURN I'RO ~I SW EET POTATO AND OTHER r t-. IPORTANT RAB! CROPS T ABLE 3. INCOME GllNERXn ON FRO M SWEET POTATO n ASED lind OTHIlR CRO P ROTATIONS Crol' J\1(1flll'i()' 'Tidrl.Nr/ incolile Ne/ income ((/(1)'1) (q/i",) ( li.r/lia) (l1,/ha/tla)') Sweet Pota to Wh ea l ISO N.OO R ob ; Ill aize " IM. OO Sept. Arhar , Fl'Ol1l lhe abovc Table it is clear that swcet potato, with Hs (ha/clay net incomc J surpassed all the t h.ree m :<ljo l' crops in this resp ect. Pcr ha net in come ill the case of S\'vcct po talo also exceeded tha t of wheat tho ugh the same collid not come at pa l' 'with maize tha t n o suita ble su m mer cr op can b e muustcd,aft el' R a bi maize 0)' Al'hal' whereas Innd left a flcl' S\,'lcct potato lu1.l'vesling in J nnua ry may be utilised for sllch :l. ero}) and iflhis is accolln ted for the to ta l Itot inco me genera ting out of full cycle of crop rotation Wi Lh sweel p o ta lo could be hi.ghcl than that lhe Olle with 1l1 tlizc 01' Arlinr. As fanners a rc no t exclusively concerned with the IJl'Oducti vil y level or i ncome generalion from a single crop and as itis the full cycle ofacroppingseql.lcnce which ma tters most, the pl'ofuability of sweet polalo based cropping seqllcncc was compared to lhose already in vogue and is pr c~e nlc d hl Table 3. Fl'omlhc sta lcmcnt ofcxpcnditul'c and income obtained from L1lC full cycle of cropping sequences as is presented e f ojl f o/aliolls C',oss i llcoille Tolnl Ne.t Cosl illcome 6).'jumdi/"I'e inro me ijijilffil (lls/ha) (lls/i.o) ( lis/'",) I'(llio Klwri/ maize-sweet potato-wheat B I I. fa Klwri/ maize Sept. IJr/wr Klwdj' maize-when t 0'100 :l926 4+H 1.1'1 Khari/ Ill nizc-rn/ji m nize 9675 ' '1-2 in Ta ble 3) it is clear that sweet potato based cropping sequence Lt'. khorif mruze-.')wec! pot a to-wheat SIIl'PHSScd all other rotations in gross as well as net income which wel'c R s and 1< Jha I'cspcelivcly. In the cos l : benefit rati o, il \'\'a8 fo und lhat Al'/Ulr based rota tioll generated maximum (1 : 1. 72) net addi Lional return frol11 each rupee in vested a nd sweet pota to based l'ota tion which gave u's 1.49 as additional net incol1lc was second. The highest cos t : bene fi t ra lio with. AdUl t based rotati on was owillg to high market ra te of pulses during the yea!'. Nevertheless, it has been follnd tha t sma il a nd m arginal fanners favour the sweet polato based ro tation as it not only genera te the highest nel' incomel ha but 1tlso yields the Im LXimlirn amo unt of food 101' self-consumption ~ KILEX 'CARBARYL (A SAfER BROA D SPECTRUM INSECTICIDE) Do You know? Over As. 50,000,000 are lost in cotton CTOP alone by insects attacks. Spray KILEX CARBARYL in time, control the damaging insects and reduce your loss ~ PAUSHAK LIMITED ALEMBIC noao. VAOOOARA. 'OOOOl. 10 Illdian flort.i ClIl l u.tij

45 RAISING PINEAPPLE PRODUCTION IN KERALA P N.K. NAYAR INEAPPLE, a tropical fi'uit crop can easily be grown in sub~tj'opica l areas also. Pineapple fnilt.ha.s very high nutrilivc value. The reports state that India. is not self-sufficient either for raw fruits or for canned products of this friu t although there is an immense scope foi' extension. of area anel for maximising unit area produclion of this crop. Pineapple can bcsucccssfullycullivated in areas wilh a lcmpcrativc range of 21 lo 23 C and at an elevation up to 1,100 m above sea level where (1'05i will not aficct its growth and performance. An evenly dislribl.llcd a.nnual rainfall is the most importcnt factor. It can be grown as a rainfcd pure crop or as an intcrcrop in coconut and arecanut gardens. Even though it can grow in any type of soil except very heavy clay soil, the best soi l lor maximum physiologic yield is sand.y loam with a ph rangtng from. 5.5 to 6.0. Enriched with a wide range of varieties p ineapple yield s 0.5 to 2.5 kg fruils per plant. The high production potential of the C"Kew' variety has given ils supremacy over other varieties and itis recommcnded for commercial cullivation. I e gives an average yield of I.5 eo 2.5 kg fruils/plnne. Another variety 'Queen' with an average yjeld of 0.5 to 1.0 kg of fruits/plant is also cultivated f()r table purposes tl5 the fruits of this variety have a higher percen.tage of sugar. Varietal trials at Pjneapple Research Centre, Vcllanikkm'a, have clearly shown that of the twcnly-three varieties tested 'Kew' is the bcst suitcd. Vegctlltlvely propagated crop Pineapple, a vegetatively propagntcd crop plajlt is multiplied by crown slips and Sllckcrs. Crowllissitllated at the "vex of the fruit, slips on the peduncle and sllckcrs originate from leafaxils. Suckers al'c preferred as they give early and better yields. tkcw' is very shy in sucker production and slips are rarely produced Ullder Kcrala conditions. Comparative studies using crown.s and suckers, have clearly shown J u ly-s. pt. m b or 1982 Ke,a\Cl Agricultural University that \vhen Slicker planted first crop yields in ]5 to 18 months, crown planted crop yields only after 24 to 26 months after planting.. Fruit size will also be la rger in sucker popnla.tioil.,). Suokers of 1Illif(}rm size (4-00 to 450 gm) ha ve givelt lhe best yields compared to higher and lowcl' size cale~ gories of suckers. While planlb'g, sidp (}IT lew basri sen Ie leaves of the suckers and dip lhe em'cd suckers in bordeaux mlxlurc (1 pci' CClll) or DiLlIallc Z-70 (0.3 per ecltt) ordif()lalan (0.2 per cenl) a,\(i Ekatox (0.05 pcr CCllt). The l>ianting time recommended is immediately aftcr pre-monsoon showers (May-June). l\vo;cl planting during heavy rains. The SlucUcs have shown that if irrigation facilities arc avail(lblc, pinea.pple planting can be taken all round the year. Ploughing Digging or ploughing follow"d by Icvellillg and planting the suckers in trenches was found to be the nlost suitable method. In trenches with J 5 to 30 elll depth and 90 to loo ern width and having convenient length we can accommodate two rows of plants. Proper drainage was found to be rcc0j)1l.11c11.dablc, if required. The plants in two 1'0 W5 will be arranged ill such a way that no two plan.ts are c:xactjy OPPC>SilC eaoh othel'. In con.ventional cultivation the p()pulation. accoml1lodated is only 15 1;0 20 thousand suckers pci' hectare.. The cxpcl'imcllis conducted in KAU clearly showed that a population. dol1sit y ranging Ii onl 49 LO 53 thousand could be easily accommodated in one h.ectare. If we adopt 25X60 x l05 em and 25x60x90 ern between plants, rows and trenches, we can accommodatc 49 and 53 thollsand suekers/ha, espeelively., When t he convenlional practice, yield 20 to 25 tonncs/ha this high population density yielch 50 to 60 toilncsjha without adversely affecting Lho fruitsi..:c, quality and canning n:covcl'y. The experimental cvid(~nccs clearly showed that high p()pulation density ensures 'II

46 maxiinum returns/un.it area in addition to ma'xirnum use of land, less. weed infestation, protect.ion from sunburn and non-lodging of fruits. It has a.lso been n.oted that pruning of basal old leavcs lmmediately after fi'uit harvest induces sucker production froll1 t he base of the mother plants and easy movcment for inter-cultural operation for I'aloons. Manual weeding accounts for nearly 40 pci' cent of the total cost of cultivation. But chemical wceding is cheap and more effective in pineapple. T he experimcnts of KAU clearly demonstrated that prc-clncrgcncc spray with diuron at 2 01' 3 kg ai/ha, controls a wide spectrum of \vccd nora in pineapple plots. If there is subsequent weed growth the application can be repeated at half the above dose. Weeclicidc should not be applied during heavy rains. A ba..c;;al dress ing of25 tonnes offarmyal'd 111anurC pci' hectare and NPK fcnilizcl's at 0 :4: 12 grams per plant/ year was found to give the bcst yield. Phosphorus in full dos.e at t he time of p lanting and nitrogen and potash in split doses can be given. First dose tluce months afler planting and the final dose within a year. Under rainfed conditions, it is advisable to apply th.e fertilizers when the soil hat; enough moisturc. Expel'imcnts at Vellanikkal'a have clearly shown t hat Ulldcr KCl'ala conditions soil application is the only J'ocoInmendablc mode of fertilizer application in pin.eapple. Earthing up after each fertilizer application is beneficial and it provides belter anchorage to the plant. lf any deficiency symptom of Zn or Fe occur in the early stages of plant growth, apply zinc sulphate and iron sulphate at the rate of 0.5 to 1.0 1,cr cent as foliar spray. Providing irrigation facilities yields better sized fruits. ]f planting is done in off-season to get all ycar round hal'ves.t, irrigation is very essential. The most impol'tatlt achievcl11cl1 t made ill this University is the standardization of t he honnollal combi. nation required to achieve an early regulated uniform flowering ill pineapple. Irrcgulru:' natural flowering listed pineapple as an uneconomic fruit crop. The painstaking and time-consuming investigations using different hormones and their combinations dclnonstrated that an early and uniform flowering can be achieved in pineapple by using growth regulator when the plmt. axe 15 01' 16 mol:\lhs old and having 39 to 42 functional leaves per plant. A combination trcatment of 25 ppm ethephon+2 pel' cent III ea+o.04 pel' cen t calcium carbonate is recommended. Fifty m1. of the above combination should be poured into tbe growing point (heart) of each plant during dry weather. 12 Till. can evon induce off-season fruiling for selling at premium price. Flowering starts by the 40th day of application and wiii be completed in 70 days. For 1000 plants LIse ethrel, 1 kg urea and 20 gm calcium carbonat.e and 50 Htres of water. This hormonal application will yield 98 per ccnt flowering at 18th month after planting when untreated population show only 15 to 25 pel' cent flowering on 20th month. The growth regulator application ensures at least 50 tannes offruit pel' ha within two years of planting. The lri als conducted recorded that two marc harvests can also be made within the preceding three years, resulting 3 hm'vests (one plant crop and two l'atoons) by a single planting within a total duration of five years. T hinn ing of suckers and pruning off of older leaves arc recommended in both the I atoons. The results clearly showed that it will always be better to preven.t the fruits from sun scorch by tying the basal old leaves over fruits immediatcly aftcr fl'uitset. If assured irrigation facilities are available we can have fruit harvest all rouncl the year by planting the suckers at regular intervals, plantin.g different size of suckers and crowns jn d istinct plots and by a pplying the growth regulators. The fruits call be harvested for canning purposes when the basal portion shows slight colour change alld for table purposes it will be better to have harvest after attaining complete golden yellow colour in fruits. Enjoy a beautiful garden by beautiful flowers. We offer a large varieties of bulbs. plants and seeds. Azalia. Anthurium. Bird of Paradise. Camellia. Cactii and Succulents. Tuberous and fiberous rooted Begonia. Orchids and many others. Catalogue available. Books:-( I) Beautiful Indian Orchids-Rs. 35 (2) Cactil & Succulents -Rs.7.50 Please send cash with orders. G. GHOSE & CO. Townend (Near Victoria Fails) DARJEELlNG Indian Horlicull.,.

47 GROW A WHITE FLOWERING CULTIVAR OF CASSIA FISTULA G.S. SRIVASTAVA and T. RAM National BotDllical Research In stitute Lucknow NDIAN Laburnum, botanically I known as Cassia f;slllla L. is one of tite most popular ornamental trees of our country. It bears bright yellow flowers in long pendulous racemes from April to July. Variations in shape and size of leaves and size of flowers and their colour shades are not uncommon in this species. It is, however, not clear whether the'e variant, arc hybrid, or forms of the species. Discllssing Cassia fistula Cowen in his book 'Flowering Trees and Shrubs in India' commented "there are two distinct varieties, one has large leaflets and bright flowers, ancl the other has smaller leaflets and paler flowers, A new variety wil1t nearly white flowers is extremely attractive." Survey The National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, undertook a survey of the plants of this species growing ill Ll.Icknow and the neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh and discovered a very attractive form of the plant which produces totally whitcflowcl'cd racemes except a portion at thc tip which bears golden yellow flowers. It has been possible to establish this cultival' by patch budding during April-June. Two to three-month old shoots of the white flowering cultivar, which have started browning) arc suitable for taking buds and twoyear-old seedlings of the normal Cassia fistula serve as good rootstock. J rll)'-s e pie 711 be r 1982 The buds after budding should be tied,vith raffia or banana fibre. Tyillg with alkathcne tape is not desirable as it gets warmed up and kills tlte buds during the hot months. Budded seedlings should be pt'otectecl from strong sun and heat by keeping them in a shady and protecled place. Buds start sprouting during the railly scason (July-August). At this A white 110wered form stage the plants may be shifted in open. Nearly 80 per cent success is achieved by budding the new cultival' on the normal type. The survival of the budded plants is 75 pel' cent thus resulting in. net success of 60 per cent. There is scope for improving thc percentage of S l1 CCe.~s. Tbe new cultivar The tree has paripinnatcly compound leaves, each consisting of 6 to II pairs of smaller leaflets. The pendulous racemes bear large, whitish flowers dllring April-June. Stray flowering also occurs during J uly Augus t. Each of the long stamens possesses a distinct swelling in the middle. Brown pods are cyli.ndri~ cal, each containing 35 to 00 small seeds. The important deviation from the normal Cassia fis'"la (or the yellow flowering type) lies in that in the new cultivar the leaflets are smaller, 6 to 11 pail's per leaf, whereas in the normal form they are large, 4 to 8 pairs pel' leaf. The corolla in the new c ultivar is whitish but bright yellow in the later. The corolla size ill th.e former is larger than that in the lattcr_ The size of pistil, pod and seed is smaller in the new form than that in the yellow flowerh\g form. 11\ th.e new culli val" a distinct node-like swelling is present in each of the lon.g stamens whereas it is abscnt ill the normal [{)nn. 13

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49 CONTROLLING BLACK MOULD ROT OF MANGO D.K. CHAKRABARTI Department ot Pharmaceutics Institute of " ech nology, Banaras Hindu University. Varanasi LACK mould,'ot of mango B fruits i neited hy,species of Aspergillus, a fungal pathogen, is a common disease both ill the field and storage conditions. The first in c i ~ dellec of this disease was reported jn 19.1t.6 when the pathogen was foul1d to cause serious damage to all types of l'nangocs in the Lucknow district and in the adjoining areas. More than 25 PCt' Cen t of the ma.ngo crop of difrerent varieties including those of superior qualities, arc affected by this disease. Morcover, reccnlly it has becn found that the disease poses a threa t to the public heal'l, as t he pathogen while growing on the fi'uit, secretes some poisonolls Subsla.llces (mycotoxins), which cause variolls,dlmcnts in man and animal. However, lhcrc is a sustained cflol't to control the disea.sc and sevcral l'crncdies have been recoll1 l'nencied. Syrnpton19 M;:lI1go fruits Il'l:ay be a ftectcd befol'c or after harvest. The fungal infection leads to the prematurc fall ing of the fruits. 11angocs arc more prone to this fungal a t tack during storage, Usually, the basal portion of the fruit is aflcctcd. Iriit.ially, there is a yellow cl'iscolouration on t he affected region. Later, some irregular, lazy and greyish spots appear. Afterwards they coalesce to form a dark brown. 01' black spot or inflict a wound, The affiiction is further J uly -S e PI, m b er 1982 Basal ro1 of the fruit aggmvatcd by manhandling of f"llils during harvest and storage. Fruits collected at an early stage of matum rity arc. generally 1l10l'C susceptible to decay during storage than those collected at a law slage of maturity. Health hnzal'ds The damaged fruit is a cause for alal'm because some of lhe Aspergillus fungi secre te extremely poisonous substances while gl'owing on mango fruits. The mycotoxins commonly encountered after Aspergillus infection arc a flatoxins and trcmol'geruc toxins. Anatoxins are responsible for cancer of live.' prevalent in the population in some tropical countries like India. Trcmorgenic toxins produced marked body Iremor followed by convulsive seizures which a re fatal in many cases. Such signs are often. ' associated w i.t h into.xlcatlon of farnl animals. Even refrigeration cannot preven.t the aflatoxin and tremol genic toxin production in the infected fruits. Control The usual practice to minimize the spoilage in bruised fruits of mango including the s~pcrior qualities such_ as la ngl'a, dllshcri, totapliri, nlp]tanso is to sprinkle fungicides sllch as OriC per cent sodium orthophcnylphenate, 0.20 per cent fli t 406 or n pel' cent borax on the surface of lhe fruits. Packing materials used in col d storage room arc sterilized by either five per cent aqueous solution oflysol OJ" by spray with two per cent forma Jin solution. Unfortunately, the extent of protection ojlerecl by these fungicides 1s neitllcl' adequate nor consistent. Moreover, the fungicides themselves arc not free fl'om toxin risk since mangoes a rc consumcd jn substalltial quanti lies as such. Obviously, therefore, a non toxlc fungicide is needed. Ivlangifcrin (1, 3, 6, 7-tetrahydroxyxanlhonc-C, B-D glucoside) has been found to mini.mize the disease incidence, Mangoes (val'. langl'a, dushcri and rohini) soaked for three to foul' hours in aqllco~is solution of Inangifedn CONTINUED ON PA.G E 28 15

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51 NDIAN gooseberl'y pl'esel've I (nonla-mllrnbba) is not only a deliciolls food having nutritional value and vitalnin-c, but also have an immense medicinal importance. This is beillg pl'epal'ed on fairly largescale. The important cenlres arc located in northern India. The total pi'oduction of all the presel'ves in India is al'olilld 4,000 tonncs of which non/a preserve may be around 1500 to 2000 tonnes. For making tilurabba the aollta frui t is pl'ickcd with sil vcl' or wooden or stainless steel n.eedles. A fork can be used. I t may also be noted that brass needles arc used with or without tin coating by the murahba 111tUUuactureI's. This rnay result into metallic contamination in an (lollt" preserve in case the needles arc free from lin coating. The pricking operation is dollc on individual fruit by hand which is thesolllc and time.consuming and the pricks ma.de are visible as da.mage to the fnlit. Moreover, the pricks Inadc arc not uniform in numher and depth. It ha.s been noted on an average onlyl6 kg of aolllais pricked in 8 hours. As a result of improper pricking~ there is possible spoilagc in stored aotlla mumbba owing to lack of penetration of sugar syru]) deep into the fruit. Perhaps, these problems may have been deterring the small scale or cottage level entcrpl'cncul's. The ntachinc In an attempt to solve these problems, a hand-operated pricking J" ly-s. P t, III b er 198 It A PRICKING MACHINE FOR AONLA PRESERVE S. Sadaf"sivan Nair and Mohanlal Jain S. K. N, Collegl3 of Agriculture Univarsity of Udaipur Campus Jabner A low cost pricking machine machine has been designed and fabricated for the first Lime by the authors for which they received all award [)'On! N.R.D.C. ofindia on 15 August, 198 I. The components of the machine arc made of mild steel, stainless steel, aluminium and wood. The lotal weight of tho machine is about 0.5 kg. The length and width of machine is 62 and 29 em respectively. Aonla contains very high. content of tannins and fruit acids. Any contact of fruits with exposed part of iron and brass will gi vc rise to discoloul'ation and metallic contamination problems like formalion of iron tannate and I'c1a.ted substances. To avoid this problems we have uscd stainless steel pins (needles) and alurni..nlurn frui.t holders which comc in contact wlth aol1ln fruits. During pricl<ing no othct, part of the rnachinc however comes in contact, Dy operat ing lhe handle, lwo halves of the f('uil 11oldcJ'S al c separa.ted/ opencd and the frui t is placed in betwecn. The n.cedlcs a.re so a.rranged that when the handle is pressed by hitting wi\.h palm, the. sli.'lin.lcss steel n eedles enter Lhc holders through holes in a set pattern. at a distance of one ern. anel prick the fruit. Again wherl handlc is opera.ted back the needles move away from the two Italvcs of Ute [mit Itoldel'. Pricked fruit I'cmains in the holder and is taken out latcr. Ti,e macltinc pricks 80 kg of gooscberr)' in a pej'iod of a hours against 16 kg by hand pricking in conventional/traditional l1\clhod, The cost of fabricating the machine comes to about Rs 500. A small scale enterprise can prick 4 8 quintals of fruits for tj111rtlbba in a. season of two months und the industry can repa)' the amount of Rs 500 within that period as is evident fronl comparative economics of th.is new machine given below. However, when the machine is manufactured in large numbers, the cos t per unit of machine will appreciably go down. Saving in cost by llsing machine nlethod is Rs pel' quintal 01' Rs pel' 10 quintal,. Assume tbat there: is only one man uui.t. He can.not handle more than 10 quilltais of fruits within a season 17

52 & Calixin == reg. 1M of BASF Aktiengesellschaft, West Germany ~f~,~......, Agrochemicals of our time BASF India Limited. P.o. Box BOMBAY BASF L8 l<diall Horticulture

53 Com/larativs ~COIIOI/I;CS qj 1I11ola Inicking b)' hoi/(/ fllld ~l ' /1/flcldll ij me/h ofts ( oy 1m quilltuls of ffll~ _ FROM PAG g 7 TRIPURA Pmliculo Y,f Hllnd M atltor/ 1. MachillC lllld equipments Rs. 2,50 each Mnchillc cos l Jts 500(- Deprec iation R s,2,50 Assuming fi life of7 2 ili on ths c:\ch year and cap. of handling ao kg per day. thill mnchinc co'tn hnndlc 336 <Iuillla is of fruit s during its life. H CJ1 Ce d cprcc inlioll is 500/.336 Rs Rs 1.50 each 'III. R s 15,00 ii, Inleres t on 10 % yr. lb!'jo/- or R~ 50 fol',18 qlls. handled ellch yc;ii' lor 10 qtl::; (approx,) u's 1,00 iii, Annual Rs 25/- YC:ldb 5. Sub'1'olnll 2. Labour cost Tjme taken foi' to q tis. 1(, 16 kg, for per hr. Sub totnl 2 R, "---_ 3, Loss in handling rmil llnit~g a price of Rs 3{kg of AOIl I ~ Sub total 3 Total cost fo~ handling 10 q tis. of fruits Cost per quinta) Rs Rs3_7_5 1% 11.,30 of two n1qilths by hand pl'ic.:kin.g method. H may appeal' that ifiabolll' is not hircd 1 the Inachin.c rnethod 111ay not be so cheapel', Dut il is not so, as it will be c1car from the explanation given bclo'w, He: can finish tile pricking of 10 q Ilinta ls of fruits by machine _in a period of 12.5 days and take a wage cnlploymcnt for remaining 47.5 clays, hi, earning will be Rs Aftcr paying fol' macllinc and losses (R, Rs 90.00) his llet extra ;ncome would be Rs Even " low margin ofrs 15 per quintal can recover the cost of I1lachine within n year. As stated earlier in this paper, the machino was designed in 1977 and up to 1980, we were trying to get 'palc:nt '"ight' hence we did not try for commercial exploitation. However, we applied for a n award from N.R.D,C. \vhich we received on Lhe Independence nay in Sin_luLLanCoL\sly) we also conlcl get an ad-hoc scheme from th"c lear (Engineering) to manufactul'c LO Rs 30 Rs 107,50 1\.s 40,77) co ad kg for 0 hrs. = 10 hr.s. = 0.75 p crlu',rs 75 Rs75,OO 3% Rs 90 R s 90 R. 166 machines fot' lheir 10 post-llal'vcs l technology centres. Accordi!lgl y, \V ithin the sho I't period of one year, more lhan ] 7 tnilch.incs arc under usc by the educational institutions and the industrial organizations in the country, although the manufacturers itl'c reluctant to adopt lhis new techniques, because they are more conscl'vati vc in llrtl1re. Now Lhe double slrokc machine is modified into sil\glcsll'okc and is getting more popttlar because of increased efficiency. Certainly the machine helps to reduce the spoilage in preserve caused by a lac]\: of propel' pricking by traditional mcthod.. Here we wan.t lo concent.rate on the co-lciency of the nhtchinc ill respect of pricking and not on the reasons foj' sp()il agc or preserved (lolllas, I-Iowevcl', i.t lnay be ol ~lcificcl th2\t 110 surface to which a(}nla comes in CQt\t act dul'll\g pricking through this ~nachinc detl!l'ioratcs the qmtlity of the product. pura conditions. Some of the local collcclions of benns and g inger were fo-lind promising in the initial screening. The (CChl1iquc to produce pure seeds of early cauliflower has been standardised after judiciolls adj llstment of sowing and tl'ansj)lanling time. 1;' 1'0111 the foregoing it can be irucrl'cd that lhe SCD J)C is i IflUlc n s c fol' horticliltural dcveloplucnt in the state. This state mostly comprises margin al r~\t'mcl's. wh.ose cflorts in agricultlll'c lead them only to an hand-to-tnoulh cxislcnce. Economic transi don j!:i a dare necessit.y involving botlt [ong-tenn and shorl-term strategies. In tltis respect, the scope of ItOl'licultural crops ncccl':i no emphasis es pecially in view of the vast stretches of vacant Ulla land prevalent in the stale. ditrercn.l ~<!t>~~~~~~~ schclne It Pays To Advertise In 'Indian Farming' J"/J,-SepICIIlUI!I"

54 A developed bunch 01 8asrai BANANA CULTIVATION IN GUJARAT B.S. CHUNDAWAT Professor of Horticulture G.A.U. Navsari, Gujarat T HE banana (Musa paradisiacal todes etc,) calls for well p lanned is one of the oldest fruits cullivated cultivation on scientific lines to minirnise by man from pre-historic time. III India it ranks next only to the mango in area and proci'uction, occupying these problems, Climate It is a tj'opical crop which lhrives an aj'ca of' 1, 93 lakh hectares well in warm humid climate, It with an annual production of 26.7 responds sharply with tcmperature lonnes. The important banana fluctuations ~~nd lower thrashold growing slales arc Ivlaharashtrn, temperature was found at 11 QC for Tamil Nadu, AndlU'a Pradesh, growth and for high productivity Ker.la, Karnataka, West Bengal, anel growth lemperatlll'e should Bjharand G\~arat. normally be more than 20 0, rn Gujarat, it is being cl.lltivated very intensively in an area of 9,800 ha, confined to south Gujaral C011- stituting SUI'at, Baroda and Valsad districts, which are known for highest PCI' hectare yield in our country. In this area banana planta lions can be seen as multi-storied plantations with turmeric and glngci' on ground floor, elephant foot as first flool', Djoscoria as second floor, and banana as third story crop and farmers make anything between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 pcr hectare. This intensive cullivalion has also given some typical problems such as Strong dessicating winds ca.use lose 01' growt:h, yield and fruit quality, for optimum growth of banana adequate soil moisture with high. atmospheric humidity is esscntial, A rainntll of 5 to 10 COl in tensity per month is sufficient if well distributed otherwise it wjll have to be substi~ tutecl with wcll spaced irrigations, Soil Normally, banana needs deep, wejj drained, fcj"ljjc, loam, caldum rich) rivel" bank soil with ncutral soh reaction" In sollth Gujarat, well draincd, highly enrichc(i wi Lit orga. nic mattei' black soils are also quite bunchy top, mosaic, immature suited to banana crop and som.c of ripening) abnol'l"rjal bunch cmcrgence the best plantations arc seell in such (ohoking), leaf spols, ncrnathe areas. 20 CUL'I'IVARS, In Gujarat, Basrai and I-Iarichhal, which arc locally popular as Lokhancii, which seems to be a misnomar of Lacatan J a.l'c rceoro ITwn dcd. Normally, in humid tract J3asrai is more suited while in less humid urea Laca tan is betler an.d.i t also responds well to ratoon crop.roljusta is also ga.ining ground slowly. BASRA!. (Kabllli) This is the most il11portant commcrcal val'iaty grown cxten.sivcly in Mah.arashtra, Gujarat and West, Bengal. It is resistant to Panama wilt but very susceptible to bunchy top disease. The plants ate dwarf, thus less prollc to storm damage, they show very good response to heavy manuring, and consequently tile yield is heavy with proper manuring and other orchard management practices, The bunchgs arc large sized, com pact, with good grade of fruit j the fnlir is large and ofacceptab1e qualily fel'rolls yellow on ripening in winter but rcmains greenish during the summer months,however, its main defect is poor keeping quality as it gels bruised easily in. traj}'sporlalion unless handled carefully. It is also exportcd from Gujarat. indial1 I-Iorli ctt llztre

55 HAIHCHHAL (Lac/on, Lokhm.di). selected and procured hy the month It is a scmi~ta ll variety grown mostly in coastal areas of Ma.harashtra and of Ma)'. To ensure them free of rnosruc or Glljarat. It: is a heavy yielder and fungal disea.ses suckers should be produces bunches of large size Wilh cleancd of other leaves and washed we ll developed fruits. However, the in clean water. Thereafler, these mai11 defect with the variety is the excessive dropping of fingers from ripe hand which is an undesirable character from marketing point of view. Being morc cxacling in its soil and climate requirements, it has limited scope for dcvcloj)mcnls in the suckers should be dipped in a 50 ppm solution of Al.ll'cofungin or looo ppm Captophos (Diro"'ta) fot' about one and half hours and kept in sunlight fot' 7 to B days befol'e plantation. Uniform and big-sized suckers ensul'e uniform and early harvest respective hintcrhtnd. It is bcltcl' suited to ly. ratooning and upto two ratoons arc rccommencled. lik.e Agrosan J Emisan or Cercsan wi th the help of a n05ccanc. At lhis stage in areas with the problem of nematodes, furadan crystals at the rate of 15 to 20g pci' spot should also be applied which can be repeated afler about five months of planting. In. areas with severe infestation of nematodes the quantity of furadan call be doubled (<log/pit). 1" early stage ofp.1antalion, inter crops like turmeric, ginger, discoria arc recommended where h.eavy ma.nuring is a pre-requisite and cultivation Choice of tllc field ]f it is a first plantation, choice ha'i to be dependent on the requirement of soil fol' the crop as mentioned above. However, in area whcl'e plantation is regularly done, in fields where diseases ha vc been encoulltered all large scale, banana crop should not be taken for about two years. With the change of crop natural parasites of CI'Op will be lessence!. In selected field, traces of old crop should be removed and burnt. This should be followed by deep ploughing, levelling and propel' dl'ainagc and thc field should be left for hot SUll to kill all insects and disease organism in April-May. Thel'eafter, 25 to 75 tohnes of fannyal'd/ha should be cqually spread and mixed by ploughing. This is cssential because intcrcrops like turmeric, gingcr, eolocasia, dioscoria and elephant fool are takon in lhis area. However, part of this farmyard manure should be left for pit filling for banana plants. Treatments It is commonly propagated fro111 sword slickers Wilh narrow leaves weighing 1/2 kg to I kg and about three monlh old arc preferrcd. It is advisable to procure suckers locally frol11 disease-free plantations. However, if it becomes necessary to procure from out side states, disease fl'eeness should be ensured for which spotless an.d rotlcss suckers should be July - S e Ii Ie", be, 1082 A well maintained young Basrai plantation PlnlltJng Normally banana plantation is do"e i"june-j uly, August 01' November or Nfarch ApriL However, J une July plantation is prefel'red which gives about It times crop than any other period. Willter plantation gives the lowest yield. planting distance rccommendcd is 1.0 X 1. Sm which can bc brought to 1.2 X 1.2m for higher yield per heclare which is about one and a half limes mol'c than the formel' but fruit quality in terms of size of fingel's is red uced and maturity is considerably delayed. For phmting, pits of 3()x3()x30 em arc dug and slickers arc planted therein so that Rhizome is placed gil deep. Planting shall be done after manuring rhe pits wi th 5kg farmyard manurc a nd 180g of P,O, a long with a spl'ay of mcrcul'y fungicides of cucul'bitacious crops should be banned as they arc hosts for mosaic which Can be damaging to banana crop. Green manuring with sunnhemp is recommended between the rows. Justalthelime of planting of banana, in squlh \VcslCL'n side of the ol'ch:l1'ds aboll t 3 to 45 m away frojn the banana row) Sesoallia seeds are also sown to serve as windbreak. Mnnu.-ing Banana is. heavy fceder and responds readily to manuring. Therefore, for J3asrai at all-india level 180 g N, 180 g P,O, and 225 g K,O is recommended besides the farrning and manure mentioned above. However, for GujaraL soils, the recommendations arc 100 g M 180 g. P,O, and 180 g K,O per plant. Nitrogen and potash should be applied ill threc split doses wltich 21

56 should he done within 100 dn.ys of plu1lt Ft ti o ll, whrcas phl)sphol'tls at the time of plantation on ly. Spra y of I p CI' cent nrc(\. at innorcsccncc c mrrgcnce is also llscfu l. In areas with de ficiency of ~ il1(':, sp ray of 0.2 per cen t ZnS0o.l i:; rcco l1 11ncndcd first after two months 01' plantation and second ill 9th or 10lh molllh. Pl"U1lin g This refers to the removal of 111\ wanled superfluo Lls suckers. Dr,s l1ckering b}' destl'oying the growing points with tjlc help of Ruger wit.hoi.\t dcti\chrncnt is recommended Ilntill.hc c mcrgcll.ce of spalltc. There after, it should be d iscontin ued. In case of a I'RtOOll crop two followci"s Rfler seventh and nintll month of planling should be left. O ld and diseased ICt-wcs should also be cnt off regula rly and bllrnllo reduce thc le;:lf spot discase incidence which is supposed to bc associated witli inulln. lul'c ripening. Ir.dgntion During winter, irrigations at an interval of ten days and ill Slimmer, 7 days inte rval arc I'CCOltllllCncicd. In all about25 irrigati ons urcrcquired for a single crop. Wa ler sllould not be all owed to sta.nd in field at any cost especially dlll ing Ju ly-august when monsqons arc nctive. This will reduce t he c han ces ofi mlnatul'c ripen ing. And aflcl" every third 01' fourtl, irrigation) weedi.ng is nt:ccssal'y rot' which in early slage of plant growtll small cultivators can be used hetween the rows but thereafter hand-hoeing,is necessary. Cliitul. al praotlees In earl y planting season green manure CtOp should be takcil. 'I'hereafter regular weeding is required to reduce the competition from wecds as banana being ashallow rooted plant) rcguln.rily in weed control is a must. Dim'on at the rate of 6 kg" ha is found lug-lily effccuve against llloll,ocot as well as dicot weeds. After mollsoons arc over so il mound aroulld stem sltould be provided to 22 sll'cng th.cn lis st.and in. wak(; Qf h.eavy wcight o j' bllnch (I nd plants should also be Slaked properly llflcr bunch emergence wilh thc hdp of [lam boo poles OJ' rectangular Ly ing of four ph'tnts willi lh e help ofropc m is done jn SOlti It can also be recolnmcndcd which is chcapcl-and casy. '1'0 avoid sun-burn, bllncllcs SllOldd be covered with banana leaves allel when fru it set is over male pa rt of the spathe sliou [d be c ut o[r. Diseases (1\) T[,e lea!' SpOl eliseases prcvclant in. tltbi rugiotl arc (i) Hcllllillllwsporillnl leaf spot eauscd by Helmilllhosporium g bbem) SPOI'IOll (ii) Deigitiolliellll leaf spol caused by J),igltioriella 10rIllo,,, (iii) SiglJiok" leaf spot causcd by l\1[ycnsplwerella 1I1l1sicolo. 13csidcs these Panama will callsed by soil borne fl1ngus FusariulH, o;",ys/joriwli f. cuhwsc and a baclerial,"vilt known as?vloko disease caused by Pseudomonas SO /fl.lltl ce/'llm and it s strains al'c r'llso co ml11on. Contt'ol For the control of mosl of a foresaid di:-;cases fo llowing s(:chcdul-c should be fo llowed: (i) aflel' lhe second month ~ of plantation when these various leafspots arc often seell) affecled leaves sho uld be pruned on' and willed pla nts be removed followed by a m ixed spm)' of NJ'ancb. 0.2 pci' eenl (Dithane M g), llordeaux mixtul'e 0 A PCI' cent (Copper sulpllate 1200 g lime 1200,,), Mclechiu: green 0.02 pci' cent (6g). T I,ese fungicicles should be mixed in I of waler and sprayed on leaves an.d PSCUdOSlCJ11 thorough l),. (ii) When the plants arc 2t mont h5 old O. I per cent K e l'a~ lhanc should be sprayed. (iii) when thc plants a rc 3f month o ld again aflcctccl lecl"cs shollld be <all ofr and 300 g Bavislin should bc mixed in 800 J. or water and sprayed and temic- j Og at the rate of 15-20g/plallt should also he applied nro und the plant and covered with soil, (iv) whrn the plants arc foul' and ha lf months old again spray the lllix Lurc.Orrungi_ rides mentioned <It (i)} (v) w hen the plants arc 6~f months old Captll hhos (Dilolalil.n) O. I p CI' cent should Ite :S j)raycd(vi)again after about. a month a mixtul'cofr.,'jancb 0.2 pci' cent a.nd Copper cxichloridc 0.3 pel' cent should be spl'aycd and at this stagc )c"r prulling is nol aclvisiblc a" it nitl.!cts the yield and e mergence of pathc ad verse ly. Q llit e a li ke leaves aurl SP CUci08lCIll therc arc a number of (L i ~eascs anccling frll i ts at pre-and pos t-harvcst slagc.,; and mosl popul ar ones al'e (i) cigar end ro t caused Verliciliwlt Iheob1'01Il(Ic ancl C'llrl'lI[fll'ia lui/lila) (ii) T il' end rot callsed by lid/i)'li' eil/era (iii) Deigh ton ilia Ji'uit spot 0 1' speckle caused by Dcighlofleill {orulos(i (iv) F IiSarlUlTI ti p rot caused by Fusarium mon.ifo 1'1l1ac and If. la/61'ilillln. (v) H eart strcaking by ji'uj(j riulii mouilijoj'l1iac and (vi) spli lling diseases of bana.n a proba bly c1lle to exlrcme vari alion in t.emperaturc. Fo r thc control of these diseases following pre-and p ()s l ~ ha l' vcsl sj,rays arc rccommenued. (i) WI,en L1,e spalhe h ad eomplelely emerged ane! spnly of O. I per cenl D ilbla tan, holtld be made on leaves i1.nd flowers (ii) when the fl'ui l sel is compl(;t.e a spray of ZillCb pel' cent (Dithanc Z-78) or Bavisti n pci' Gen t should be made on the buncl, (i ii) when the ban.ana are a t the stage of hnlf m a turity in the month of J uly Aug ust and pre-mature ripening is obscrved proper drainagc should be dolle and at this stage 0.05 per cent Agromycin, 0,3 per cent copper oxichloride should be appli ed around thc plant at the ra tc of one lilre pci' plant and Ca ptaphol O. I with 1 percent Ul'cftshould be sprayed on the pla nl (v) whcll tips oo ower fin gers ill the bunch get round and upper ones get yell ow is the right time CDI' harvest and ~() check post.. harvest discases these bunches should be treated wilh 0,1 (Yo Difolatan, 0. 03% Bellomyl or 0.02 pcr cellt CONTINOV,O ON PAWl 28 J,lt/ian J-lQrticlll t ura

57 CORRECT NG CHLOROSIS IN MANDARIN A.K. MISRA and M.M. GANAPATtW Central CitrUS Experirnent StIltion Gonikopa1. Coorg M ULTIPLE deficiencies of micl'onutrients prcdomilul.tcd by zinc have been reported to be a common feature in all the citrus growing areas of the country. The supply of micl'ol1utj'icnts through foliar sprays is considered one of the effective and praclical met.hods in citrus ferlilization but sornchow this techn.ique has not proved beneficial ill reduci.ng citl'us c hlorosis which. is one of the majol' factors I'csponsible for citrus decline. Zinc deficiency (chlorosis) in citrlls has resulted in premature fruit drop, low yields and pool' CJuality of fruits. The supplementation of Zn sprays has given positive responses but temporarily. Mllinc[l1l5(l A close observation of tile plnnts both in the llllr.scl'y as also in lhe main field was given a rethinking on the subject and it Wl'l.S reali7.ed that chlorosis showing zinc like symploms in citrus leaves is the secondary and the main cause of lhis chlorosis is somc lhin.g else other than the nutrition as t.he avaijable Zn in soil was found to (he extent of 2-6 ppm which was quite high as colnpared to optimum at Ippm. The past experience has shown that citrus plants suffer stress in their growth twiee in a year in this area. First suitcring is during new flush period owing to droughtfl'om November to April with casual rains in November, December and April. The plants pass through water stross from January to March in whieh both flushes vegetative and flower July-September 1982 fall. The second su flcl'ing happens during July.Atlgust, when planls bccomc inactive owing to satnralion of soil with water bccause of continuous rains. The 1000 mm rainfa ll takes place during July- August oul of the total rainfall of 2000 ri.lm in a ycar whereas December to ApdL is completely dr>', Further, due to hig h rainfall area) the problem of root rot caused by Plrytophlhora II;,ol.;alla, val'. pal'asiilea is aggravated resulting in yellowing of leaves, rotting of feeder and secondary roots. In severe cases, even trun.k at the surn,ee level turns black anet a chan'cd condition is scen when the bark is lifled. Undel' these COJ1(Ii- Control Lions, plants gel only foul' months to nlakc vegetative growth once in Seplcrnbcl'JOclobcl' and ~nolher in May Jun<:. Therefore, the altclnpts were made to corrcct zinc def1ci cney by fungicidal treatment to lhr. soj l. The severely,,[lected plants of 10-year old wcre selected for,tudy showing chlorosis and subjected (.0 the zin c su lphate as soh applicalion at 250, 500, 750 anr\ looog and I pel' cent boi'dcaux rni:dttt c as soil drenching at 5 and 1 OL. per tree. Thr~ treatments were applied in the month of December 1980 with the' start of drought period bolore t.he spring season. The results have shown complete green covel' 011 the t.ree as all the new leaves clid not show 'OU1.y sign of yellowing. The data on chlorophyll content were taken during June whicll is presented below in Table I. TJtc visual obscrvadon of leaves was confirmed witll the c11lol'ophyll COlltent found in th.e leaves. The young leaves produced after application wcre found much greener than TAIlLB l. EFFECT OF BORDEAUX AND UNC SULPHATE AS SO IL APPLICATION AS CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT OF LEAVES. Deta Us of trlatmults ZnS g per tree ZnSO. 500g per tree ZnSO, 750g per tree ZnSO, looog per tree 1 % Bordeaux 5L pel' tree 1 % Bordeaux J OL per tree Untreated ChiorojJ{lyll content (me/afresh wt. qf [eauds) 0.5tB

58 the 111\tl'catcd on.es but. the leaves whh zinc sulphate appli cati on at 250, 500 a nd 750g per Iree I,.<l light vein clearing whic h is suspected to change jn(.o Ii ttle yellowing at la ter stages during drought period becallsc UllLl'eatccl leaves also had si mila)' vein clearing. While the leaves under 1000 g zinc sulphate and 5 and IOL. Bordeaux applications did not show any sign of vein clearing ;,lild lea.ves were double in size than ulltl'ctcd. The chlorophyll content in. healthy and sympton1alic leaves was found to be and 0.26Img/g fresh weight of leaves respectively. This shows that the leaves with I kg ZnSO, and 5 and lol. of I per cent Bordeaux mixture application had th.e chlorophyll content very ncar to the chloro~ phyll content of the healthy Icaves. The results The results of study during July 1981 have fl1l'thcl' I'evcaled that soil Soil drenching with 10 lit res of Bordeaux mixture drcnclting with bordeaux mixtul'e ( I OL/planl) significa1ul y r ed llced the number of recoverable Ph),lOjJhthora calories (6.5 calori es/ I OOg soil On selecti ve medium). The higher doses of zinc sll lph~ t c a.pp licalion showccl illcreasc in chlorophyll content bul did not reduce tlte pll)llophlhorn population. This study suggests that the widespread zinc deficicncy observed in lllanclarin.s III Coorg 1L:1.S been muit\ly owing to root damage caused by pl!ylophlhorn and thereby thc uplake of zinc is "n'cclcd. T hesc findings may be used as t.he guidelines fot' fluther study in selection of suitable fungicide, frequency and U1C amount of application for controlling the ci lrus chlorosis. RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION ON TIME FREDI SURTI COMPANY Horticulturists, Garden Consultants, Landscape Architects, Seedsmen Et Nurserymen OFFICE: 2, SAKLAT PLACE, CALCUTTA Phone: STD CODE (033) Cable: ' FREDISEED' CALCUTTA SHOWROOM: 27 C (1), CHITTARANJAN AVENUE, CALCUTTA NURSERY & TRIAL GROUND: 44, EKBALPORE ROAD, CALCUTTA Phone: STD (033) FOR BETTER & BEAUTIFUL GARDEN SOW SURTI'S SEEDS For 7t11l9 S/%e.6loont6.Apply Jlqnrpp fldseffutlfu,.e.-- IT'S THE STRAIN THAT COUNTS 24 Illdian Horliculture

59 . ~!~ ~ R.OUND UP' Co, Pltchi. Uath.imaUi) C o. I Pitchi J a secondary selection from Lncknow Jathimalli (JtlSmiU1l11l Crandif/ol'lI1n) yields ten tonnes of fl.owcr buds. Tho local white jathimalli gives only 6.25 tonncs of nowel' buds. The colour of the nowcr bud of Co. 1 Pitc],i is pink and altractivc with better ConSumer preference. This is suitable for jasmine concl'olc ext.raction a lso. YOU CAN BOOK YOUR COPIES NOW OF SP~CIAL NUMBER OF 'INDIAN FARMING' ON OILSEEDS NOVEMBER 1982 ISSUE Contact THE BUSINESS MANAGER Indian Council of Agricultural Research KRISHI BHAVAN. NEW DELHI Further since it has loilger nower buds (3.70 cm) than thc whitcjalhimalli (3.5 em) it has good market preference also. It yiclds 29.4 kg of jasmine col1crctejha as against 17,6 kg/ha in white jalhimajli. EconomIcs of chilues An economic analysis of production of chillies was recently undertaken in ten villages of Sattul' Taluk in Ramanathapuram district rcvealed that the average cost of production per quintal was Rs 438 in small farms, Rs 360 ill medium faj'ms and Rs 388 in large farms. The net income realised per acre at prices was Rs 1,003. Rs 1,043 and Rs IJ405 in small, medium and large fal'ills respectively.. On illl average J the cultivation of chillies provided employment for 34 to 48 men I.bolll and around 103 wol1'1clllabolll' pci' acre. The inputoutput ratio [01= chillies wol'ked out to be I. 47, \, 52 and \, li() [01' small, medium J and lal'ge farms I'e~pcclively. It was reported that uon-availability of irrigation watcl', occurrence of pests and diseases, deterioration in qualily of water an.d premature shedding of flowers and fruits were the major agrobiological factors limiting production and prodll'ctivity of c hillies. High cost of fertilizers, wide fluctuations in the price of chillies July-Sept""ber 1982 and inadeq.uate rna.rkct and st.orage. facilities were reported to be the major cco\\omic constra ints. Ma.gnesium for potatoes Applicalion of magnesiujn at 50 kg/ita as magncsillrn sulphale incl'ea~ sed the yield ofpolato (Kttfi'iJyothi) by l5 pel' cent in the acid soils of Nilgll'is where magnesium deficiency was 0 bserved. Application of 90 kg/ha of potasium was observed to decrease the yield o[potato by about 17 pel' ccnt and induce magncsiuln deficiency in the soils. Problems of grape growers Grapes is a crap which could pa y vcry high dividends, To achieve high dividends it is essential that the problems arc not only taken care of but prevented as quickly and as 111uch as possible. ]n the c1u'ollological fashion the problems whiclt bother the farmers most arc tbe following. Improper and delayed sprouting of primaries, impl'opcl' growth of secondary and tertiary branches, (vegetative growth) * Ul1cven cane maturity, downy and powdery nlildew, improper spl'outing, uneven berry setling, berry dl'cp, shot berries, watery berries and mummirtcalion, un~ even ri))cning and improper colo ur change, and poor quality, sour 25

60 Revised Subscription Rates ICAR PER IODI CALS Periodicals in English INDIAN FARMING (Monthly) Single Copy Rs 2.00 Annual Rs Conveys tested lind proved resoarch results of great practical value in a popu lar styl e. Contributions from top sc ientists and se nior research workers highlight th e IDtest advances in agriculturo and anima l sciences. Its well plonn ad Sp eoial Numbers, crop and discipline-wise. constitute source material of Immonso valuo to all connected with tho di sci plines and to the farmors who are taking energetically to th o now practices. INDIAN HORTICULTURE (Quarterly) Single Copy Rs 2.50 Annual Rs A popular and illustrnted journal in English on fruits. vegetablos and ornamental gardening. With contributions from specia li sts. the journa l is EI practical guide to orchardists. vegetabla orowors and city~ dwellers who want to raise their own s",alj gardens. THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES (Monthly) Single Copy Rs Annual Rs Meant primarily for agricultural scientists and research workers, the Journal carries articlos on original researches conducted in India on agriculture lind its allied fields. THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCES (Monthly) Single Copy Rs Annual Rs Presents articles reporting the original research work on dlsoases of animals. their husbandry and rolated subjects conducted primarily in this country Bnd III other coun~ries. Periodicals in Hindi KHETI (Monthly) Single Copy Rs 1.50 Annual Rs Provides highly useful information concerning lat est resoarch findings in tha fiold of agrioulture and anima l sciences for the benefit of farming and student community and others. ArtlclGs on now farm techniques. latest advances in realm of dlsoasos and pests of crops and animals. farm lmplements and agricultural chemicals appear regularly. PHAL PHOOL (Quarterly) Single Copy Rs 2.50 Annual Rs The newly slorted illu str ated quarterly deels with fruit s, vegelablas,ornamentels, land,cope and gardoning. It caters to tho neads of kitchen gardeners, vegetable growers. orchnrdists, professionuls, horticulturists and others. I(RISHI CHAYANIKA (Quarterly) Single Copy Rs 3.50 Annual Rs A unique digest magaz1no of its kind providing useful inform ation. collected from a large number of I\atienal and International iournals, concerning original researches in the fi eld of agriculture and animal sdences. Prices are inclusive of postage. Place your orders with remittance. New rates ofiective from Ju1y '82 issue onwards Stl,Jdent concession 25% ENQUIRIES: THE BUSINESS MANAGER INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH KRISHI BHAVAN, NEW DELHI-l'O Indian Horticulture

61 IJnpropcl' and delayed sprot1tlng of - Calcium, Boron, Ni'trogen and primaries Carbohydrate. Improper growth of secondary and - NitrogeJl, Boron, NIagnesium, tertiary branches Sulphur. Uneven cane maturity - Copper) Boron) Calcium. Downy and powdery mhdcw - Molybdcntun J Magnesiufll, Improper bud s.prouling - Boron Uneven berry setting - Boron, Zinc, Phosphorus, Copper Berry drop - Boron, Copper Shot berries, watery berries, and - Zinc, l\!langancsc, Calcium,' Boron. mummification Uneven ripening and improper colour change POOl' quality- sour taste, thicker skil'l:, and less pulp tissue taste, thicker skin, and less pulp tissue. We have been able to relate and specifically pin point the above problems to nutrient deficiencies. These mal adies occur beca use the nutrients are not being supplied at 'th,c proper time and in proper pro.. porlions. Given above is a brief aetiology of the problems. The grape gro\vel's use such heavy doses of nirogen which do not do any good beyond 150 kg/acre/year but in fact bears the crops 1110re. Nitrogen should not be used more than 150 kg/acre/year. The recommended package of pl'acticcs issued by a rcsearch office is as follows: April pruning : Doracol = 15 kg plus Agrimics =25 kg May and July : Micnelf MS 32=% plus Agrirnics =2% spray October pruning : Boracol =15 kg plus Calmag = 100 kg This package of practices will give you an effective control of most of the above problems. The control and prcvcn lion of these problems itself will mean an effective increase in yield and more monetary returns. Pasture lands potential Pasture lands in hills, especially in the mid-himalayas are deteriorating rapidly because of over-exploitation. Surveys conducted by the Almora- July-September Iron, Manganese, Calcium and Magnesium - Manganese, noron, and Potassi~lln bases, Vivekananda Laboratory for hill agriculture have rcvealed that.the production potential of most of the local pasture ranges has dwindled to low level. On!ll\ average, a natural grassland now yields only about 7.8 quintals a hectare of green fodder in a y~ar.. According to Almora scientis.ts, the yields of past lire lands can be doubled in two ye~rs and quadrupled in five years with a simple measure like an effective fencing. They recommend that either the open gt'c!-zing system should be completely abandoned and stall fceding resorted to or as an alternative, rotational grazing intro~ duced to redeem the production potential of local grasslands. Soil conservation Scientists drthe Bcllary centl'c of the Central Soil and,",vater Conservation.. Research Institute, have evolved a r tcc'lt11.o1ogy known as conservation ditching. This new ~ technology involves creation of suitably designed st.ructures at the [ann level to interrupt the downstream 'flow of rain water and store it for future usc, TIle ditching actually scrves the dual purpose of preventing soil erosion and making water available for irl'igating the crops during their crucial stages of gl owth. Expcritncnts have shown tha.t application of one~timc iz'rigation from the water stored in the ditches can rai'e the yield of sorghum by about 8.8 quintals a hectare. Similar water harvesting and recycling techniques have, in fact. been found uscful in areas othcr than black soil as well Experiments conducted by main centre of the Institule at Dchra Dun Jlave indicated that wheat yield in lhe Doon VaUey can be l'aised from 20.5 quintals a hectare to as much as 39 quint'als a hectare by pl'oviding sllpplemental,irl'ignuon from the,,'atcr collected in ponds. Experts of the India;l Institute of Sugarcane Rcserch, Lucknow arc loying with the idea of ulilising sweet sorghum as a raw matcrial.for sugar production. The juice from the stalks of the plants has adequate sugar 'content for co.mmercial exploitation J It is believed. Eight strains of s\';eet.sorghum, 'imported from the U.S., have alt-eady been ' screened to ascertain :thcir suitability for cultivation in India. T\~o of these varieties have been fdund fairly pl'~nusing. They have shown a potential to yield about 26 tollnes a hectru'e of Illillablc" stalks witl; about ~brix value (sugar.. ccovery).. The scientists have already succeeded ~n prepari ng gur frmn the juice of sweet sorghuln stalks. >'Eflbi'ts are afoot to stuely the feasibility of manufacturing sugar from this juice and also to generate the necessary technology foi this purpose. FROM PAGE 3 Golden Barrel Thimet log at the rate of 2 g, square metre or one gm per pot at the time of manuring or rcpotting as the case may be is quitc helpful in ensuring the healthy growth of the plants. Besides, it is also advisable to spray the pjant~ with any systemic insecticide once in a month 'or pre... venting and controlling any possible damage. Somehow, tlus magnificient plant is becoming quite rare in the wild, but there is no imminent danger of it getting extinct as it is in cultivation at several places. 27

62 FROM PAGE 15 BASAL R.OT FROM "ACO 22 BANANA (1.5 g. in I litre water) showed no disease symptoms up to 4- days even when a heavy dose of the fungal spores was administered on a mech~nical injury on the flesh of each fruit. In tropi cal countries mangoes require a bout five days time, after collection for l'ipening. Immediately, after harvest, if the fruits arc given a single soaking in aqueous solution of mangiferin, there should be no incidence of the fungus attack during.storage f01' the next four days. In case of longer duration of storage, occasional sprinkling of mangiferin solution, after the initial three to four hours of soaking would keep the fruits healthy. As mangiferin is a natural constituent of MaNci_fora indica and it has a very low order of toxicity, the soaking of mangoes in a much diluted solution of mangiferin for three to four hours neither affects the quality of the treated fruits nor causes any residual toxicity. READ llavistin s() that they call. be kept well in storage. Banana pest8 Fortunately, banana pests do not cause so nluch havoc as do the diseases. r-iowever, some of the important ones with control measures a re as follows. (i) Batlana borer (Costtlopolil.s sordidus) - This can be kept under conli'ol by following clean cultivation and trapping by pseudostem slice baiting with Dialderin Or Aldrin. (ii) Banana msl Ihrip Clm,lanaplwlhripsorcltidi)-This can be controlled by a spray of 0.0 I per cent Phosphomidon or Metasystox. (iii) Ballatla aphids (P.tllalonia fligrof(cr(losa) - It also acts as a vector for bunchy top virus and can be effectively controlled by the spray of 0.03 per cent Phosphomidon or Metasystox. (iv) Banatla mealy bug (Pseudococcus comoslochus)- Mcvinphos O. 03 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES pc, cent or Dichlorovos (DDVP) O. 03 per cent provide good control of this pest. (v) More recently Prodania (Spodoplcra lilural is) has moved out of cotlon fields and started causing considerable loss to young banana. plants. This can be cffccti vely COl1R trolled by spraying with Chlorpyriphos 0.08 per Cent or Ekalu 0.05 per cent+ddvp 0.03 per cent. Eradication. Bunchy top virus infected plants can be recognised by broken dark green streaks along the leaf vein and stun~ing, erect and bunched or roselte appearance ofleaycs. This virus is spread by the aphid (J'etllaionia nigronervosa which is a vector. For lhe eradication of this virus following steps have been recomm mended. One day before roguing the infected plant with bunchy top, spray kerosine till it reaches the pseudostem to kill the aphid. Spray the neighbouring banana plants uplo a distance of 50' with Nogor O. 05 per cent or Metasystox (0.05 per cent) to kill aphids and avoid spread of the diseases. Cut the plant from the base and split the pseudostem longitudinally along the entire length at least into foul' pieces and then cut them 'into small pieces. Dig the corm and slice the corm also into small pieces. Burn these pieces or burry them into a pit. If above mentioned advise is followed, banana crop shall continue to -benefit growers to their entire satisfaction. 28 I rl,d i a'l H 0 r tit tl i t u r e

63 SELECT I.C.A.R. PUBLICATIONS Pri ce Rs. n\) Handbook of Agriculture Handbook of Animal Husbandry Bee Keeping in India Livestock Feeding Oats Breeding Procedures in Pearl -millet 7,25 Krishi Chainika, V,,1. 2, 3.4.5,6,7, Genetic Analysis of Closed Herd of Haryana Cattle 9.50 Milk Proteins Bacterial and Fungal Diseases of Potato Rac es of M aize in India Rice Production Mannual 17,50 Forage and Pasture Insect Pests of Rajasthan 21,75 History of Agriculture in India 50, 00 Crop Substitution in Orissa Wheat Research in India Myxomycetes in India 40,25 Oedogoniales Statistica l Methods for Agricultural Workers 20, 00 Castor 14,25 Rinder Pest.50 Postage Rs. n\) 4, , 50 3,50 3, ,50 3, ,50 5, 00 5, Copies available from: THE BUSINESS MANAG ER, Indian Council of Agricultural Research KRISHI BHAVAN, NEW DELHI -l100dl

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67 INDIAN HORTICULTURE Published Quarterly, Vol. 27 No.3 OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1982 Editorial CONTENTS Growing peaches in Gal'hwal Hills 1I.P. Sri vastava, R.P. Kuksal and R.s. Misra 2 Rcdblush- A grapefruit B.S. Dhillol/, C.S. Clio/tali and J.S. Josal/ J3er- A Ii'ui! with rich fodd value B.S. Daultn and K.S. Chnu/m" 7 Some Carissas for western Rajastllan Rallbh SiT/gIIJ D.P, Chopra and Ashok K. Gupta 10 Preserving gingel' all the year round Vijay Sethi and J.C. Atlatld 13 A high-yielding ashgdul'd S. SuudararaJau and C.R. lviuthu- Krishnal1 A new amal'anthus for clipping M. Kader Mohideen, K.G. Shll""'"' gavcitl and C.R. J,\!iulJlIIkrisJI1lQIl 17 Fibl'eboal'd packaging fdr fruits J.e. Anllnd and S.B. Mnin; 19 A new clonal roolstock for apples M.M. Sillhn, D.N. Awns/hi and R.S. Mishrn 23 An agl'o~te chniqu e 1'01' papaya produclion ]. Prnsad 25 News Round up 27 Over,ov,r : White dotted red apple Photo : Gurcharan Singh ---- ADVISORY BOARD M.S. Randhawa D.R. Bhumbla C. Prasad. S.K. Sharma. J.P. Sinllh S. Choudhury M.H. Mari Gouda C.M. Singh Sukhdev Singh D.N. Borlhakur V.S. Bhatt P.L. Jaiswal Editing : I. J. Lall A.soclate : P.S.N. Sarllla Production : Krishan Kumar and R.N. Manoch. Art : M. K. Bardhan and A. Chakuwarty Business Manager : M. Prasad Singl. Copy : Ra 2.60, Annual: R8 1O Ii I!> BER CULTIVATION BER is as old as our history. Its us lge in our COllllll'y can be traced to the Vedic age as its allusion is available jn the rnjurved written ndt later than )000 D.C. It means Ihat" the bel' had been in use for a hnqst four thousand years and out' anciellt people too had its t aste and utility in Iheir own time. This fruit is two types the-wild and the cultivateci one. Both arc widespread in lhe country. A large number or cult ivai's arc in usc which indicates a wide range of variabihty in its fruit size and qualiry. The wild form is available in rhe extreme harsh conditions of the Indian desert whcr~ it is popularly called a 'desert apple'. Bel' 11'CCS arc regular and heavy bearers. Some grafted bel' tret's are rcport<:d to give vcry heavy yields. The,)dcld per tree ranges from 375 kg to 570 kg. Its fruit is available in plenty during the harvesting season and it sells readily owing 10 the slack scason for other fruits. Thus il s marketing is surcr l)tan the marketing of other fi'uits. It is a quality of this fruit that its trcts can gro'\\' and produce Ji'uits generously even under thc not~sowwclcome climate of a desert. Incidentally, the most delidous ones arc grown in our descrt areas. But the bel' is otherwise grown in athel' States too such as in Maclhya Pradesh, Bihar, U.P., Pu!,\jab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. 1n Soulh India, its cultivation is limited to a few arcas and so is the case in We-st Bengal. In fact it grow, well all over tile country and tlll'ivcs well up to 9,000 metres above sea level. To a growcr~ a ber orchard is a go1d minco Its cultivation requires the least inputs an(\ care, besides that it costs very little to establish and maintain a bel' orchard. In fact a bel' orchard can be maintained even on marginal lands, Very few pests and diseases incest its ti'c("s and even if there is an occasion of a pest attack, the infestation measures arc comparalively simpler. Once the plant is established very Hetle irrigation is nccciea and this is a plus point of litis fruit.. TIle technology of its cultivation is unbelievably inexpensive and its ret urns can be fabulous. The bel' is rightly a pool' man's ii'uil and in Jlutrition it is not less than an apple in protein, phosphorous, calcium) carotene and Vitanlic-C. Slrangc but tl'ue that evcl'ythhlg of a be.r tree is of one usc or the other. Its leaves arc llsed as hey for goats and sheep. Among the Indian fruits, the bel' is a gift of mother nalul'e which symbolises Ihe produotive capacity of the seemingly infertile ecosystem ancl that too at an insignificant cost. When the bel' Can be grown on a wide vrriety of soils fl'om shallow to deep and n'om gravelley and sandy to eleyey-there is a need td extend the areas under its cultivation. Further, new growers may try the cultivation of this indigenous fruit in the arcas where it is not already grown with an awnrcness and hope that its cultivation will prove l'cwarding.

68 Flordasu n is a good bearer GROWING PEACHES IN GARHWAL HILLS R.P. SRIVASTAVA, R.P. KUKSA~ and A.S. MISRA, Government Valley Fruit Research Station, Srinagar, Garhwal P EACH (P"mus jmrsica) covers a sizable area in the hills of Uttar Pradesh. Due ', to great variation in height, the crop in the lower valleys is either very poor or sometimes th,c orcltardist becomes frustrated owing to complete non-bearing of the peach trees. The probable causes for this failure were evaluated for several years. Now It has been concluded that the cultivars grown commercially in temperate zones have completely failed in the lower valleys owing to nonavailability of optimum chilling requirements. The area under this fruit crop is, however, negligible in the valley a,-eas of Garhwal hills. This is probably owing to lack of up to-date scientific knowledge gained about its cultivation. It is, therefore, necessary to suggest a guideline for the interest of the orchardists of this area. Selection of val'ledes In a kitchen garden, a personal preference may be a guideline for planling particular varieties. However, for commercial ol'cilarding the demand for certain cultival's in the market and for production of good fruits at a proper time are some of the important considerations before planning anel planting an orchard. 2 To come to a difinitc conclusion before distributing the plant of good cultivars to the orchardist of this area, a comprchensive collection was madc during 197 7~78 and cleven cultivars, viz., Bidwilts Early, China li'lat, Elberta, Dr Hogg, Early Ambcr, Flordasun, Japane,e Double, Sufeda, L.R. Brothers, Shat'bati, Sun Red and Waledo having low chilling requirements were screened on. the basis of their adapta.bili.ty in this area, considering Iheir plant growth yield and quality. The following varieties were observed to exhibit good performance on the basis of their performance during the three fruiting seasons. China FIll. Fruit big, length 6.13 cm, breadth 4.56 em, weight 65.0 g, flat to oval with unequal halves, suture and beak prominent, skin colour yellowish green, cavity deep; n ce-stone, stolle weight 5.0 g and stone-pulp ratio I: 13. Fruit quality good, average bearer, yield kg pe\' tree, ripens in the last week of June (22 to 30) T.S.S Brix, acidity 0.78 per cent and total sugars 5.82 per cent. Flordasun Fruit medium, length 4.00 em, breaelth 3.56 em, weight 38.7 g, oval with equal halves, beak smali, suture \ I'ldiall Horticultllre

69 pl'omiiu;nt, sk~n, yellowish green w1th pink bluish cotout', cavily deep, free~slonc, stone weight 2.48 and stone pulp ratio 1: Fruit quality average; good bearer, yield kg per tree, ripens in the last week of April to the first week of May. This is a very good lime to obtain the premium pd~e from the consumers. T.S.S. 9.5" Brix, acidity 0.81 PCI' cenl and tolal sugnl's 5.25 per cent. Sufeda. L.R. Brothers Fruit big, length 5.04 CIn, breadth 4.86 cm, weight oval wilh equal halves; beak small, suture promi~ nent, skin yellowish grecn, cavity brond, semi-clinging slone, stone weigllt 5.90 g altcl SIOttc.pulp ratio 1: F,'uit quality good, average bearer, yields kg per tree; ripens in the last week of May (22 to 29); T.S.S Brix, acidity 0.72 per cent and total sugars 5,53 l)cr cent. Sharbati Fruit mediuin) length 4.8 Cln, breadth l~. 3 cm, weight g, round to oblong with equal sides, skin greenish yellow in colour, suturc prominent, beak absent, cavity deep; clinging.stone, stone weight 2.5 g and stone.pulp ratio I: Fruit quality good, average bearer, yield kg pel' \ree, ripen. in \ 1\0 last week of June (20 to 28). T.S.S. 14'.50 Bl'ix) acidity 0.52 per cent and total sugars G.95 pci' cent. SolI Low-chilling cultival's of peaches prefer decp, wcuw drained light textured soils. If.cavy soils and soils l'elain. ing less of moisture during summer rnojllhs which in turn result in fruits of small size and pool' qualily are not- suitable for these varieties. Propagation techniques The plants can be propagated vegetatively by means of budding and grafting. In Uttar Pradesh peach seedling is used as a root stock and is com;idcl'cd to be the most suitable. Plum, apricot and almond can also be used as roolstock for low-chilling peaches. Plum l'ootstocks \Jrovc to be more h.ardicl.' in t\eavy and poorly drained soils. Shield method of budding h as been observed to be the besl and the cheapest method of propagaling peaches and Septembcr has been found to be the best month for budding in this area. PJRoting Planting of the tree is an important factor for successful commel'cial peaelt growing. The pits should be of 1.2 X 1.2 X 1.2 m size and planting be donc at 6 m by square system. Being a deciduous tree, peach shoul,l be planted only during winter (mid~deccmbcr to January end) when it enters itlto dormancy. OClober December 1982 One~ycal'-old and vigorolls plants, fi cc from cliseases and pests should be selected fol' planting. The planls nuly be planted in the centre of the pits and (m'e should be taken that bud union rcmains about 25 em above the ground level. 1L is good to COVel' the basins with soille mulch Lo conserve moisture during summer months. Since the summer is very hot and dry in the va lleys) rl'cq lient il'l'igation is also essential. Low-chilling peaches arc marc in vigour and tl1cl'cforc) require morc doses of organic and itl0rganic manures. 50 g N, 40 g P,O, anei 50 g K,O should be applied pci' plant pci' year for better success. Soon aflcl' plant ing, the tree should be headcd back to a height of 75 cm from the ground level and select four to five wcll-spaccdlalel'al branches distributed in all directions. In subseqnent growth season 2 01' 3 new shoots (sub branches) on main branches shoule! be allowed growth. The remain.ing cmcrglllg shoots should be fllbbccl off during summer. This process may be repeated twice or thrice to allow thc selected shoots for proper growth. In the second growing season water sprouts should be removed and the growl h of secondary branches be encouraged. At thc time of second dormant pruning, secondary branches should not be pruned except to balance the trees fol' giving propel' shape. In the third dormant pruning, diseased, interfering, crossing branches and water sprouts should be removed. In peaches a branch which. has fruited once would not fruit in the subsequent years, thus leaving barren limbs on the trce. While pruning, therefore, the old growth is removed, retaining one OJ' two buds which may in succession produce fruiting area. for the eolning yea.n~. P1'ltning in peach is an annual operation and should be done during tlte last half ofjanual'y Peach leaf cu1'ling aphid is the most serious pest of peaches grown in the Garhwal vahcy. This pest attacks in the month of November and conlinues till IvIay. A bunch of Flordasun peaches

70 &Calixin System ic fun gici des the surest way to get healthy crops and higher yields _..-- ~-~~~.-"NOW '~ ~"':!~ I ' IIlIlaEII....., L :::: ' :ile).., PACKS,.. _".' :: reg. of BASF Aktiengesellschaft, West Germany. I i Agrochemicals 4 of our time BASF India Limited. POBox BOMBAY I BASF I n d i an Horticulellrl

71 'tanle I. ES'I'IMATED COST OF CULTIVATION OF A 10-YEAR OLD PEACH rlantation (PER HA 250 TREES) E>.jJelu/itlirt /1s On cultural operatioil!l including pnming l mulching, plant!loo protection operations etc. On ferlilizers and farm manure J,500 On pcst and disease control l,ooa On harvesting and disposal 2,000 TAllLE 2. To(tll 5,000 ECONOl'.HCS OF A 10-YBAR-OLD PIlACH PLANT ATION UNDER SUllTROPlCAL CONDlTlONS. CUlti~111' Tolnl Eslj"lIltr.r/)ield Eslima~ ' Net t: \Pendi~ p" fur had. led ill~ income III" tru come/ita (kg) Rs Hs Chillafial 5, ,250 6,250 Flordasun 5,000 GO ,000 25,000 Sureda L.R. llrolhers 5, ,875 10,075 SharbMi 5, &,750 1l,75O Nymphs and adulls suck Ihe sap of new leaves and in severe a.ttack leaves lul'n yellow and ultimately drop. Spraying of 0.02 to 0.03 per cent Rogel' or Dimecron-IOO at least 15 days before the bud burst at an interval of 15 days effectively controls the pest. Peach scale insect is another important pest which can be controlled by spraying 0.03 pel' cent Rogal' in the months of June, July and August. Peach leaf curl is the most serious disease of peach which is caused by Taphrilla deformis. Tapltrina attack on peach causes curling and blister fol"ma lion in leaves. These leaves start burning and shed pl'cmaturly. This disease can be controlled by spmying tlle plants with lime and sutphur (1 :10) or Ziram (0.2 per cent) 01' BlilOX 0.3 pel' cent before bud sproat or after the leaf fall. The spraying should be continued up to 20 days before harvesting at an intel'val of 20 days, It has bean observed that thinning of fruits not only produced quality fruits but also in.duced regular bearing and prevented breaking of branches. Thinning can easily be done by hand just after the fruit-set Le., in Ihe last week of March or the first week of April. Peach fruit is perishablc and should be disposed oft quickly when it is "eady for harvest. Slight <lelay in marketing may bring in pool' returns. For better returns fruils should be harvested when it starts developing blush on pale background and decreases in the firmness. The observations have indicated that the cultivar Flordasun matured (luring the last week of April to the first week of May. Though it could not produce fruits of excellent quality, it matured at a time which is very good for getting premium price owing to noll-av~uability of fresh fruit in the market. On the whole it proved to be "good cultivar of consistent yield, and better than average quality, fruit size and being a free-stone coloured cultivar. Octobcr-D8Cember 1982 It has proved that Flordasun is the most paying, iow~ chilling cultivar introduced in this area. As indicated earlier, F lordasun has a great potentialily to capture early market and can be recommended foj' commercial plantation in the valley areas of Garhwal hills up 10 a heigh I of about 1200 m AMSL. II. has become a boon for t he orchardists who have taken the plants 1'1'0111 LIS and planted in Iheir orchard on Ihe pilgrimage route of Badrinath and Kcdarnath. When planted al the hcight of about 1200 m AMSL, it malures in the second to the last. week of 'NIay when the pilgrims starl going to visit the holy slll'inc. III those days there is hard ly any fresh fruit available cnrobte. Thus peach fruil can gel the premium price of Rs pc,- kg in those: days. Therefore, it substantially affects 1.he economy of the orchardist with less care fol' a shorter period of the year. On the Alaknanda valley a Jot of ci lrlls, mango an.d litchi plantations arc coming up and the plants start giving commercial crops after aboul B to 10 years. If the planting is done at a proper distance the cultivar (Flordasull) can be sarely planted as a nller to substantiate the expenditure of the orchardist and may give proper size and start producing commercial crops. RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION ON TIME

72 RED BLUSH- A GRAPEFRUIT B.S. DHILLON. G.S. CHQHAN and J.S. JOSAN Punjab Agricultural University Regional Fruit Resea,ch Station, Abottar ITRUS conslitlltes an impor. Cultivars The virus-free bud wood of this Ctant class of fruils cultivated At pl'escnt three grapefruit cultivar was brought 10 the Region,l in India. l\1andarins, sweet or<ln~ cullival's JUllllcly, Marsh Seedless, l"ruit Research Station, Aboha!', gcs and limes suffer gl'eatly from Duncan a nd Foste!', are commercially during 1958 from CaliJol'llia (U.S.A.) decline. Thus the gl'apcfruil is the grown in the Punjab. All these and the plants were raised on only fruit doing well ill most of the three cultivars mature late in jatt; kltalti (Citrus j(l1ljblli"j Lu~h) places. In recent years, it has a chiev~ December and as such, there is great and planted in the field in cd a great popularily on account scope for an early I'ipening of grapefruit Since then jts pcdol'mancc with of its nutritive and medicinal value. cultivar in Punjab. regard to growth, yield, quillity?nd Grapefruit-having high heat rcquij't. rcsisthncc to diseases has bc:en ments, is doing well where the Redblusb closely observed. These studies mandarins and swee t oranges have suffered damngc by sun-burning. Rcdblush cultivar of grapefruit originated as a limb sport oj'tl>omphave revealed that this cultivar can be commercially recommended for The frcsh grapcfruit is gcilr.rally SOIl, which. was observed by J,B. cultivation in the drkl~irdgatcd used as a breakfast fruit and is sct'vld Webb of Donna, Texas in regions of Punjab and Haryan". either in hobbies 01' as.i uic(:. I t is I t has been observed to be promising a.lso widely used as (salael', and to on account of its scecllcssncss, pink Q.uality tests some extent as dessert. Grapefruit flesh and carly maturity. The fruit On the basis of the quality tost; jllicc contains an organic flavouring of this cultivar is medium in size, it was observed that it matures in substance called llo(}lkalollc. This oblate to spherical in shape, arcolc the last week of November when its substance is also found in the peel is indistinct or lacking, its seeds TSS was 12.7 PCl' cent, and its of the grapefruit fi'om which it can arc few 0" none. The flesh is aciditiy was pci' co:!t willl a be extracted and llsee! as a flavouring deeply pigmented and crimson blush TSS/Acid ratio of 7.95, whereas agent. It js rich ill ascorhic acid on the rin(\. The core of the fruit the othol' cultivaj's, hitherlo been and thiamin. The trre is vigorous is hollow. The albedo is also pigmented. cultivated in the region) mature very and in cold lolcl'ance it closely It bears about 250 fi'uits late (in the las I wcekofdeccmb"i'). approaches sweet orange. per t.rec. }"urther, unlike other gl'apcfntit cultivars, Redblush is frce from granulation. On account of its pink Il(:sh, scedlessness and early maturity, Rcdblush gl'apcfi'uit has, indced, a great promise, and is strongly recommended for commercial culti~ vation in the arid-irrigated regions. PRODUCE MORE Redblush-on.arly maturing variety MARKET MORE 6 I"diall Horticu l tuti

73 BER-A FRUIT WITH RICH FOOD VALUE B.S. DAULTA and K.S. CHAUHAN Department of Horticulture. Harvana Agricultural University. Hissa,.1E BEn (Zi;;iphus mal/filial/a Lamk) T is a very hardy fruil crop which can be grown successfully in low rainfall areas. Ber fruit and its leaves arc a very good source of protein, sugars and mincrajs. As hay, its leaves arc the staple food for the goat and sheep in particular and for the catdc in general. Bcr fj'uit is a very rich source of vitamin C, The nutritive value of bel' fruit is presented in Table I. The nutritive value of bel' leaves as cattle feed is presented in Table 2. For successful cultivation, choice of suitable varieties is of utmost importance. Sanle of the most promising ones based on asscssnlcnt made at the Haryana Agricultural University, J-lissar. arc described here. UMRAN. The fruit is large, oval with a roundish apex and has an attractive golden yellow colour which turlls into chocolate brown at full maturity. The fruit is sweet with 19 per cent T.S.S. and 0.12 per cent acidity. It has pleasant flavour and cxcclieftt dcssert quality. It is a vcry high yielding variety producing about 150 to 200 kg frui t per tree. The average fruit wcight is 30 to 89 g. It is a latc ripening variety. The fhlits have good keeping quality and can withstand transportation \vell to distant markels. KATHA PHAL. It is also a late ripening vari~ty. The fruit is small to medium in size. One side of the fruit remains greenish at maturity Oclober-December whereas the other half develops radish yellow lingc. I t has the highest T.S.S. content, i.c pci' cent, whereas acidity is also towards hlgher side (0. 77 pel' emt). The avcragc fruit weight is )0.0 g. This variety is a medium cl'oppcr with 80 to 100 kg li liit pci' tree. GOIJA. This is thc earliest ripening variety. The fruit is medium to large because of various strains in this vadcty, The Ihdls are roun dish in shape. Tlte averagc weight of fruit is 14 to 17 g. T.S.S. range from 17 to 19 pet' cent and acidity from 0,406 to 0.51 pel' cent. The colour of fruit at full ripe stage becomes golden yellow. It is a juicy varlety and possesses good flavour. Il yields BO to loo kg fruit per tree. KAll'fILI. This is a mid season variety. The fruit is n1<>dium in size, oval in shapg and has t\ tapering apex. Fruit pulp is soft and sweet with a T.S.S. of IB per cellt and acidity 0.5 PCl' cent. The average fruit weight of this variety is g. It gives an average yielel of 100 to 150 kg pel' plant. Pt"opagation Propagation of hcr is done hy T-budeling. The seedlings are raised from s{cds of wild bel' trees (<:;;;i/,/,"s rolulldifolia L.) which are sown during spring season aftel' fresh e"traetioll in well prepared nursery beds in lines (30 X 30 em apart). Germination takes within 3 to 4 weeks. The scedlings make a t.pid growth and they at tain bucldablc size in al)ollt -I- IllOTl,lhs. Shield or l' budding is practised. The best tinu:. of budtting i\i either spring or lwo months before winter. One way is raising the seedlings in n.ursc1'y beds and then budding them. The other way is planting the srcds in the fields itself and budding is clone in silu. The plants from nursery arc to be taken out with utmost care i.e. with good earth hall so that the roots arc nol dan1agcd. To get good income, a planting distance of B xo metres should be kept. Training and pruuing The bel' plants should be pl'operly trained during tlte first Z or 3 years to build up a strong framework. The trees start bearing fruit 2 or 3 years after planting. In fourth year the tree starls bearing Jlol'mal crop. The fruit is borne in t]lc axil of leaves on young growing shoots of the current year. Hence pruning is necessary every year to induce sufficient new growth so a::; to ge t good crop over Ihe years. Heading back of 25 PCI' cent growth when the trees enter into dormancy (summer) along with the removal of diseased, dcad, broken and cross branches for gelting good yields and quality fruits. Manuring ami fertiuzation A fllll-grown Irec should be givcn 50 kg pci' trec well-rotlen farmyard U1 allure during dormant period. ) n addition one kg of nitrogenous fertilizer per tree should be applied in two splil doses, once during rainy

74 'GOOd habits-of course! Like his marked preference for quality hybrids developed by Mahyco r,esearch '. MahVco hybrids increase his produce, line hi. (,~ pockets with handsome profits and his flc'~wld,\!!!llles. Buy the ~st=buv Mahyco_. /"" Early maturing, hlgfi yielding, downy mildew resistant, mah"4co MBH Bajr. hybrid... - ~ ~... for good yield...". -1 If M-.b. In only 110 day.,'--, For a revolutionary Cotton yield -". mah\foo MeH-1 MeH-1f tncih{po Fora bumper Jawarcrop '/ MMH.. 1 mah"4co \ ~hvbrjd MSH-33 l MSH-37I l'1li ~~... Jowar hybrid.'... ~- ).Ivlaharashtra Hvbrid Seeds.' Co. Ltd I ". P. O. IlOX NO.27."::,._ SARDAR PATEL MARO,j JALANA _ ' ["dian Horticulture

75 season and second at the time of fruit set. Irrigation It requires very little ll'l'lgation, However, two il'l'jgations after frui t set with an interval of one month further improve the yield and quality. Peats F,'uit fl y ~ nd leaf eating caterpillars arc two lilain pesls. Spray of Rogor 30 EC (dimethoate) 3 JIll in 300 litrcs of water controls Ii'ui t fly, wllerea, 750 g SOVill 50 per cent (Car baryl) in 250 litres of water control, the caterpillars. Disease8 Only Powdery m ildew is a serious disease. T he disease can be ccn t ro ~ Icd by 3 or 4 sprays of Karathanc (50 g in ICO Ii!r<'s of wmer). I' irst spray before flowering and remaining sprays should be done after fruit set depending upon the severity of infection. Variety TABLE l. NUTRITIVE VALUE OF BER FRUIT Umran 1. 5' ~ Kathn Phal 1.33 Cola Knithli 1,27 TAIJLE 2. Species Cl'Ilde Total Redllciug NOI I ~ Ascorbic Mimmls jjforciti sligars sill tars retiflcillk acid (mg 100(1 pilip basjs) (%) (%) (%) sligar ('''g 100g) (%) p K Cn Mg (Zi.!iplm.r maurit jolla L.) ma ture IC:i\ves. (Zi;:.iphlls mnlll'il iqli(i L.) Average of a ll scasons. <.{:)dpjuu 11/ltnllllllarra L.) matures leaves } , 'f l.1 2B. O S NUTRITIVE VALUE 01' BER LEAVES AS CA1'!'LE PEED ON DRY-lvll\TI'ER nas IS (%) Cmde Cnuld (Nitrogell- Ether Imteill jibre Ire, ('xlrael e:dmcl) B I. N Total ash Cn p ! 0, ROSES BOUGAINVILLEAS DAHLIAS and CHRYS ANTH EMUM S HYBRID CARNATIONS, MARIGOLDS, PETUNIAS, ETC, HYBRID AMARYLLIS, GLADIOLUS and Flowe ring and Orname ntal Trees for Shades, Roadside Plantations, Avenues and Parks Available In bulk and retail CALL OR WRITE ITMADPUR NURSERY P.O, AMARNAGAR, FARIDABAD Telephone : 82 : / 3 Mil e isto ne Delhi -M athura Road, behind Have l! Ju st 20 minutes drive from Connauht Cirous; New Delhi O c to b, r - D e c, m b c r 19 8:2 9

76 RANBIR SINGH. D.P. CHOPflA and ASHOK K. GUPTA Regional Station, National Buroau of Plant Genotic Resources, C.A.Z R.I.. Campu$, Jodhpur Some Carissas For Western Rajasthan ARISSA is a minor fruit plant of sub-tropical regions. C The genus has more than 30 species, originating in South An'icn, Auslralia, Asia and Malay". Difrerent species of Carina arc grown for Ihell' small berl'y-like edible fruits and closely br~nchcd spinous hedges. Some of the species arc also cultivated for ornamental purposes in the gardens. Two exotic collections of Carissa species namely Carissa edlilis (E.C ) and Carissa gralldijlara (E.C ) were introduced from the United States of America at the Regional Sialion of Na.tional Bureau of Plant Genet.ic Resources, Jodhpul' (Rajasthan). The average annual rainfall in Jodhpur district is 354 mm. The temperaturc varies between 90 C and during SUll'lll1cr. But owing to xerophytic nature of the two species, plants have very well ndapj'cd IIndcI Jodhpur conditions. 4 The genus Carissa belongs to family ApoCYl1aecac. The botanical characteristics and economic imporlance of eaoh species is mentioned here. The first plant is a smnll tree wilh woody) light grey straggling Slem. A plant of 7 to S years reaches 10 A C.,i{fQ IIWlrfif/or. pl~nl with flowers up to 300 to 350 em in height, Leaves arc simple, ovate, acuminale with ent ire margin and are persist(;j1t, ligllt green in colour with coarse hairy surfaces. The leaf blade size varies from 5 em to 9.5 em in Icngth :.md 3.0 em to 4.5 em in widlh. The branches heal' strong tltol'lls, of len bifurcated, up to 4 em long. F lowers arc whi le, sccnted, borne on axillary cymes in clusters of 7 to 23. l;'l'uit is oval with persistent calyx. The fruit cololll' changes ft0111 green 10 purple and black with maturity. Each n'uit contains 2 to 7 small seeds. Fruits at c harvested tw'icc in a. year during spdng and rainy seasons. The plants of 7 to 8 years age have yielded 1200 to 1600 gm of mature fruits in a year lliider Jodhpur conditions. The unripe fruits have SOUl' and astringent taste whjch become sweci on l'jpcnjj1g. Vn~ ripe fruils can be used for making pickles, chutneys and sauces. Ripe fruits can be used in preparations of jams and jellies. Carissa gralldiflora is Ihe secolld plant. This species is all indigenous plant of South Africa. It is sma ll shrub with dark green, thick shining leaves. The plants of 7 to 8 years age attain a height of 100 cm to 160 CIll. It js slow growing species with shy-bearing habit. T he bush is spiny with sho1'l', thick, bifurcnted thorns. Leaves arc simple) ovate, acute with taporing base. The leaf blade varies from 2.75 em to 4.55 eln in length and to 3.45 em in width. The flowers arc large, white, sweet-scented and borl1~ on terminal branches either solitaty 0 1' in clusters of2 OJ' 3. However, fruit setting is poor. The fruit is large, bright red with papery skin a nd contains 12 to 17 sma.1l circular st,!cds. Tile fruil' ripens irregularly tllroughout the year. This irregular habit of fruiting is disadvantageous froin the commercial point of view, unless plants arc grown in large numbers. The fruit colour changes {"om green to dark red on.c.a.z.r:i., Jo,lhpur I"diat! Horticrlltllre

77 TAnLE r. notan!oal CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO CA RISSA SI'ECIIlS Plal/t. habit 11utrage plrllll Lerif5 l11fac~ No. of flowl!fs FruitiJlg period Fmilcolorll"011 A~leragc No. of Cnl'issn s/jecies height (elll) 011 ear/, driller (mollflts) ri/u'iiiilk sadsjjrfl it CnrilSllullliis Tan shruh or 325 l"hiry 1-23 Jan.Fcb ~1"Id Dark purple (1). C ) small trce Aug-Scp 01' black CnriSJflgrfl/u/ijiora Bushy shrub 125 Smooth 1-3.J al1 lq Dcc Dark rt'd 15 (E. C ) TABLE Jr. PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS 01' TIVO CARISSA FRUITS AIJtl"agefi'lIil Avcmgefillit Average/I'ujl si<!t T.S.S_ Acidity" Vital/dnC Cal'iss(ls/lCciu lijtigltt (elil) Ilof,mlt (c, c.) {t llgfli X diamejer (%) (%) (",g/ioug) ({/II) Carwlledlllis xI (E.C: ) CarimlgTrmdij/oya (E.C: ) 2.51 x2.3' i\cidity was determined in terms of eilde ncid. ripening. Tho mature plants or 7 to a years have produced up to 500 to 600 g of fruit in a year undel' Jodhpul' conditions. T his is one Df the finest ornamental, l1ardy plants for arid and scm.i-arid region.s. The sweet scenled white Rowers anel dark red fruits in a background of dal'k grcen foliage gives a very bcaulifu} look to the plant. 'The ripe fruit is a good source of ascol'ijic acid and is used in m,lking jams, jcjlics and puddings. Di ferent botanical chnractcl'stics of the two species studied under J odhpul' conditions arc li sted in Table- l whereas va.dous physical and chcinical chnt'actcrisdcs orrl'llit, of these lwo speoies harvested during the spring season arc mentioned in Table 2. BOlh the species can be easily propagated li'om seeds. Planls have also been raised 11'0111 cuttings under nursery conditions. Carissa pla.n.ls arc hardy and once established they thrive wejj wilhout irrigation for long periods. Seedlings arc transplanled at a distance of 100 em to I50 em when grown. for hedges. Plants do not require much attention except for light pruning to give shape to the plants. Both thc species arc frec from serious pests and diseases under Jodhpur contt\tions. Under arid conditions, where only a limited number of species of fruit and orna.mental plants can be grown, these two species have great potential and call be raised wilhont much efforts. READ 'INDIAN FARMING' A plant of C.rissa edulis October - D C6 C 111 bet J 982

78 W'ko doesn't Like Vegetables so Fresh and Luscious? "t3r 1\ But to Reap them you have got to Prot~ct your Plants from Pests and Diseases with the help of.. oj.,..., ASPEE PLANT PROTECTION EQUIPMENTS MARUTI FOOT SPRAVER CODE; GR.l0 Tho right sprilyer for orchards, field crops, gardens, plantations. Spraying can bo done wlth one or two spray boom::lwith 8S many as 6 nozzles. All forg ed brass pa(is, brass ball valves. CODE: MRI 6 For spraying 'laid crops. paddy. sugarcane. cotton. groundnut, jowar. Can al80 bo used for spraying orchards,coffee and rubber plantation. All working parts are IUbricete~~v ~i~ bath.,"'" CODE: PS 12 Most ideal for spraying over plantations. garderis, row crops and vegetables. Fitted with PVC piston that develops maximum pressure with minimum number of strokes. forged bras, pans ond brass ball vllive. 2 discharge lines can also bd attach ad. 400 Telex : ASPW IN PHONE: Gram: 'K ILLOCUST' Malad, BOMBAY 12 Indian Horliculillu

79 PRESERVING GINGER ALL THE YEAR ROUND VIJAY SETHt and J.e. ANAND Division ot Horticul!uro and Fruit TeChnology, I.A.R.I., New Delhi G INDER ( <:;illgib,1' officina/e) has been unclei' culthm lioll since long. Its total production was 71,700 tonnes during The main states growing ginger include K.crala, N. l~. stales, West Bengal, Orissa and Himachal Pradesh. The pleasant and al'oma~ tic odour of ginger is owing to an essential oil. The pungent principles of ginger inclllded non-volatile Ol'-ClIcumenc oleoresin containing gingcl'ol as its fllain constituent. Ginger is mainly used as a spice and condiment either in fresh or in the form of dric.d gingcr. Ginger is valued in mcclicinc as a carminative and stimulant to the gastro-intcstinal tract:. The rhizome has also been found to be a source of proteolytic enzyme. In pulses and vegetables cooking ginger is used a s a spice.. Ginger preserve or candy, pickle, ginger-based soft drinks and ginger powder are some of ti'c otber outlets fr0111 this condi. ment. Being a perishable commodity, ginger is available cheaply only for a rew months after harvest. During storage at room as well as low temperatures it suffel's extensive deterioralion and shrinkage, thus becoming unfit for fresh consumplion. Using a simple method the housc",... ivls can now preserve ginger chcaply throughout the year. The met1lod consists of steeping l'hizom.es in a solution containing salt, acetic acid and potassium metabisulphite. The ingreciietlts of this soilltion are quito cheap and easily available in (he market. Gingel' can be easily October-Dscember 1982 stored in clean glass 01' pol'c... lc:iin jars in this solution. Select fully ripe and sound gingcr rhizomes, wash and peel them. Cut rhizomes into smal! pieces and pack thcm in the container or jar up to its neck. Add the following solution anel fill the j ars up to the brim. Dipping so/liti"" Salt 50 g Glacial acetic acid (ConcClltl'ated vi negar) 12 IllI Potassium mctabisulpltite 1 g V\'ater I litre The solution is made by mixing all the ingredients in water. Any plastic, glass 01' stainless stecl container call be lised for making the solution. Strain the solution through a Inllslin cloth to remove any extraneous pa.rticles. F01" preserving one kg of ginger rhizome you will nced abolll 1 to Ii lit.e, of solution. Tllis ratio could Val,,), slightly depending on the container's shape and size of gingcr rhizome. Afler filling the jal's up to the brim, scal thcm with tight lids and make the container airtight by putting molten paraffin wax on tlle lid. The packed jal's may prefera. bly be stored in a cool and dark place in your ki tehen. This does not l'cquire. st.orage in a refri~ gel'atol'. The stored ginger can be removed and used from timc to lil11c directly adding into the salads or for cooking PUl'poses as well as in pickles. There is no need for washing the Ringer rhizomes as the slight acidity will add to the flavour a.nd piquancy of your vegetable curries. This method will cost 20 to 25 paise only to preserve each kilo gram of ginger. There would not be much loss of eilher tlle OavouJ' 01' othel' pungcncy of ginger dul jng storage and it will remain fresh. for months till you get the fresh ginger crop. 13

80 PubIlOlllltml of Food and Agriculture Organization of the UIlitec1 Natiou AGRICULTURAL AND HORTICULTURAL SEEDS CEREAL SEED TECHNOLOGY WP. Feistritzer (Ed) A Manual of Cereal Seed Production Quality Contro,' and Distribution COCONUT PALM PRODUCTS: THEIR PROCESSING IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES V.E. Grimwood RECOMMENDED INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FOR -canned tomatoes -canned. peaches -canned pineapple -april:()t, peach and pear nectars preserved exclusively by physical means -apple juice preserved exclusively by physical means -tomato juice preserved exclusively by physical means $13.00 $8.25 $14.00 $2.00 $2.00 $2.00 $2.00 $2.00 $2.00 The current Good Offices Committee Conversion Rate Rs to 8 US Dollar Order from: OXFORD BOOK & STATIONERY CO. 17. Park Street CALCUTTA Scindia House NEW DELHI L4 [II diall Ho, ticliirll"

81 A HIGH YIELDING ASHGOURD S. SUNDAflARAJAN and C.R. MUTHUKRISHNAN Faculty of Horticulture, T.mll Nodu Agricultural Univorsity Coimbalore MONG the commcrcial cuitivars A of ashgourd (Bellillcasa hispida) grown in India, a wide range of variability is available in fruit and vegetative characters. Very little attention has yet been paid on. the improvement of this crop. Most of the cullivars arc found in heterozygous condition. For the purpose of evolving a high yielding variety of ashgourd, the available cultivars from the different parts of the country were collected and assessed at the Depurtlnent of Olericulture, Faculty ofhorticultlll'e, Tamil N.du Agricultural University; Coimbatorc, in an intcn~ivc breeding progrmnmc. A large variability in the collection was observed in different characters such as die yield, fruit (shape, size and colour) a.nd maturity period. Inbreeding and individual plant selection was done in eaoh coucction during the subsequent years both in the summer and monsoon seasons. Most of the inbred. were found to possess suf11cient uniformity for Wlcil' different characters aftcr three or foul' generations of inbreeding. FinaIJ y a strain was selected based on the economic charactcrs. This has been released a~ Co. 2 ashgourd. Obnractcra Plant growth is modcl'ately vigorolls, less spreading and has light yellowish green hairy, tem and round peep prominent lobed grcen leaves. The fruits ofthi' variety are small sized (length 40 to 50 cm "I,d breadth 20 to 30cm) long sphorical in shape with white ashy coating all over the li'uit, OetobH-December 1982 weighing liot morc than 3 kg (2.5 to 3.0 kg), light green coloured liesh and less sceded (200 to 300 sccds weighing 25 to 'J.O Il)' It is an early maturing varicly, takes on an average about 85 to 90 days for first harvest of marketable fruits fl'ojn the date of its sowillg. The period of availability of fruits extend from 90 days to 120 days of sowing. This variety was assessed against Co. I dul'illg the years 1975 to It gave very good I)erformance in both the seasons. The mean. yield of marketable fruits was 34.4 tonnes pci' hectare compared to 23.9 tonncs pci' heclare in Co. 1 ashgolll'd with a crop dlll'ation of 150 days. It is adaptable for high density planting with a spacing of2.5x2.0 metres (2000 pits X 2 plal1t8 =4000 plants/ hectare). III Tamil Na.du, two crops can be taken in a year. The first one is taken from Junc-July to September October and the second crop in Dee~l11bel -Janlla.'Y to March April. Ckncrally, one and a half to two kg of seed is sufficient to sow one hectare. It can be grown on all types of soil but sandy loam or loam arc most suitable COl' good cultivation. At the time of soil preparation, it is al[vantageous to apply 25 tonlles of farmyardmanurc pci' hectare (10-12 kg of farm yarclmanul'efpit.) 90 kg of I1l'ea, 180 kg of superphosphate and 100 kg of muriate of potash 40:30:60 kg/hal. 'The seeds arc sown in hills 60 em apart (2 metrc,) on both tho slopes of channels prepared at a distance of about 2i lnctrcs from each other (75 em). Two to three plants should be allowed to grow in each hill (01' 2000 pits at 2 01' 3 plants pel' pit ( ' GOOO plants per hectare). Halfdle dose ofn should be applied a t sowing and another half after 30 days of sowing when plants attain suflici()fit vegotative growth. Irrigation is n<:eded once in 10 days (once ill a week during sulilmer). The plants arc allowed to trial on the ground itself. Two 01' tlu'ec weedings at fortnightly intervals aftel' 3 weeks of sowing. Ga.p filling is to be tlone ~ftcr 10 days of sowing. Thinning of plants at 2 or 3 pcr pit or hill after tlt. ce weeks of so\"\'il1g, if necessary. Regarding plant protection, two 01' three ronnds of spraying with Parathion 01' Mctasystox in combina.. tion with Dithanc M <J.5 01' Copper fungicides Le., Parathion and 2.5 g of Dithano in one litre of water could be spmycd against the incidence of pests and diseases. Sprays should be 0 to 10 days before harvesting of fmits. The fil'st harvest COJnmcnccs in 90 days and foul' harvest, in tlle final month at monthly intervals and completed in 129 days. Average yield is 34.4 t/ha. The seeds of this new variety Co. 2 ashgollrd can be obtained from the National Seeds Corporation and froll1 the Head, Dcp'artment of Olericulture, Faculty of HOl'ticulture, Tamil Nacln Agrlcuhll1'al University, CoimbalOl'e. 15

82 GLADIOLI CORMS AVAILABLE FULLY RESTED AND RELIABLE GLADIOLI CORMS OF ASSORTED COLOURS AS ALSO HARDY RED VARIETY AT ATTRACTIVE RATES FOR WHOLESALE SUPPLY, PLEASE INQUIRE WITH A.P. PRODUCTS CO. 516, Bombay Market, Tradeo Road, B01tlBAY Telephone: , Tele,~ Oil 6380 BMC IN BOOST YIELDS OVER 40 0 /, AND SAVE WATER UPTO 70 /, ~ t) WITH wav n WAVIN - POL YENE DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MOS T E FFICI ENT ME I H 00 OF CON IROLLED IRRIGATION Also,.. Save laboor upto 90 % Sovo fortilizqr upto 50 /0 RQduco plant mortality to almort zero Advenc" tjr~t YIQldino Cltloo~t by ano 'Qa~on SOVIl gnq,roy upto 70 % ' Excellent Results Ach leved On Gouvo,Coconut,Citru\"PQQch and othqr orchard.. Vi{lt our drip damollrlrctlonlar'm'tof N.Oelht Madra, and Hydorobod Systems Are Specially DeSigned For Ordlord..,Vineyard,;, Row Cropt And \lel'jetablcn: For More Details Please Contact, WAVIN INDIA LIMITED Irrrgation Sys tems Division 106 Rohil Hou", 3, Tolst.:i Mur~, New O.lh,-11000l, Phone, , Telex: , lol'gram INDWAVIN 16 [,,,lian Hortic~ll"rs

83 G Co 3 Amaranthus carries high leaves and stem ratio REEN leafy vegetables in and Co. 2 which are erect types gcncral form arc the cheapest suitable for 'tender greens' which source of minerals and vitamins. are normally hal'vestcd at 20 to 30 The important mineral constituents days after sowing. are catcium, phosphorus and iron. However, this necessitates lhe The vitamins of importance arc vitamins A and D. These nutrients pl'oblem "f freq ucnt sowing lor continuous yic) d of greens. could be easily obtained by inclusion The housewives and kitohen of adequate green leafy vegeta bles hl the diet a.t least to <1n extent gardeners desire to have valletlcs which could be clipped at periodical of 100 to 125 g pel' day pel' adult. intervals for comparatively long Amaranthus as a major group of green leafy vegetables is widely used by all classes of people and its value bas becn very much apprcciatcd by the nutrient conscious people. time without necessitating frequent sowing. With this objective in view, critical evaluation of the germplasm for such types with profuse bl'anching charactet's which would Improvenu~nt programmo respond favourably to periodical Crop improvement programme ill cuttings) resulted in tile identification amaranthus envisaged in the Faculty of the Culture AS3, which of Hortioulture, Tamil Nadu Agri. has been reeantly released as Co. 3 cultural University, Goimbatorc amaranthus. has resulted in the identification of two improved stl'ains namely Co. *Faculty ofhorlicuhure, T"mil Nadu Agr i~ cultural University, Coimbntol'e. The n.ew strain This strain is highly suitable for kitchen garden and large scale cultivation and continuous supply October-December A NEW AMARANTH US FOR CLIPPING M. KADER MOHIDEEN, K.G. SHANMUGAVELU and C.R, MUTHUKRISHNAW of luscious succulent greens is assured for over three months. Co. 3 gives a yield of 31 tonnes "f greens pel' hot, (2,5 Lo 3.0 kg/ m' plot) as compared to the local non~dcscript cultivar wi th a yield 01' only 191'0nnos (1.5 to 2,0 kg/ill' plot) and with an increase of :'8.0 PCI' cent over the local variety. The first clipping ef greens could be commenced 20 days n ft el' sowing and Lhrl'cartcl' at weekly intervals. A total of 10 clippings can he had in a duralion of 70 days at weekly intel~vuls. Another ravolll'able attribute of this cultu)'e is its hig)) leaf/stem ratio, exceeding Q.OJ wltich adds to the acceptability and palatability. The erect growing types hitherto available I'cc:o)'d a leaf/st,em,'atio of only I. 0 to Co. 3 amaranthus grows to a bcight of90 to 100 em with 12 to 15 branches. Unclippcd plants flower 17

84 in 35 to 40,I;,ys afler sowing and set seeds at days. The scecl yield is 15 to 20 g/plan t. The seeds nl'c black in colour and medium sized (2500 to 2800 seeds/g). Co. 3 is also nutritious, containillg mg ascorb ic acid, II. Q4. Jng of carotene in 100 g rrcsh lnattcl', and PCl' cent crude fibre, pci' cent protein, 0.47 per c nt phosphorus, 3.2 per cent potassium, 2.48 per cent calcium, 1.35 per cent magncsium and 0.84 pel' c,nl iron in 100 g of dry matter. Growing method Season of growing: throughout the year PI'cral'a don of field: Prepare the field to a fine tilth and beds of 2.0 Jll X I.5 III size are suitable for it. Sowing: Sow the seeds in lines spaced at 20 cm. Thin out at a spacing of 20 em in the line 15 to 20 days aflel' sowing. Leave one 01' two plant holes. Seed rate: 3 0'(' 4 g pel' 3 m', (2 mx 1.5m) 3 kgjha. 11alluring: 25 tonnes of faxl11yal'd mallu1'c+n, P and K at 75: 25: 25 kg/lla For 3 m 2.' Apply at sowing 8 kg of farm yard manure; 120 g of ammonium sulphate, 50 g supcrphosphate and 15 g muriate of potash. Irrigation: The first watering to be given with a rose can. Fut'ther irrigations to he given oncc in a week with a gentle flow of water. Plant protection: Apply BHO 10 pel' cent dust around the bed to guard against ants and termites. Spray Malathion at 1.5 to 2 ml pel' litre of water to control leaf webber and other leaf eating caterpillars. Spray Dilhnne M-45 01' other coppel' fungicide at 1 kg pci' 500 litres of water to control white rust. Harvest : First harvest at 20 days aflcr sowing. Further clippings once in a week. The seeds of Co. 3 amal'anthus can be obtained from the Professor and Head, Department of Olericullure, Faculty of Horticulture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Ooimbatol'e. READ Decelnber 1982 Special Issue of 'Indian Farming' on Arecanut GROWTH PRODUCTION PROFIT SUKSHMIN Z CHElATEO ZINC SPRAY ~ PAUSHAK LIMITED ALEMBIC ROAD. VADOD"RA J9D Increases yield,. Improves quality.. More returns on investment "Removes Zinc deficiency by quick assimilation in all parts. * Most useful in dry & irrigated 11 No fear of Zinc farming fixation. 18 [tldian Horticulture

85 Tray-packod apples FIBREBOARD PACKAGING FOR FRUITS J. C. ANAND and S. B. MAINI Division of Horticulture and Fruit Technology, I.A. R.I., Now Deihl India over-exploitation of natura.l l'csolll'ces have crcatcd imbalance in the ecological system, One of the major causes of this alarming sit.uation is the indiscriminate feiling of forest trees to meel the over-increasing fuel, construction and packaging requirements. Our fores.t resources have already dwindled pcr cenl of the total area. as against the world average of 33 pc,' cent. 'nlis has created a lot of serious problems such as soil erosion, silting of river beds and prestigious dams. Packnging needs Packaging needs of fruits nre increasing every year and it consumes a large part of Ollr forest resources. Immediatc attention is, therefore, October-December 1982 called for to save this wood and find out a suitable subslitule based on ahernatc resolll'ces to n1t~ct the packaging needs of horticulturc industry. The total production of important fhli(s which need packaging for their post-harvest handling is around 13.6 million tolllles. Itis estimated that for apples alone about 40 La 50 million wooden cases (20 kg capacity) arc needed each year. 'I'hcl'c is no doubl that a crisis has been created with regard to availability of wood in applc growing areas. Requirement of wood during the next 20 years 01' so have been worked out in respect of apples alone: lakh eu metres , 26 la kh OLI metres lakh ell met"gs lakh ell ll1ctrcs lakh ell met,'es In accordance with lhe studies conducted at AgJ jcult ural Econom ic Research Centre, Himachal Pradesh University, the demand for wood for packing cases for apples will out.tril) the ava.ilability by For packing all the fruits 15 tim<-s tile quantity of wood estimated for apples is requircc\ and the availabi. lity of the same may be rnuch more difficult fol' the fr"its 10 be packed in the plains, Forest resources cannot be imm-c~ diately generated. Even if quick growing species are planted on a large scalc as a orash pl'ogr:tlllmc, it will take 20 lo 25 years to grow them. By that lime both the horti. cultural and forest resources may 19

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87 be in a perilous state. TIle boxes CQI:rugatcd fibre board boxes have been substituted for the woodell cases for packing of fruits and vegetables ill the developed world. These are manufactured from kraft paper which is obtained from wood pulp mixed with other cellulose wastes such as paddy straw, wheatstraw) bagasse etc. Compared with a wooden box, lhe corl'llgated fibre board box of t.he same capacity will consume only 40 pel' cent wood besides having the o ther advantages such as it will have only 20 to 30 pel' cent of the weight of the wooden box thus nlaking a saving in the (Tansport cost. Secondly it would cause less bruising and othel' damagc to the fruits and could be easily handled and. sufficiently strong to bear a load of 7 to B laycrs in a stack. It could be recycled into pulp and could be easily filled, closed and idcntifled. It could be bcautifully printed at low cost and is a better pilfcr proof. Such a box can be properly punched and ventilated to provide appropriate atmospheric control and can have an intct'nalionally acceptable demand for e'xport. It docs not deteriorate OVel" time. Seeing the urgency of the matter the Directorate of Horticulture, H imachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation Limited (HPMC); the Federation of Corrugated Box Mfg. Association of India and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Dclhi, collaborated two years back to select, design and fabricate the best corrugated fibre board carl'on used in applc tracle olttside and to get it fabricated in India for tlse by HPMC and by others for local and export trade of apples. Ultimately a carton from New Zealand was selected, necessary modifications in its design to suit local conditions wcre~- made and 50,000 of these boxes were got made October-DlCemb" 1982 through a boxes manufacturing company of India. Large scale experiments were conducted by HPMC to sec the performance of these cartons for local traqe as well as for export. The JARl likewise carried out cxtensi vo sludies to evaluate these cartons for Itheir suitability dut'ing trans-shipment, storage and marketing of apples vis avis their wooden counterparts. COl'I'ugatcd fibre board packaging cartons were found satisfactory during transit and storage in conventional cool stores. The lray packed apples in these cartons suffered only 3 to 5 pel' cent, bruising damage as compared to ~O to 35 per cent encountered ~n conventionri wooden boxe~. The quality of fruits otherwise was satisfactory. ' The high co.t With aj[ the obvious.. dvantagc the Inost impol'tant boh~cll cck in the intl'oduclion of CFB carton has been their high cost whioh is around Its 15 as against Rs 5 to Rs 7 for the wooden llox. Thc la rge price diflcrence in the two types of contnincl's is owing to certain basic allomalics. The wood from the forests in some states is available ('0 the 'right.hoidel's' at a nominal cost. In Himachal Pradesh this works out to an indirect subsi dy of about 30 per cent in the cost price. On th e contrary the CI'B boxes suitei' a massive dose of taxation in the form o f central and state levies such as (i) 40 per cent central excise under item 17 (2) on ra.w material i.e. kraft papal' lised fol' fabricatio n of box, (ii) eight p CI' cent ge neral duly centra l tariff item 6B if total production elececds Rs 30 lakh, and 5 per cent on production between 15 to 30 lakhs, (iii) 4 pel' cent Central Sales Tax with (0' f01'l11 declaration or 10 per cent otherwise on paper and an additional 4 PCl' cent with 'e' f01'111 or 10 per cent othcnvisc when boxes arc sold. Thus where there is an clement of 30 pel' cent subsidy on the raw material used in wooden boxes l there is a levy of 56 pel' cent ( ) on the Ihbrication of CPB Apples packod in fibreboard box baxe,. More than half of the cost of lhe laller boxes is thus composed of government levies, Until these anom alies arc removed there: is liule chance for the introduction of CI,'B boxes as a viable subslilule in place of hilherto used wooden cases. The point of great concern is tha l by llsing woodon boxes each 21

88 year we arc exhausting 2~ tijllcs mit' nat ional forest resources o n packag w ijlg of fruits. In othol' words, by sw it ching over to CFI3 boxes, we can immcdia(cly curta"il our wood requirements to 40 per Cent and tha.t is the reason for substituting the wooden boxes Wit11 CFD bo)';cs all the world ove r morc thnl'l a decade ago. T hese boxes should be popularised after asccd aining I heir sui ta w bility fol' p acking val'iolls o ther fruits and vegetables. TAllLE 1. PRODUOTION OF IMPORTANT FRUITS AND PACKING CASES REQUIRED ( 1980) Fruit 1. Apple 2. Bnnana 3. CilrLls 4. Gauva 5. Grape 6. Mango 7. Peach, poar, plum, cherry, litchi A11llrwl Production ( ,/IIes) Total: apricot, IO'l 13,754 Fol' 7,,,, 09;%8 bltm1ft6.apply $IQaTnp f!os8ht-aflu,.,,_, READ 'THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES' 22 /"dial! Horticulture

89 A NEW CLONAL ROOTSTOCK FOR APPLES M.M. SINHA, D.N. AWASTHI and A.S. MISHAA Horticultura l Experiments and Training Cantr&, Choubattio, Ranikhot ROPAGATION of apple plants on seedling rootstocks of P apples is the only commercial practice adopted in our country. Due to the scionie effect, the val'iablc stock vigour docs not allow uniformity in plants thus prepared. IVlorcovcl'J we fa il to ava..il of olhel' beneficial effects of the clonal rootstocks such as disease 01' pest rc!:iistancc, controlled vigour and precocity in bearing when we go on using seedlings as stocks. Naturally the attention of the temperate horticultlii'ists was attracted townrds this problem and the work on selection of a sui table rootstock for the 'Royal Deliciou,' apple culiiv,u' was initiated during the ye't.i The increasing populalion 01\ the one hand altd the diminishing area under agt,icultul'e on the other was Roval Dollclous apple plant on MM106 clona l rootstock October-December 1982 a),o a point ill mind, only semi dwarfing a.nd dwarfulg l'ootstock, viz. M9, M7, M26, MMI06 and M4 were compa, ed. 'rhc diflcrent stocks were known for their rcquire~ ments in respect of spacing, therefore, a constanl area of 32 m' was allotted to each 'tock. This area could accommodate 8 plants of Roya.l Delicious apple on M9 stock, 6 plants on M26 and 2 plants each on MMI06 andm'f. Thus, the spacing given 10 each plant comes to 2 x 2m form9, 2.3 X 2.3m for M26 and 4x4m for MMI06, M7 and M4 rootslocks. The whole set lvas repeatecl four thnes and 'Golde\\ DdtdQ\.\$,' cutl,.lvtw was planted as pollini1.cl'. The observations 'which were recorded foi' 7 ycal's I'evenfed many interest iug findings, out of which lnain findings arc enumeratecl here, Plant vigour M9 ( em) proved the dwarfc,t of all the stocks, whereas M7 ( em) followed by MM 106 (169,68 cm) was the most vigorous. The most vital points against M9,toek were ils brittle roots wldeh were very few in number and their shallow I'ooting behaviour. These roots were unable to perform the dual duty of holding ti,e plant firmly at ti,e ground as well as absot'bing th.e nutrition from the soil. The plant' had to be provic\ed stakes instead and irrigation facilities were essential. In the absence of as,ured irrigation, M9 could not be used as a stock. MMIOG ( em) rootstock on the other hand, could do without stakes, had.good number of roots which could provide anchorage as well as sufficient nutrition to the plants and were found to be free from woolly aphid insect as welj as collar rot d isca.o;c. Whereas, M7 was the next best after MMI 06 but this stock did not e'1joy the frcedom from insect pcsts, Thcreforc, fi'om vigour as woll as resistan.ce viewpoints, MMI06 happci\cd to be U,e best stock out of all. Fruiting and fruit quality The records on fruiting were also quite intcresting. MMI 06 produced the highest values in respecl of single fruit weight, fruit size a' wei 1 as yield per trce. This 23

90 ~ttributc proved the en~ c tivcncss of this stock fr01u economica l po int of view nlso. It had shorter juvenile period than the plaats grafted on scedlings and bearing commenced in the nfch yeai'. These results were compared with simila1' work conducted at Ihe East Mailing Research Slalion, Kent (England) and t.hose arc now being carried out at M ashobra (Himahcal Pradesh). The results of the present exp criments were found to be similar to the above two. MM log is rcporled to do bellcl' thall M7 in fertile soils and was a.t par with :N17 in unil'rigatcd soils. M9 was less space requiring and plants grafted 011 this stock bear ea rlier thnn those 011 MMI06) but its performance was not up to lhe mal'k owing La its poor root system and susceptibilily to drought conditions. The plants on MMI06 stock produced sufficient number of flowers and fruit of maximum lenglh and diamctel' as compared to other stocks. The weight of the fl'llils produced by the apple plants 011 this stock was also higjlcf than others. Propagation of the rootstock MMI06 was an easy rooter in the stool beds and no plant growth regulator tl'catmen t Was required for its rooting at this centrc. T'he rooted shoots arc cut down at 15 cln from ground ]cvel ill. winters when UICY have established in the stool bcds. They throw out many shoots in April. Moist soil is heaped around these S1100(' keeping the tips open in May. A second heaping is again required. The horticultural workers oflhis centre are now busy in esta.blishing the blocks of diffcl'ent conlmercial apple euitivars on MMI06 slack in u.p. hill disll'iets which could be a model to the ol'chal'dists of t.he temperate region. Preparation of plante The rooted shoots of MMI06 arc removed from the slool becls during December and are stored in troncllcs. The scion varieties arc also collected and stored. Grafting by tongue method is done 15 em above the collar zone and union i. tied with 400 gauge thick alkathene strips during February. The grafled scion. are planted in well prepared bed. at the spacing of 10 cm from plant to plant and 25 to 30 em from row to row. The so il around the plants is firmly pressed and irrigated. In April the grafts sprout. In order to economise the usc of irrigation watel', the mulches of oak leaves or black polythene have also been found useful. From April to September the graftecl plants take the growth and whenever ' tile union of the,tock and scion is thought to be strong enough, the tying matel'ial should be removed otherwise it may hal'm the gr()willg plant. These plants arc removed and sold 01' pj,tntcd in the coming winters. Apart from other good characters MM106 stock requires less space, bears earlier than seedling stocks and is tolerant to mild droughts. It is a good root.tock for 24 Stooling method slight hcavy to light soils. Keeping above good attributes of Ihe MMI06 rootstock it could thus be recommended as a roolstock for apple cultivation in our country. The plants raised all seedling roolstocks should not conlinue to be taken up as commercial practice since the plants raised on them are found susceptible (0 diseases and pests and have variable vigour. MMlO6 stocks are available at Ihis centre in Jimitcd nulllbcr as well as at the National Hosto";um, H.P University, Kotkhai Regional Research Stalion, Ma.hobra al~d at the IARI, Regional Research Station, Simla. IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE IN 'INDIAN HORTICULTURE' l"dia" Horticllittlrl

91 AN AGRO-TECHNIQUE FOR PAPAYA PRODUCTION J. PRASAD N. D. Univorsity of AgriCUItUfO and Technology Kumar Gani. Faizabad P APAYA. has become widespread as an. impol'tallt remunerative fruit crop of rncl i ~) which is most ly gl"own in those parts DC the country which arc free [!'om frost lm'l. ards and having a.verage an nu al YoinfaH, Its C\,\t\~\fation i.s 1)\'<:\cti5cd as commercial orchard, filler crop, kilchen garden, home garden 01' Il.ull'ilion garden. l)apaya fruits have gol more Ulilily [l'0111 u,,!'ipe to ripe stages. Its fruit arc cansum.cd as ripen fresh fruit as well as in different tastes of table dishes. 'I'he ripen ft'utts arc rich source of vitamin A (2020 I.V.), carbohydrates (10%) and miner"l matlers (0.5%). Besides these nutrients, it also contains vitamin 0, thiamine, riboflavine and niacin. Unripe fruit is rich source of papain which ]las 1110rc impol'lai\ce as medicinal and inclus trial uscs. It is llsed as digc..stive enzymes and treatment of chronic and infantile diarrhoea, di phthcria~ skin lesions, eczema, lncntai weakness, p!orosis, ringworm and other intestinal infect ions prevailing in human body. In comparison to olhel' li'uits, it has got more imp01'tancc because of high nourishing qualities) therapeutic values and industrial properties, but its commercial cultivat ion had hitherto been neglected due Lo cel'tain limitations such as highly susceptible to frost and water-logging conditions, fungal and viral diseases, lack of ideal varieties and efficicn t cultural sclledulc. r n view of these limitations, a new approach of improved "gro-tcchnique is being adopted at N.D. Univcrsity of Agl'icultllrc anei Techonology, Faizabad, for obtaining maximum f,'uit yield pet unit.' ca. The following agl'o-tcchniqucs sho\lld be adopted for its succcssfi,l cull.ivlltion. October December 1982 SELECTION OF nlproved \rarj ~ TIES. Papaya is polygamolls and highly cross-pollinated fruit crops. Pla.nts arc incapable to pl'oucice genetically truc to type pure sceds becausl of sexualliy propagated. 'Thus \'al'iahlc (\\lct instable sex. foi'111s of plan t population discoura ges the acreage under papaya culli., vatioll. A 11.U11l0Cr of varieties of papaya is being loeally grown in dlacrcn.t parts or the country \\lith.. less adaptability, low productivity, pori' fruit quality and highly susceptible to diseases and adverse weather conclitions. The commercial grown variet ies arc COl) Cat) WasIlington, COOl'ghoncy clew, Gl\irati, Pant Papaya, Barwn.nircd clc. None of these varieties possess the following characteristics of an ideal variety of papaya, Stable sex form Dwarfiil1g of stature Early in bearing Single fruit on a peduncle Uluform fnliting OIl a plant Sufficient interspace beiween the fruits Uniform fruit si:l.c, slmpe and colour Medium fruit size and weight (1.50 Lo 2.50 kg) Sweetness and good flavour in ["uits Thicker fruit flesh l'iberlcss pulp and less number of s"ed pet' fruit High yield pci' plant Resistant to fungal an,d viral diseases Tolerance lo adverse weather condit.ions The Regional Researeh Station, JARJ, Pusa, Bihar has recently introduced few promising lines through rigorous selection and sib-ma ting" tecnniqucs which possess most of the aforesaid characteristics of an ideal variety of papaya. The salient!calut'cs or these lines arc described below; PUSA DriLImQus (PUSA 1-15). TJtis is a gynodioceious variety in wjlich two Sex forms i.e. pistillate and hcnn;:l,phroditc nrc found. It stands first in respect ~o bcal'ing and fruit quality, The fruits arc medium size ( kg) with deep orange flesh colout, having excellent fla.vour. This is attracling the consumers and fruit growers to inel-case the acrage of papaya under eastern region of India. PUM MAJESTY (PUSA 22-3). This also is a gyl\odiocc i ou~ line having il1!c1cl1tical sex foj'ms as Pusa Delicious. The fruits are medium in si7.e and round in shape. The fruit flesh solid in text ure and yellowish in eololtl' having goo{l keeping quality and is less prone to the spoilage during the: transportation and storage poriod. The hcrmal'hreli tes plants produce higher fl'ui t yiclcl per planl itl the following year as compared to the female planl'. Plants have al,o tolerance to viral diseases. PUSA GtAN1' (PusA-I-4 5V). This is a dioecious variety a.nd pla.nt bears fruits one molt c height. It. growth is very fast and appears in giant plant type. The base of the plant tl'lmk is thiekel' and solid in structure. The plants witllstand strong winds and storms. Th.us, this may be more suit able for cultivation in areas where strong wind velocity is morc frequcnt during the summer and rainy seasons. Fruits have attraclivc big size a.nd weight ranging from 2.50 to 3.50 kg per fmil. It can also be used for vegetable an.d canning inc\uslrics. PUSA DWARF (Pus D). This is also a dioccious varic ty having dwarf stature and more 25

92 precocious in bearing. The entire condilions. Spraying of 5 :5:50 predict the SexeS at the nurscl'y plant population shows uniform Dord ~a ux mixture or 0.5% ]3Jhox stage. healthy growth, height and spread. at second leaf stage is more afl"cctive PLANTATION. Because of variable Planls start beal'ing from 25 to 30 in controuing I he damping ofj' sexes in dioccious variety at Jeast em above the ground level. Most disease of seedlings at nursery stage. two or three seedlings arc to be of tlte plants reta.in their fruits near planted in each pit in order to maintain the ultimate plant popula.tion Rreparatlon of plantlng pita to the gmund surface. The fruit size is mcdium (1 to 2) kg and The pits of 60 x 60 x 60 cm. size density of male and famale in oval in shape. This variety may be at distan.ce of 2 m<':tre a.part should ratio of 1: 1 O. But gynodioec i ou~ morc suit able for high density be dtlg one or two months before vade!), is to be planted \Vjdl single orcharding, nutrition. garden and the plantation and kept open for plant in a pit. After flower bud kitchen garden. Now-a-daysJ this at least J5 da),s ill hot s Uhrays. jnilialioll.in the month of April and variety is getting ntorc popularity Then each pil should be fillc<l with onwards only one healthy plant and altl'aclion from visitors and 20-25kg FYM, Jkg ncem cake alld should be maintained jn each pit. growers. There is heavy demand of 1 kg bonemeal 01' stcromeal or 250 kg seeds for commercial cu llivation in superphosphale. Pits should be Irrigation eastern reg ion of U ttul' Pradesh. filled lip to 20cm above the gl'ound Frequent and light irrigations CLIMATE AND SOlL. Papaya can Jevel and followed by heavy ij'rigation. arc needed fo,' normal plant gl'owth, be grown successrully in dry and flowering and fruiting. It is desira semi-humid arcas which ate free PLAN'!'lNG rule. Papaya is generally ble to give irdgatiotl at" 5 days inter from frost occurrence tuld water planted in tlte monlh of July- vals in summer and at days logging conditions. Sanay Jo"m August tllrougl!ollt tllc COUJlJry. jntervajs jn winle)' month,. Ring 01' loam soil provided with dra.inage Plants during this period sy~tem of irrigation is more advantageous facility and ph around 7.0 is bost are severally damaged due to fungal 10 minimise excessive loss due for its cultivat ion. and viral diseases and water logging to watc.. ~logging and basal rolling conditions. The research w()rk is of the plan IS. Raising of seedling_ done at this university revealed INTERouLTuRE. Deep tillage that November pjanting resulted operation is not practicable under in healthy dwarf plants with better papaya cultivation. Intcr culture fwiling potmliaj and least susceptibility operations consist of removal of to diseases and olher a.dverse weeds and earthing up to :10 cm Pltpaya is mostly propagated by seccls. The viabilil y of seecl is lo't on storage for longer periods. lience pure seeds ha.ving better germination percentage should be used for rahing the nursery. 250 gill of seeds sumoient for planting on.e hectare of land. The nursery shoujd bc raised n JuJy-August on the raised beds, wooden boxes oartlwll pols and polythene bags. F01' commercial plantation seedlings should I>e!'aised in seed bed of 6 X I m size and of IOcm height. The soil shoujd be light, porous and fumiga.ted with 50 per cent faj'majdchydc to avoid any fungal diseases at the nursery stage. Seed is also Ireated whit caplan or agro~ san GN pt'c~sowing in the beds. The socds are ajways placed in 2-3 COl depth in furrows at 15cm apart. and covered with wei] rotten nne compost or leaf moulds. Mulching wilh slnn.v OJ' pojylhcnc sheet is also practised to protect thc nur sly gl'owing seedlings.sery against heavy rain and hot sun. Frcqucllt and light irrigations are required jn dry weather 26 weather eonditiom. LateI' p lanting in the month of ll'cbruary to first week of Marc), also docs welj under OUt' existing condit ions. WIN) DRBAJ{ PLANTATION. The perennial plant of jaillt (SesbaJlill) 'flg)>pli~a) is best as windbrc~k and fencing, The seeds of jailll arc SOW11 jn alterllate double I'O\VS inlo west to east direction of the orchard eluting the period of monsoon. SELEOTION OF SEEDLINGS. The sejeclion of seedjings shoujd also be kept in mind at the time of planta.~ lion. The plants showing suppresli cd gl'owth habit sl\qu ld always be preferl'ed fol' the plantation because it has generally been observed that aboll t 80 pci' cellt of slich planted scedlings appear as female pjants; whereas healthy ana 1'lgol'OI1- invariably resulted in male plants. TJlis phcnotypic differen tial,'ate of growth may be n hand y looj to diameler around the ba," of the plant beforc "ain starts. The plants ajso neecl stajking at the Ii me of fruit maturation stage. The young established orchard of papaya rcquircs 150 kg n itrogen, 500 g phosphorus and J 00 g potash pel' plant. The quantity of chemical ferlilizers i.i applied in Iwo split basal doses, first after 2 montl s of pjantalion or bcjoj'c flowel'ing '1nd second at the liinc of fruit set. It SllOUld be applied B-J Oem deep into the soil at 35-60cm distance al'olind thc periphcri of the plants. IN'l'ERCROl'PING, The productive age of papaya orchard i.' 2 to 3 years. During this pel'iod, parwal cowpcas, cau]ifowcl' and othel' non~ cucllrbitaceous vegctables should be grown as jnt("l'~cj'op.'j which a2'c provided with adequate manures and fcl'tjjjzcl's and pla.nt prot.ection measures. CONTINUED ON PAGS 28 Ilidiall Horticultul'e

93 A ~!~ ~ ROUND UP new superior selection of Isabgol (Plalliago ovala) made under the All-India Co-ordinatcd Project on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, is recommended (after nlultilocation lrials) for release all over lhe isabgol-growing areas. The new variety is a selection (T.S. 6) from progeny stock of irradiated seed of P-96 parents. ThG selection was placed in smal! lrials from to crop years, where it has out-yielded the existing variety 'Gujal'at Isabgol.l'. In and it was tried a t Anand, Vijapur and Dantiwam with lwo controls. The pooled anajysis of yield over locations and years showed it to be superior to olhers lind is recommended for release under the name 'Gujarat Isabgol R 2'. Average plant height 36.5 em, tiller Nos. 4.1, leaves 20xO.66 em wilh dentation on leaf edge 3.25 Nos; maturing in 115 to 120 days, moderately susceptible to downy mildew during cloudy weather, plant docs not lodge; grain weight 17 g per 1,000 grains, swelling foctor 10.B. The seed-husk of isabgol is used in lncdicine. The rosywllite membranous covering of the seed, together with the seed, finds a large export outlet in Europe and the U.S.A. In recent years, anllual export has increased to Rs 175 million. October-December 1982 Itt.tegrated crop technology THE Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Instilutc, Jhansi, has evolved an integrated crop technology for the drylands of the Bundolkhand region of Uttar Pradesh whereby marginal farmers of this arc a can be economically bcncfltcd. This integrated approach involves the use of fodder crops such as pigeonpea, groundnut,' guar and til. The teohnology has shown that association of food crops and fodder trees gave encouraging results. Fodder was available during lhe two lean seasons (May-June and October-November).. Production of food crops, in association with kubabool tree was much higher Whell compared with sole.cropping system in vogue. Similarly, associations of guar with kubabool increased thc production of fodder f"oin the tree. The results of this integrated approach arc available and are vcry positive. This illtegrated system enhances the overall produclivity per unit. Land-equivalent ratio under dryland conditions also increased with this practice. This system has tlte potential of changing the micro-climate to the benefit of field crops. Caltlvation of bananb8 the novel way THE University of Panama's Agricultural Research Station is testing the cultivati on of banana trees in a.ssoeialion wil1, lite legumes planted in plots beneath the trees. The project is in tended to help solve two of the banana growcr's biggest problems, viz. nit"ogen deficiency and watcr. In order to achieve good production levels, thc fanner rnust apply about 400 kg of nitrogen to every hectare of bananas every year. 'rhc cost of chemical materials has increased manifold in recent years. ancl the prices are slib rising. Bananas need lot of water, that is why thcy grow best in the humid tfopics. But, heavy tropical rains continually wash away the top soil and probably, at least a quartet' of precious nitrogen goes along with it. The result is a gradual depletion of the soil, and a huge waste of nitrogen fertilizcr. Scientists have shown that'" healthy ground cover of tropical legumes can '(i,,' as much M 250 kg of nitrogen per hectare pcr year. If the results arc favourable, it is estimated that the Icgumes could save farmers millions of dollars in fertilizer cost and more important, it should help many of the smaller producers to stay in busincgs. Ber propagation T is generally believed that I budded plants of ber cannot be transplanted sucessfully because of their deep ta.p-root that is sensitive to injury. So buddling ill sill, was a common praotice. This ~s very cumbersome method and needs great care. It is difficult to look after seedlings spread over a largo area a8 well as it takes longer time to attain lhe buddable thickness. Now it has become possiblo to transplant the ber-grafts easily. The techniques arc in vogue for raising budded ber plants in nursery. The work done at the CAZRI, Jodhpur, suggests the use of polythelle tubes for raising bel' \mddling to minimise the (\ait\age callsed to 27

94 rools while lifting the plants from regulator. 95 per cent alcoholic small pox and havc been follnd to nurscry. Such plants have shown solution of the alkaloid exhibits lower the serum cholesterol level be ner establishment a.nd fast growth antihaclcl'ial and antifungal aclivity, in rats. The powered!;hcll of the \lndcl' highly arid conditions. T he technique developed at tile I ts root ~.xtl act is a. bitt~r tonic and has been reportedly lised in fruits may be used for preparing act ive carbon. HA U, Hissa.., advocates the raising of cancer and scroful a (tuberculosis of Gokhru seeds arc used rol' be\' grafts in nursery beds under the lymphatic glands). It is also resolving inflammatory swelling, in'igated conditions. Diflerent steps used 10caIJy on ulcers, boils, abscesses a.nd o il ex.tracted from them is of tjle technique are : (I). To collect seeds from ripe fj'uils of wild ber (boradi) in Marcl\ (collection of pus) aild in reducillg blood sugar level. The leaves of the pial\( al C reported a pplied in bladder infections. Apart from thesc medicinal prop c ttics~ the weed has been found Lo for raising root~stock. Dropped to possess power to contract be rich ill nilrogen wjlich can be fruits show poor germination4 (2) organic tisslle and have ant i syphilitic utilised as an organic manure to to eljminate noll-viable seeds by and diuretic properties. T hey increase nilrogen conlenls o f soil. immersing in 15 per cent salt solu arc given in scrofula in Vil'US diseases. The seeds on cktracliol\ yield a ligh t (ion. Seed stored for one year TJIC fruits arc rich in vitamin C yellow, odoud css, fatty oil which s110ws bettel' gct minalion. and arc considered to impart cooling can be used as an edible oil as well and soothing effects to the body. as in various industries such as in They m:e also used in. treatment of soap, paints and chem i.cals. Cocklebur II weed with medicinal use C OCKLEDUR 0 1' burwecd (Xa"thillfll slrumariwll popularly known as CI/Ota gokhm, a native of South Al11crica, is RO far l'ccog a niscd as an aggressive, poisonous weed. It grows wild along road side, in tank beds, waste dumps and other cultivated crop fields t!\",ughout the hotter parts of India up to a height of 1500 m. The plant is suspected to be c.us ing allergy in. human beings, Its pollen grains on clinical examination were found to cause asthma, rhinitis and dermatitis. The aerial parts and scecl. of plant contain hydroquininc, and other unidentified alkaloids which arc said to be toxic. B"t now this weed has been found to possess many useful medicinal properties which justify it to be a plant of medicinal value. It is a repute.d medicinal plant in Europe, Ohina, Indo-Ohina, Malaysia and America. It possesses sweat and urine promoting properties as also gives a softening and soothing effects on n.erves. Decoction of plant is given. in chronic malaria, lc.mcorhoea (an abnormal discharge from vagina) and othel' urinary diseases. Moreover, it is prophylactic against hydropllobia and quite useful as a dcpresent to central nervous system. Xanthani!\, ffl\ alkaloid isolated fi om this weed, aots as plant growth PAPAYA _._ PLANT I'ROTEc'rION MEASljRES. Papaya is li ec from any seriolls insect-pcsts but it is highly susceptible to fungal and viral diseases. The followh\g diseases arc 'P\'(~..'1atcnt in humid favourable conditions of rainy season. DAMPING OFF. It is mostly noticed at l\ursery stage. It can be controlled by fumigation of nursery beds with farm aldehyde or fannalcne and pre-sowing treatmcnt of sceds with agl"osan en, Stem. rot STEM ROT OR COLLAR ROT. This disease is marc prcvalent during the rainy semoll. The infected plants should be removed [rom the field and tho base of the healthy plal\ts must be pasted witl\ 5:5 :50 Bordeauxc paste. V:irusoy All the three strains of papaya virus, i.e. leaf curl, mosaic and distortion ring spot arc noticed under these conditions. Out of these, leaf curl virus causes sevcre damage to the plant during humid conditions of rainy months. Infected plants should be immediately removed from the field and humt aw'ly. Spray of insecticides should FROM PAGB 26 be done to check the furll Cl' It'ansmission of viruses to the healthy plant through insect vectors. Fn.lJI1' 'l'i-iinning AND PRO'l'IWTION. D ense and tl\lckly set fmlts sl,o\lld be thinned to provide sufticicnt interspace in between the fruits lor the development o f uniform size and ~hapc. Th(~ matured fruits arc covered with gunny bags o r paddy straw to prevent d amages from birds and animals. FRO t'" YieLD. T he plcking o f fruits should be done when the fruits develop slight yel lowish colour and feel soft. I\. single plant. can yield 4O 60kg fruits with proper care a>ld management o f the orchard. Thus, the average annual income of Rs 10,000 to 15, 000 per acre ca n be obtained which can go a tongway to boost the economy of even tlte marginal frui t g rower. The produc SEl!.D PRODUCTlON. tion of pure seeds in papaya is very much essential for commcrcial orcharding. It can be possible by sibmating of selected male and female plants. Fruits should be harvested carefu lly and seeds arc extractcd separatciy. The seeds are dried in shade and stored in polythene containers, bags or ja.rs free from moist conditions. 28 I"diall Hort i,"/illr.

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99 INDIAN HORTICULTURE Published quarterly. Vol. 27. No.4 JANUARY-MARCH 1983 CONTENTS Editorial Lotus Vishllll Swa n,/) 2 'Happiness' l 'OSe can bring prosperity A. MllkhopadlD'ay and G. J. Balik.,. 5 Top-work inferior mango trees by modified side-grafting J. S. lialllt/a,. and J. S. Jawallda 9 Effect of seasona l variation on different me~hods of Ina ngo propagation JI(. P. Sillgh, R. P. Srivaslava, M. S. Jlajplll and I-la.rmail Sillgh 11 rralna', a new mango variety P. V. Salvi 13 Peach, a profitable fruit for' north Indian plains O.S. Nujar 15 De~recncd lemons, a ll approach to higher lllcomc.7- S. Josall, J. N. Sharma and C.S. Chohml 17 Economics of litchi cultiva tion in Bihar X.P.Sillg" 19 Choose the right vcget able for high returns K. V. Jilbmlmumynm 21 'K I', a valuable addition to ' Snowball' group of cauliflower 11. S. Gill, K. D. Laklwllpal, /i. R. Sharma a1ld 1' Bhagchw,,{alli 23 Wild cardamom of Arunachal Pradesh R.C. UPadll)ltlya and S. P. Ghosh 25 Mountain spinach, a potential leafy vegetable for north Indian plains T. A. Thomas anel R. Prasad 27 'Mudikkode Local', aihigh-yiclding orien.tal pickling melon variely P. K. Gopalakrislman, SalikllUy Joseph, T.II" Gopalakrislm"n and K. V. Peler 28 Olll' cover " A rosette of roses 1'holo: Gurcharan Singh ---_. ADVISORY BOARD M.S. Randhawa _ D.R. Bhumbla C. Prasad. S.K. Sharma. J.P. Shtng. B. Choudhury. M.H. Mari Gauda C.M. Singh. Sukhdev Stngh D.N. Borthakur V.S. Bhatt _ P.L. Jaiswal _ Edilor: A. S. Gupta. 'Assoclate!' P. S. N. Sarma Production : Krlshan Kumar Dnd R.N. M8nocha Art: M. K. Bardhan and A. Chakravarty B.usiness Manager: M. Prasad Single copy. Rs 2.50, Annual. Rs 10 HIGH-DENSITY ORCHARDING T his is a characteristic tra.it in scientists. They take a clue, prepare a plan and work on its incessantly till they lind the desired answer to the problem.. Recognizing that the total c ultiv ab~c land area in Our country is limited, Dr R.N. Singh, Dt P.K. Majumdcr and Dr D. K. Sharma (of the Division of l-iorticulturc, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi) set out Lo increase the yield of mango by il)creasing the plant population per unit area. The concept of 'High-density mango orc.harding' introduced by the letlln (as also the work on mango malformation and development of improved, "egujarbearing varieties) has merited the tcain the rccent recicl'ation of Indian Chambcl\S ofoommcl'ce C:Ulcl Industry Awal'd for 1982 on Life Seienccs including Agrieultul e.. The concept is grand. NormaJly an increase in plant population decreases plant vigour owing to proportionate deere ase in available nutrients, sunlight and air. But the reported success in apple yie ld witlt the increase in its plant populatioll induced these researchers to try this practice in mango. Theil' ea.rlicl' work had led to Ule evolution ofcultivm' (Amrapali', wllich is dwarf, precocious, regular bearing and amenable to nlanagc.. ment, b esides having good-quality fruits and giving high yield. Without n dwarf variety it was unthinkable ea.rlier to adopt hi[ h-density oreharding in mango, where 100 plants of traditional varieties coul d be grown in a h ectare. By increasing the plant density to 1,600 per hectare, this variety has given a fruit yield of 22 tonnes pel' hectare, which is marc UU\t1 2.5 titnes the national average yield derived from the traditional varieties. The success of this practice in mango opens up grca.t possibilities ofincreasing the yici(ls of othel' fruit crops appreciably. A good number of dwarfvm'ieties h ave been evolved recently in luany crop plants. Dy selec tion of ap appropriate variety, its cultiva tion under high plant density, application of an adequate dose of fertilizcrs, and efficient and economic nlanagemcnt, the existing yield barriers of many a crops may be broken. The pi'aetice can be effectively adopted even by small and marginal farmers, because it lays emphasis on maximunl utilization of the available spacc. Concerted efforts need to be made to illcrease the productivity of Our crops to meet the demand of our rising population. Adoption of the high-density orcharding concept ' may help us in meetitlg the challenge of the coming d ecades. Efficient management of our limi ted land and other resources would be the only way to usher in the twenty-fi.rst c~ntul'y 011 a promising note.

100 Magnificent view of a Ictus pond LOTUS VISHNU SWARUP Indion Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi He lotus is a flower of antiquity. TOwing to its very long and close association with history, culture, religion and arts and crafls of India, the lotus was chosen our national flower. From ancient times it js considered to be a sacred flower of India. It has been mentioned in mytl,ological legends, epics, scrip. tures, sanskrit literature and historical records. It has been delinea ted in archjtectul'e, temple carvings,,c"lptum, cave murals (particularly the Ajanta) and frescoes and pain tings during the early Hindu and B\lddhist periods of Indian I,istory. Lotus motifs arc commonly seen in our textile designs and pottery. It is often referred to in our songs and dances too. The offering of lotus blossoms to the go<ls is depicted through hand gc'iturcs in Vorl/am,!l,e introductory part of the classi. cal Dharatnatyam dance of south India, and similarly in othel' forms of Indian dances. According to the Hindu mytho. logy, as mentioned in an old Tamil classic of South Indi. (Pat/upatti) written during AD, the lotus has arisen from the navel M tile god Vishnu, the Protectft. Another mythological legend de~. cribes that when the gods Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the Protee tor) and Shiva (the Destroyer) fought the demons and drove them away from the Earth, they created Shakti, the Goddess of Power, commonly known as the goddess Durga. For hcr adorn. ment the gods offered her some of their choicest possessions, like tri.. s/",i (trident, three pronged poin' ted weapon) by the Lord Shiva, dwkra (the divine wheel) by Vishnu, akshayamala (the sacred garland) by Bralllna, singh. (the lion) by the Himalaya and lotus blossoms by Vanilla, the Lord of Ocean. There is a reference of lotus in Sapthasati Chandi of Markalld,)" Pum".. In the second chapter of this Purana is mentioned: 'The Ocean gave a spotless garland of lotus onhcl' head, and another similar one on Her chest; the Ocean pre sented a charming lotus in Her hand too'. In paintings and sculptures the God Vishnu' is shown having four hands with lotus flower held in one hand and the divine wheel, conch Indian Horticulture

101 and club in the others. Lotlls is also associated wilh the gocl(~csses like Durga (the Goddess of Power), Sal'uswatt (the Goddess of Lcarn~!ling) and Laksltmi (lhe Goddess of Wealth), Even nowadays il1 West Dengal it is customary to offe l' 108 blossoms of lotus fol' the worship of DUl'ga on the occasion of Durga Puja festival, During the pl'e~llistoric period, the Dravidians in south India used lotus flowers (fjlllldarika) foi' their food. In the classical Sanskl'it litcrature, the Rig Veda, written around 2000 La 1500 DC, there is a mention of lotus being used as food..datil IOlus and watcl'.lily have bcen. listed in the description of lhe Gandha~ madana forest prcsel\led in the Adipal'va of IjlC great epic Alallnbharala. The Pandavas (the five brothers) settled 40wl1 in Ihe GUlldhamadana forest ""t\ through it Bhim (one of the brothers) passed in quest octhe divine golden lot~s grow. ing ncar Gangotri, the ~ource of river Ganga. Amal'kosa l~as Jisted lotus and watci'~1ily as growing ex" ciusively in water. In the AI'Uwsaslm, tho monumeiltal work on ancient skill of state organization written during nq by Kautilya, the great diplomat, during' the Golden Age of King GhllndraguPln, it is recorded that one of the varieties of sandal. woo<\ possesses titcfragrancc oflotlls., The famous Sanskrit playwl'ight, Kalidasa, during lhe -firth century AD has mcntiocd lotus in his play Abltijnll Sh.kulI/lllam. Thus, 'A lot lis, even though covered with moss, i! charming'. In one of thc Acts, whcn the beloved Shakllntala had left tlte place whcl'c she was rcsting in the forest, the King Dushyant) said : "Here on lhe slone-slab is her flowering couch crushed by hel' body: here is the C.dccl love-letter incised with her nails on a. lotus leaf; here is a 10lus-stalk as a.n ornament dropped down from her hand; Illy eye being thus rivel.tcci, 1 cannot depart all at once from the cane In Sanskrit the words Iwdma, kamala and pnnkaja rcfer to lolus. arbour even though vacant'. Kalidasa has mcnlioncd ornaments of Thc watej'~lily, another aquatic flower l'escmbling lotlls.hd confused with it some times, has also bracclcl by Shakuntala. Such 01' lot us-sta.lks used a"i necklace and been mendoned in ancient Sanskrit na'i11cnts 111ade of lotus-stalks arc literaturc. LotlL'l is symbolized for used on!lome occasions even beaul y of eyes and face, kind-lteartcdness l fragrancc l coolness, fertility present-da.y in West Dengal. and prosperity. In the thirtecnth ccntury AD, Sarangclhal'a, a courtier of King Hammira, wrote an anthology in Sanskt-it, Sarnllgtllwa Par/tlilali, which deals with science, politics, economics, medicine etc, includ.. ing a chapter, Upvana Vinoda, on.rbori-horticlllture. According to him, 'He is verily tile )<ing whose abode is provided wi til spacious gardens containing large tanks or pools adorne<\ with beautiful lotus blossoms over which humming bees fly-that may be regarded as lhe consummation of all happiness on the part of man'. While describing the construction of a garden in which he advocates a pool or lake as an cssentia\ feature, he mentions, 'Attempts shoul'l be made to intensify the beauty of the lake by having flowers of val'iou$ colqui's, like lotus, blue lotus etc., in different places of it', The lolus is considered to be a!lowct of veneration by the Buddhists also. This is the flower in which the Lor,1 Buddha sits as shown in many sculplures and paintings. Lot us has also been drawn by the artists in some octhe Indian paintings of the Medieval period. In tlte modern limes also lotus has been given clue prpminence. It has Ji, gtlrcd in one of the postage stamps III OUI' country. Every yeal' tile Go- VCl'nmcnt of Tndia awards the GoldcnLotus prizc tothc best fcalulrc film produccd in OU r country. Botanically) lotus is known Nelllmbo IIUC!(era, which belongs to thc watcr lily family, Nympl13caceae. Nellllllbo is It Sinhalcse name originating from Sri Lanka. In the past in the horticultural trade it lias been wrongly called the Egyptiatl 10tl", though it is not found in the Nile. The Egyptian lotus is tile water-lily, N)J11Iphoea, a name derived from Nympha, the nat.ure goddess of t.he Greek and Roman mythology, In EgYl'1 it was introduced by the Romans by about 50 DC, The bille lotus (,,,a/ kamal) oft.en referred to in Sanskrit litcrature, Malwbharala and Ahilija/I Silaklllllalilln is the water-lily (N;,mphaea sl,llala) which is native of India. The lotus is widely distt'iblltcd Ii'olll the Caspian Sea to Japan, including the south-cast Asia, the Philippine Islands, India and north Australia, It i ~ a n'ltivc of China,) Japan and India, where it is considered to bc a sacred Hower. The )o(us is an attractive aquatic plant producing large, very fragrant flowers overtopping the l e~ves, ust,lally pink 01' white-tipped rose, rosypink or rosy-red. Another spccies, Nclumbl) bt/ca, having yellow flowers, is a native of Amcrica. There a1'c some Japanese double-flowered varieties too. Dcsides its sanctity and aesthetic valuc, tolus roots, flowcring stem, young fl'uit s and seeds are caten as food in diltrcnt ways in 'IIarious parts of our country, It is also used in me(licinc, It is found growing in rivers, lakes, ponds and l)ools throughout the country, from the Himalayas ill the north to Kanya K.llmari in the south. AUTHOR, PLEASE Read 'Guidelines to AUlhors' and prescnt the paper according to the slyle of the magazine, typed ill doultlc space throughout.,,3

102 Bavistl & Calixin :::; reg. of BASF Aktiengesellschaft. West Germanv BASF India Limited. P.o. Box BOMBAY BASF 4 Ilidian Norlieullu"

103 'HAPPINESS' ROSE CAN BRING PROSPERITY A. MUKHOPADHYAY and G.J. BANKAR Indian Institute of Horticultural Research. Bangolore BOUT 15,000 to 20,000 improved A rose cultivars have been recorded so far, out of which 2,000 may be in regular cuhivation. It is not easy to select the most suitable ones out of these for any particular locality. The performance of a cultivi:ll' will depend much on the climale of a Dud-toke pcr(orm:mcc The bud-lake performance on different rootstocks like Rosa multiflora, R. ';tuiica and (Thornless' cuiti. val's showed that the success rate with 'Happiness' was much higher irrespective of I he rootstock used. The bud-lakes of tj~ese cultival's on locality. In north India the best the rootstock Rosa TIIullijlorll w(~rc flowering senson for roses is between the end of November and March. In coastal areas like Bombay or Madras the season may be much p el" cent in 'Happiness', per cent in 'Super Star', pct' cent in 'Queen Elizabeth', per cent in (King's Ransom', shorter. Similarly, in Calculta the climate for rose is not as goocl as that prevailing in north India. But in Dang.lore the rose has a much longer flowering season and flowers almost throughout the year. However, Ole cultivars of rose which might be doing well in north India may not perform equally well at Bangalol'c. For example, 'Super Star', 'which grows well ill the north, docs not grow satisfactorily at Dangalore. Dut 'I-Iappine~s ', which has large, full, well-formetl, bright crimson~rcd flowers, is doing extremely well at Brulgalore. This is a frc e-flower ing~ vigorous plant that produces long stems. It produces export-quality cut blooms. Investigations were carded out at the Indian Instilute of Horticultural Research, I-Iessal'aghatta, on the bud-take performance of some export-quality cultivars of rose and on the rootstock-scion relationship. The experiments revealed the potent inl of 'Ha.ppiness' as a cut-flower-,i producing plant under the climatic... conditions of llangalorc. Ja""ary-Mar,It 1983 Flowering stem of 'H appiness' rose pel" cent in 'Sea Pearl' a nd PCl" cent in 'Montczumfl'. However, tj1c rat e of success of bud-take in 'Christian Diol" was the same as that in 'Happiness'. The bud-take percentages of these cuhival's on tho rootstock R. ii/die. wcre 86.G!> ill 'Happiness" in 'Super Star'J in 'Queen Elizabeth', in 'Christian Dial", in 'King's Ransom" in 'Sea Pearl' and in 'Montezuma'. When the rootstock 'ThoI'JlJess' WaS IIscd, the bucl-take perform ance in 'Hap pincs'ii' was a.."i high as 90 per cent, whereas cultivars like 'Super Star' and 'Queen Elizabeth' gave suc~ cess rate of no per cent only. T ile success of b\1d~tak(! on 'Edouard' rootstock wi lil most of the a.1jovc cultivars was comparatively poor (below 70 pel' cent), except with 'King's Ransom~ Whel'e the succcss pate was as high as 80 pel" cent. Not only that the bud-take percentage was highcl' with 'Happiness' when budded on the rootstocks men I ioned earlier, the budded pln.\!s of tlus cuilivar grew faster also and developed more branches. Flower ctu.iiiy and yield In a long-dllt'ation I'oot,tock trial ill which scions of 'Happiness', 'Queen Elizabeth' and 'Super Star' were budded cit hi:!" 10 Rosa multiflora or R. indica, (Happiness' proved most suitable cultival' under the climatic condition of Bnngalorc. It llk1.y be noted liu\l at BangaJol'c roses are pruned t:wice, once in lil(: end. of November and again in the end of 5

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105 June, and hence there arc LWo diatinct flowering seasons. Data were recorded for both the seasons for each year. In 1978 and 1980 the effects of these two rootstocks were not significant in the growth and flowering of the scions. But scion cultivars budded to R. multiflora performed belter in all respects than those budded to R. indica. In 1979 scion culdvar budded to R. multiflora showed signifteant improvement in morphological attributes like length of flower stem, tolal num.. ber of flowers and diameter of unopened flower buds compared with those buclded to R. indica. Thus while the plants budded to Rosa multiflora on an average had flower stems of em, those budded to R. indica were only em long. I Happiness' proved consbtcntly superior, showing vigorous plants, less infected by diseases like dieback, black-spot Or powdery mildew compared with th.e other culti val's. 'Super Star' was the worst sufferer. 'Queen Elizabeth', being a Floribunda-typc rose, produced mol'c flowers per plant compared with other cullivars, but occasionally even 'Happiness' produced flowers comparable to those of 'Queen Elizabeth', During November pruning season, 'Happiness' produced almost as many flowers as that of 'Queen Elizabeth'. In 1978, during June pr'ulling season while '"Queen Elizabeth' produced Howers por plant, 'Happiness' and 'Super Star' produced 8.65 and 7.91 flowers respeclively. However, during November pruning in the same year 'Happiness' produced 13.0 flowers per plant compared with of 'Queen Elizabeth' and of 'Super Star'. In the same year 'Happiness', 'Queen Elizabeth' and 'Super Star' producerl 5.4-2, 2.63 and 1.91 export-quality flowers per plant respectively. 'The diameters of opened flowers in the two pruning seasons of 1979 Were as follows: 'Happiness' 'Queen Elizabeth' 'Super Star' June (em) November (em) (january-march 1983 A rootstock-scion interaction in 1979 showed that tile flowers of the largest size (12.55 em) were obtained when 'Happiness' was budded to R. 11luitijlora, compared with cm of 'Super Star' and 10.9[1 em of 'Queen E lizabcth'. Export-quality flowers Although the total number of flowers produced pci' plant was slighlly more in 'Queen Elizabeth 1 than in 'Happiness', the lalter produced significantly lnorc exporlquality flowers with stem length ' of 60 em or more. In most of,jie seasons 'Happiness' produced 100 to 400 per cent moi'e export-quality flowers compared with 'Quecn Elizabeth' or 'Super Star', Among rootstocks R. mulliflorn pt'oduced significantly more numbcr of exportquality flowers compared with R. indica. The rootstock~scion interaction indicate,l that significantly morc export-qua.lity blooms were produced by 'Happiness' budded to R. 1II1IItifiora comparcd with all other interaction combinations. The increase in yield in this combination was per cent morc than in other rootstock-scion combinations. For the yield of exportcluality flower, 'Happincss' proved much superior to the other two cultival's. This cull ival' along with 'Queen l~1izabcth' can be recommended also for the productioll of cut blooms for the local flower market. The Queen of Flowers blooms better with Paushak Rose Mixture. ~ She grows lovelier and gives more delight. Her beauty becomes intoxicating. Bees make a bee-line for her. Butterflies kiss her. You'll not be able to resist her. Grow lovelier roses with Paushak Rose IVIIXlU'''.1 PAUSHAK LIMITED ALEMBIC ROAD, VADODARA

106 Goed habits' of course! like his marked preference for quality hybrids developed by Mahyco research.' ---. Mehyco hybrids increase his produce, line his -. pockets with handsome profits end his fici-wlth) _!ll1ijes. Buy the b_est::-buy Mahyco. / - Early maturincj, high yielding, downy mildew resistant, mahqco MBH-110 Bajrl_llybrld, For I good yield ~... of Mtfz, In only For 8 revolutionary Cotton yield mah\foo MCH-1 MCH-11 '" Cotton hybrldl 110 dlye / rnanp» MMH-1 MIizt ~ r 'lml Jowar For a bumper, Jawar crop / mah\fco MSH-J3) MSH-J71 hvbrjd.~ - _... 1, r I, B Indian Ilorticultur6

107 Headed-back mango rootstock showing omergence of new shoots TOP-WORK INFERIOR MANGO TREES BY MODIFIED SIDE-GRAFTING J. S. KANWAR and J. S. JAWANDA Punjab Agricultural Unlvarslty. ludhlana ONVERSION of mango seedling trees 01' grafted tree. C of inferior vadetie, or rejuvenation of old trccs with scions ofsupcrior cuitivars is known as top-working. Quile often onc comes across trees of undesirable or u1lproduetive type in the orchards. In such situations the entire tops of wlwantcd trees can be converted into those of choice or selected mango ell ltivars by top-working. Such a stcp improves orchard performance and brings more income to the growers. Different metllods like inwarching, side-grafting, crown-grafting, veneer b''i'afling, cleft- or wedge-grafting have becn descrihed in the horticultural literature for top-working of mango Irees. We have tried top-working by the modified side-grafting method with very encouraging results. The modification consists in inducing the new growth from older limbs and then grafting the ncw shoots instead of sidegrafting of oldcr limbs directly. This method can be used with young as well as old mango with good success. He.dins-back lnf'enor tree. The selected scaffold limbs of inferior trees are headed back in February-March with a saw, leaving stubs January-Marcil 1983 em long. The wounds thlls procluced should he coated immediately with some disinfcclant like Bo"deaulC paint. Numerous shoots from the periphery of the headed back scaffolds emerge within short time. Out of these, two vigorous shoots pcr branch or limb arc selected and the remaining are rubbed off. Since these shoots arc weak at the points of origin from the limbs, they need to be staked for making them gl'ow strajght. These shoots become suitable for grafting in August September the same year. Grafting process For achieving good SUCCCSS 1 the scion shoots and recipient shoots on the trees to be top-worked should be prepared in the manner described below. Preparatioll of scion The scion shoots from the trees of selected varieties to be used for grafting arc defoliated, leaving petioles. This is done 7-10 day. earlier than the actual grafting date. During this period the petioles fall down and the terminal buds,well, indicating that the shoots 9

108 After some time the g rafted shoots will put out new l ca"cs~ and when tjlcy have turned g reen andhal'dencd) Ihe recipient shoots arc lopped oft a little above t.he graft unions. Since the shoots of grafted cultivars arc very tender, they will need protection against frost for t11c ilrst 2 3 years. T he operati on of top-working is to be carried Ollt on the upper limbs during the next year. The stubs on old grafts are also removed at this time. Some limbs in the centre of the I rees can be left unworked and should be removed when the top-worked branches have been well eslablished. The vacant space left by their, emova1 is fillet\ up speedily by the lux uriant growth from the top-grafted branches in due course. It has been seen that the inferi or ma ngo trees topgrafted by this method gain in volume very quickly and start giving handsome yields of sl1per i ol'~q llality fruits. This is owing t.o the utilization of already wcll~cstablished rool system of the top-worked trees. Fruit-growers who wish to convert their inferior mango trees into superi or cultivars can usc this technique quite conveniently. An Inferior mango tree converted into 'DashehlJri' tree by topworking with the modified side-grafting method.,-. '''''1 ",~.., ';:j...:. Top -worked mango showing quick growth of limbs; the central sca(fold limbs (left unworked) aro removed when the top ~ worked branches have become well established are now suitable for g rafting. On the grafting date, scion shoots abot\t 8 c,n long are detac1led f"om t1,e molhe!' trees. On chch scion shoot two slanling cuts with sharp bt\dding knife are given on the basal end, One cut should be 4 elu long and otlier I em long, to be given at the opposite side. Preparalion of Ihe recijji,"1 shool A horizontal cut about I em wide is ma,le OIl the recipient S]loo t about 10 em above its point of origin. Then two downward vertical cuts, about4cm long, one each from the end of the horizontal cut, are made and the portion of bark so demarcated is pulled away. Now t.he scion, tick is inserted tu1del thc fl ap of bark of the recipient shoots such that th e face of Ihe longer slanting etlt and d,e exposed wood of the recipient shoot are in contact with each other. They arc tied securely with a polythene strip. TJ,c graft,0 prepared is staked with a bamboo stick 0 1' some other suitable support. This process is repeated all all the shoots of the limbs to be top-worked. At least two ~hoots per limb should be grafted in this m'flll1cr. 10 [II-dian Hor/"icu /lurl'

109 EFFECT OF SEASONAL VARIATION ON DIFFERENT METHODS OF MANGO PROPAGATION N. P. SINGH, R. P. SRIVASTAVA, M. S, RAJ PUT and HARMAIL SINGH Central Mango Research Station, Lucknow ANGO is propagated in India M mainly by nurserymen through in-arching, despite several other techniques like veneer grafting, sidegrafting, budding and air-layering developed recently. The choice of a particular method dcpends mostly on the time of operation) which has a bearing on several clitnatic factors like temperature, rainfall and hwnidity. Hence the best method of propagalion and its season would differ frol11 localily to locality. Trials were therefore conducted extensively throughout the year at the Central Mango Research Station, Lucknow, fol' 1975 to 1977 to study the appropriate time of propagation of mango by different methods of cultivation. Stones Were collected from a single seedling mango tree and sown in Jatluary-March first week of every month. The pcr centage of success was recorded after the bud sprouting. Meteorological observations on rrlative humidity, maximuln and minimum temperature and rainfall we)'e recorded and correlated with different methods of operation in different months. Velleer grnfting The scion sticks were detached from the mother tree. A standing 4 em long wedge-shaped cut was made at the basal part and a similal' cut was made on the rootstock 10 em above the ground level, removing the bark, The wood-cut 1'01" tions of scion. and stock were tied together with polythene tape. Marked diffcrences were observed in the success in veneer grafting done during different months. This method gave highest success (75-92 pel' cent) in the rainy season (in July and August) and lowest (16-20 per cent) in November and December Max;nlllm Success of 76-BO pel' cent was observed during August followed by 76 pel' cent in July, but November (8-12 pel' cent) and December (12 pcr cent) month, proved unsuitable for carrying out this opcration. Budding The buds were taken from the defoliated scion sticks and budc1t:d by removing a patch of similar size from the rootstock. The budded portion was tied with polythene tapc, leaving the bud. August proved the best period for budding, whereas November and December proved unfavourable for the success of this operation. Alr.JIl)'crJng About 2-ycal'-0Id shoots were selected and a ring of bark was removed. IBA 5,000 ppm in lanoling paste was applied at the upper nursey bed in J lily. The young seedlings along with stones were retransplanted end of the ring. The ring was covered in the field when the seedlings Wcre 6 months old and in all the 3 years. Minimum tern with moist Sphagnum moss and wrapped with polythelle. were suitable for grafting. The perature and rainfall had pronoull~ The success in this method was scion 'stick, were defoliated, leaving ecd effect on thc success of grafting. nearly the samc a, in budding. the leaf petioles intact on healthy Side-grafting I-Iowcvcl', there was a decline in and mature 'Dashchari' tree of good pe"fonnanee, 10 days before the A wedge-shape cut was made on both the sides of basal end of thc the success between September and February. grafting opcat ion. The scion sticks soion. A corresponding cut was In-archIng so defoliated were used for veneer made on the rootstock through the The seedlings growing in pots grafting, side grafting and for taking wood. The wedge of the scion was were brought near the scion shoots buds aftcr shec\cling of leaf petioles. inserted in the cut made 01\ the on 1110 mot he,' trcc. A cut about Different methods of grafting were 1'90t$tock and tied with polythcne 4- ern long W'lS made on the scion used at monthly intervals in the tape. slloot removing the wood J and a 11

110 similar cut was made on the seedling stem. Both IjlC cut porlion' were brought together and tied firmly with polythcne tapc. Monsoon pcriod (July-August) proved the best for this operation, followcd by spring scason (March A})ril). Ifowcvcl', the mini.mum success was observed in November. The rainfall had a,\irect and significant effect on the success of in-arching. Thus the success of different mcthods was better in July and August and worst in November and December. This was owing to very low minim.ujl1 tcmperatul'c in the winter, 'which proved detrimental for callus formation and union, But rainfall during the season proved beneficial. This indicated that at the time of union and growth of young grafts and budded plants the temperature should be medium to high, with good rainfall which may maintain the optimum humidity level of the atmospl,cre (CONTINUED ON PAGE 13) AUTHOR Please send photographs properly packed to avoid damage in transit FREDI SURTI COMPANY Horticulturists, Garden Consultants, Landscape Architects, Seedsmen & Nurserymen OFFICE: 2 SAKLAT PLACE, CALCUTTA Phone: STD CODE (033) Cable: 'FREDISEED' CALCUTTA SHOWROOM: 27 C (1), CHtTTARANJAN AVENUE, CALCUTTA NURSERY AND TRIAL GROUND: 44 EKBALPORE ROAD, CALCUTTA Phone: STD (033) FOR BETTER AND BEAUTIFUL GARDEN SOW SURTI'S SEEDS IT'S THE STRAIN THAT COUNTS ROSES BOUGAINVILLEAS DAHLIAS and CHRYSANTHEMUMS HYBRID CARNATIONS. MARIGOLDS, PETUNIAS, ETC. HYBRID AMARYLLIS, GLADIOLUS and Flowering and Ornamental Trees f01 Shades, Road-side Plantations. Avenues lind Parl<s Available In bulk and retail CALL OR WRITE ITMADPUR NURSERY P.o. AMARNAGAR, FARIDABAD Telephone : 82: /3 Mlloslone Dolhl-Mathura Road, behind Hav.1i Just 20 minutes drive from Conn.ughl Circus, New Delhi )2 I"dian Horticu/turf

111 'RATNAt, A NEW MANGO VARIETY HE Konkan. region of Mahara~ T slltra, comprising Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg dis tricts, is famous foj' 'Alphonso' mango. Out of nearly 15,000 ha under mango cultivalion ill Maharashtra, 60 per cent area is situated in Ratnagil'i and Sindhudm:g districts. 'Alphonso' is the only commercial variety in the Konkan region, accounting for more than 90 per cent of the area. Its fruits are excellent in shape, colour and texture, and have good fla.vour) taste and keeping quality. Hence, they arc in great deman.d in India and abroad. In spite of au its merits, 'AlpJlOllSO' has serious problems of alternate bearing and development of spongy tissue in ripe fruits. Research was thcrefol'e undel'l'aken at the Regio nal Fruit Research Station, Veil gurla, a constituent unit of the Kon kan Agricultural University, to produce a mango variety with the desirable qualities of 'Alphonso' and having regular bearing without de velopment of spongy tissue in its January-March 1983 Konkan Agricultural fruits. To achieve this objective, CI,arader 'Alphonso' was hybridized with regular.bearing 'Neclum' in Avcmgc. fruit Since then. nearly 21,000 recipro weight (g) cal crosses of'alphonso' at\d 'Ncclum' wel'e made, Ollt of which 287 hybrid seedlings have been obtained. Out of these hybrids, 'No. 13', planted in 1971, has shown desirable traits. It was assessed for 7 years for yield and fruit quality. This hybrid proved pl"omising and hellee has been released for cultivation um\er Ihe name 'Ratna.' P. V. SALVI Vice~Chancolior University. Dapoli The trec is modcrc\lcly vigorous, attaining a spread of 5.70 m and height of 6.70 m at the age of J 0 years. It flowers during December Febnlary and has 27 pcr cellt flowers. The variety is precocious alld starts bearing fruits from the fourth year. Fruits start maturing in May and harvesting is completed by the first week of June. Fruits of'ratna' at'e large (average length em, breadth B.36 em and tllickness 6.98 cm) with an average weigl,t of 315 g. They are ovate oblique and slightly elongated, and are greenish orange with prominent oil glands. The liesh is firm and fibreless. Ripe fruits keep in good contlition for about a week. Pulp ha., a pleasant sugar.acid blend with good flavour. Spon6'Y tissue h as not been detected so far. The details of the physico chemical characters of 'RaLna' and its parents are presented in Table J. TABLE 1. PHYSICO OHEMICAL CHA RAOTERS OF 'RATNA' AND 11'8 PAl\ENTS 'Nee/UlII' 'Alphotuo' 'Ralun' at!) Average pulp (%) Total soluble solid!ol (lidx) Total!lugars (%) Acidity ('Yo) Vitamin C (mg/ g) Salient features of 'Ratna' are: (i) regular bearing habit, (ii) excellent taste and flavour, (iii) attractive fruit shape, colour and siz.e, (ju) good keeping quality, (v) early maturity, and (vi) absence of spongy tissue. In view of these me,.ils, the Mall,, rashtra State Variety Release Com mittee released it for cultivation in As a substantial part of the 700,000 ha cultivable waste Jand in the Konkan region can be b]'ought under a l'ainfcd fruit crop like mango, and there is vast scope for mango cultivation in vielv of the export market, 'Ratna' is likely to boost mango industry in this region owing to its excellent fruit qualily, good shelf life and absence of spongy tissue. Budwood nurseries of(ratna 1 a.re being established at the Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurla, and the Oentral Research Station of the university at Dapoli fol' supply. ing grafts to farmors. (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12) and thereby encourage proper cal. Ius formal ion and union. As opti. mum conditions arc available during July-Septemllcr, maximum success was achie-vecl during this period. I-lighest success was achieved un~ der in arching (96 per cent) fol. lowed by veneer grafting (88 92 per cen t) and lowes t under budding (64 per cent). The other methods may therefore be also adopted by nurserymen <luring an. appropriate season.

112 Safe, economic eyision 50% EC controls the Mango Hopper effectively. Mango plants are badly damaged by insect pests like the Mango Hopper. Cythion can be safely used 10 contral them. Oet a healthier. profitable crop. (I~ Cyen.mld Indl. Limited AgrltuiIlHIIDlvI.ro" ',0. ': 8109, 'OIJ1bty Spray I IIttl. CVTHION - rtap a mighty ManKO harvt'sl. 14 Ilidiall HorticultUTI

113 HE North-Indian plains have " T subtropical climate and a wanner winter compared wilh the tempel'ate zone. Under such conditions the hill peaches such as 'Elberta' cannot be grown in this area because they fail to sprout or set fruit in spring. The leaves emerge very late in the spring, resulting in sun scald and damage to the main stem. Some high-quality peach varieties that require less ehill in winter were introduced in Punjab [l'om Florida (USA) in 19GB. Some of these varieties such as 'Ftol'dasun') 'Shan-i-Punjab', 'Flordarcd' and January-March 1983 PEACH A PRO~ITABLE FRUIT FOR NORTH INDIAN PLAINS G. S. NIJJAR Departmant of Horticulture. Chandigarh, Punjab 'Sunrcd' have given excellent performance, and have been released for general cultivation. Owing to high quality, earliness and good yield) the new -peach varieties are giving very good income to the growers. Description of "arlcties t Flordasun'. This is the earliest varioty to Inature. It starts coming in the market toward the end of April, and hence fetches a good income to the gl'owel'. The fruit is medium to large, roundish and yellow with an attractive red blush. It has yellow flesh whioh is juicy a11d s\veet. The fwit has free stone when ripe. The average yield of a full-grown tree is 100 kg. 'Shan-i-PIllYab.'. TI,e fruit of this variety matures in the second week of May. The fruits arc large, about 5.5 em in diameter, weighing about 100 g each. The fnlit is qui te firm in texture and the yellow flesh is completely free from stone. It has cxcellent taste and flavour.. In addition to its table use, this variety is also suitable for canning. The average yield is 125 kg per Iree. 'Flordartd J It is another cxccl~ lent mid-season table peach. It matures by the end of May and has 15

114 Transportation of mat lire fruits over long distances is very difficult. Therefore it is essential to grow peaches near a metalled road for easy mmkcling of fwits. Peach docs not flourish on heavy wet soils. Well-drained, loamy soil should therefore be selected for successful l)cach cultivation. The soil should be free Ii'om aay liard pan 01' lime conel'clion within lhe top 3 m. Tlme and method of planting Peach should be planted during January when the plants nre sti ll dormant. The crop should be planted by digging pils of I m X I III X I m and refilling them with the fertile top-soil mixed with 40 kg well-rotten fal'myard manure per pit. BRC or Aldrin sllould be added to each pit to prevent the attack of white-ants. For average soils, the distance from plant to plant and row to row should be 6.2!1l. When the spil is f~rtile al1d l'iell, ihe distance may be increased to 7.6 In on both the sides. Training nnd pruning The peae h trecs should be trained according to the Modified Leader System. For this, I-year-old nursery plants are planted in the field and are imme(liatc1y headctl-baek to III heigl,t. This helps in the development of low-headed trees. 16 large fndls, weighing 100 g each. The flesh is soft, juicy and!i'ce from 'I\'hcn the g rowth starts in lhe spring, all the shoots on the plant slone. The trees arc vigorous and arc allowed to develop for 3~4 weeks. yield 125 kg fruit on all I1.vcragc. Afler this, 4-5 welt-spaced shoots 'Sullred'. 'Sunl'cd' is a nectarine arc selected as t he main framework mul snl0o \h ~skinl\cd variely, maluring of the Iree. All the other shools by,he middle of May. The nrc J'cmovcd at t his time. The flesh is firm, yellow and free from lowest branch should not be bclow stoilc. Like those of 'Shan~c 45 em from lhe gl'ound level. Punjab" the fruils of this variety Very lit tle pnming is needed can withstand t I'ansporlalion, and during the second year. TIle secondary are quite suitable for canning in growth on the main bral1~ addition to their su ilabijil)' for ehes should be carefully selected to table usc. develop a well-balanced tree. The main leader is 'modified' to a suitable Selectlon of site and sou lateral after 3 years. The watcr suckers and the shoots tcnding to crowd the centre of the tree should be removed. The peach trees start bearing when I year old. A very small proportion of the crop is a lso borne on shoj't ~ lived SP\\l's. Th.e youllg bearing trees should be pruned every year by thinning out the sh oats. This Iype of pruning helps keep the fi'uiting wood lower down, lhus keeping the crop within picking l'each. Pruning also increases fruit size and col out', thus getting higher price in the market. After the peach trees attain the age of 8 years, it is desirable Lo 'Shan-a-Punjab' peach head-back and thin oul some main branche.s every year to encollrage. the development of new fl'uiting wood. T he pruning of l)cach orchard Sllould be started by the middle of December and should be over by the end of January before the new growth starts. "Thinning or fruit The peach tends to overbeal', resulting in smaller fruit. To obtain larger fruils, which command higher market rate, they should be thinned, keeping em (liotmlcc between frnits. This operation must be finished at least 4 weeks before the harvest. Fertilization Peach t.rees bear heavy crops and Lhcrcfbre necd adequate manuring and fertilization. The schedule given in Table I is useful. TABLE I. SOHEDULE OF FERTILIZER API'LICATlON TO THE PEACH TREE Dos~/lre~ Age FamV'lIrtl Ji'erlilh,er (g//j{anl)* ()'ears,) 111(111/11', Culdl/111 Srlper.. ]I"lIr;(//1 (kg) III1JIIIOlljf/1ll jjllosjjhalt qf potnsl.,dlmlt G and above IDO I,OBO ,' l,noo ,000 1,200 1,000 "The nutrients can aho be supplied from othel' fertilize. s ava ilable in the market. Superphosphate, muriate of po tash anel farmyarcl manure should be applied during December, and half of nitrogcil shoukl be applic(\ in Janua.ry before flowering and the remain.ing ha1f after the fruit-set. Plnnt.. protcctlon mcasures The peach leaf-curl aphicl is the most harmful insect that attacks the leaves of peach trees from March to May. For its control, the crop should be sprayed with eithel' 600 g (CONTINUED ON PAQE 17) Indian Horticuiturl

115 DEGREENED LEMONS AN APPROACH TO HIGHER INCOME J. S. JO SAN, J. N. SHARMA and G. S. CHOHAN Regional Fruit Resea.rch Station, Punjab Agricultural U nivcrsitv, Abe ll ar H1:' area under lemon. (CilTlls T limon) has increased considerably in "ecellt years in Pu"jab, Hal' yana and the neighbouring states. Cuitivar 'Italian Round' Cllal'amasi') has become morc popular on account of its precocity and regular bearing bchavioul' with high juice content and good nutritive value. The fruits arc round, juicy ami almost seedless, each hllning only 1-2 seeds. 'Italian Round' bears all round the year, but its spring orop (June-July) is the heaviest. It has been observed that even when fruits arc internally mature, their colour remains green tin the end of July and hence the fruits do not fetch l'cmuncl'ali vc price in the market owing to competition wit h kaghzi lime. For good income) the green fruit could be dcgreened artificially by treatment with ethrel (2-chloroethanephosphonic acid). Ethrcl is being used extensively for degrccning Valencia sweet orange, lime and grapefruit. For developing uniform fruit coloration, an cxpcrin1cnt was conduc.. ted at this station in J uly Fully developed green fruits of uniform size, age, without injury on the peel and wi tll intact buttons were picked for this,tuely. The fruits were dipped for I min in different concentrations of ethrel (0, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 ppm), after thorough washing in running tap~ water and drying. Properly dried fruits were then packed in two diffe" rent types of packing, viz. pcrfora~ ted 300-gauge polythcnc film nnd newspapers. Finally, the treated Jauuary-March 1983 fruits were stored in wooden boxes at room temperature (28' C). For proper coloration and changes in its phy,ieo-chemieal properties, observations were recorded on the thi rd ami fifth day of storage. On the third day after the treat ment, 86.7 per cent fruits developed the characteristic lemon colour in 2,500 ppm ethre! trealmen! storeel in polylhcnc film. Polythene film also helped in the retention of pl'o~ per firmness, minimum Loss of weight and {"esh appcrrance of the fruils. Fruit quality was also better. For evaluation of profit the treated and untreated fruils were sold in the market. The fruit trealcd with 2,500 ppm ethrcl and stol'ed for 3 day, in 300-gauge perforated polythene film fetched a price of Rs 3.50/ kg compared wi th 1's UO/kg of the nntrcatcd fl'ui ts. The detailed economics for 50 kg fruits is given below. IuvastmeTlt l. Co,t of 52,5 IllI 1', 50 per litre 2, Cost of 3 woodell boxes (size 39.2 em x22.9 em X 20.3, 3. Cost of polythene 300. gauge for 3 Rs 25/ kg Total expendil.".e Expenditure PCI' kilograln AmOtl.1lt (Rs) Refums Sale; of t reatcd yellow 175 Rs 3.50/kg Sa.le of green fruits l.5d/kg Difference in price 100 (profit) Profit Netpl'Ofit on 50 kg fruit Profit. pel' kg fruit 1.74 TeChnique To prepare 2,500 pm solution, take 52.5 ml clhrel and make up the volume to 10 litres wilh water. This solution is sufficient to trcat 50 kg lemons. Care should be taken before storage that the fruit surface is completely dry and the polythenc sheets are perforated with app]'oxi~ mately 250 to 300 holcs (diameter 0.15 mm) pci' sheet of I mx 1 m. Wooden boxes and polytllene sheets,hould be dried properly before being used again. r n one wooden box of 39.2 em x20.3 em x20.3 em size, 17 to 13 kg fruits Call easily be.tored with polylhcnc sheet of 1m X 1m, (CONTINUED I'ROM PAOK 16) of SayIo, 70 OJ' (menazon) or 500 ml ofrogor 30 EO (dimethoatc) in 500 litres of water once at the end of Ja.nuary when the plants arc,till dormant and again iinmcdiatcly nfter the li uil-sct. Dlack apbid also attacks peach trees at some places. I t usually migrates from other crops in the '<\joining ficlds, altaoking limbs and the main stem. It can be controlled by spl.ying 500 Ill! of malathion or Rogal' in 500 litres of water. 17

116 a to 2 MATERIAL and SERVICES for YOUR GARDEN in BULK or SMALL QUANTITIES SEeDS and PLANTS INSECTICIDES FERTILIZERS POTS- CEMENT, EARTHEN, CERAMIC * GARDEN TOOLS and EQUIPMENTS ROSE-MIX, VEG-MIX, FRUIT-MIX. BONSAI- MIX SERVICES: GARDEN PLANNING, DESIGN and LAY-OUT CONSULTATION MAINTENANCE, ALTERATION, ADDITION OF GARDENS CONTACT: NAGPUR Pholle: Indian Horticnlture

117 ECONOMICS OF LITCHI CULTIVATION IN BIHAR K. P. SINGH Aajendra Agricultural Univorslty, Campus Dholl, Bihar A LTHOUGH litchi is not the most important fruit crop in the existing area and produclion, it is an important frllit of Bihar. Though it is also grown in the Tnred belt oruttni' Pradesh and Punjab, the li uit frolll Bihar has found country-wide recognition in quality and taste. Mango, which occupies the largest area in the Slale, is losing importance owing to irregularity in bearing and insecure income. Bul cultivation of l.itchi has not made an.y spectacular progress shi.'cc Independence and the area remains 10,000 lui "as in the Inid-fifdes. This is in spite of the fact that this.crop is bestowed with regular bearing, assurcd illcome and tasty and nutritive fruits and is almost free from serious d1sca")c and pest problems. Information was collected from a cross-scction Of lltehi grqwers on the expcndit\li c and il\come incuited on its cultivation (Table 1). This includes various input costs at current market rates, up to the SiXtll year of plantation when litchi plantation starts bearing marketable crop. The gl oss income was based on the bids offered to cullivatol's in auction; which is the prevalant mode of marketing. The offe~ of the contractors was Jan ii'a r» - Mar c" based on the estimated number offntits per plant. The fruits per plant were in ti,e fourth year, 1,500-2,000 in the fifth year and 4,000-5,000 in the sixth year. A mature litchi tree fetched Rs 30 to Rs 100 in auction, the price of Ii tchi bcing Rs 2 per 100. A malure litchi orchard (after sixth year of planting) generated on an average a net inconlc of Rs 13)385 with an invcstment ofrs 2,365 per hectare, giving additional income ofrs 5.63 per rupee illvestmellt on litchi cultivation. The economics of litchi cultivation was studied in comparison with other relay crops grown in this region. The figures. of incomc and expenditure from litchi compared with other annual crop rotations commonly followed in this belt (Table 2) were based on tho studies ~onducrccl in the villages adopted under Integrated Rural Development Programme of the Rajendra Agricultural University. No common crop rotation generated income comparable to litchi with so little investment and no crop rotation proved good alternative to litchi. Reasons of non-adoption of large-scale cultivation of litchi were 19

118 TADLE I. COST OF CULTIVATION OF LITCHI flu/! E.'l:pmdilure (Rs/ha) riftcr)'ears rif pf(wji"g 4 l.and preparation IGO 100 Trench fcrlcing and windbreaks 1,000 Digging or pit! 160 Cost oflayers(including freight etc.) (iso Manurcs and fertilizers Temporary gabioil,100 irrigation Infercuiture Plant protection 150 \50 Land rent Interest on capital Total 3,707 1,720 Income From intercrops 1,500 1,000 From main crop Total 1,500 1,000 Net - 2, GOO 850 1,100 1, [)O ,430 1,81 5 2,200 2,365 1, ,100-1,750 5,250.7,000 14,000-17,500 1,000 2,150-2,500 5,250-7,000 11,000-17, ,050-4,800 11,635-15,135 TABLE 2. ECONOMICS OF CULTIVATING orfferent CROPS Croprolaliorl Total ii/come To/alt,'<- Netitlcome Additiollal (R'f'Ia) Ptrldilu(t (Rsfho) income! 4. (Rsf''') i"vtslmml Litchi 15,750 2,365 J3, Rainy season maize.~ 13,850 5,569 8,28\ 1.49 sweet polato-wheat Rn-iny season. maize- 10,500 1,857 6, pigconpea (Scp) Ra;uy season 8,400 3,926 4, maize-wheat Rainy season maize- 8,875 1,066 5, winter-season maize considered by the Department of Agricultural Economics, Rajendra Agricultural University. They found following reasons in the Mushed block (district Muzaffarpur), the main litchi-growing belt of Bihar. L About three-fourths of the total families (75 per cent) are small (16.5 per cent), marginal (27.5 per cent) ami landless labqurers (31.0 per cent). It is extremely difficult for these families, with nominal land, to shift from cereals and other annual crops to litchi cultivation in which there is no income for the first 3 years. There will be no alternative means of subsistence during this period. 2. Initial expenditure (Rs 3,707 hal involved in lilehi cultivation is beyond the capacity of these farmers. 3. The litchi growers get only 38 pel' cent of the consumer's price and the rest is shared among various middle-men, compared with per cent share of the farmcl's in wheat cultivation. Although 25 pci' cent of Ihe expenditure ineulted in marketing is met by the middle-men, it is deducted from the grower's share. This includes expenditure on tran.spot t, loading and unloading, and other charges. Major portion of the litchi is marketed to big cities like Calcutta, Bombay, Varana,i and Lucknow. This results in increased expenditure on packing and trmlsport. 6. The period of ripening or availability ofjitchi is very short. Illasts for only 2-3 weeks. There are hardly 4-5 va"ieties classed early, mid-season and latc, but lh.e intervening period between. the varieties of two seasonal groups is extremely short. As a result, the growers are not able to resist the terms of contraclars, since even a short delay in marketing process will resu It in huge loss to the growcrs. To overcome these obslacles and help large-scale expansion of litchi cultivation, following points are suggested. I. Provision of liberal loan to farmors '0 that they can meet the initial expenditure and ward-off the noincome period. 2. Development of varieties and teclmologiesso that the pet'iod of availability and ripening may be extended. 3. Development of adequate processing units. Indian Horticultur.

119 CHOOSE THE RIGHT VEGETABLE FOR HIGH RETURNS K.V. SUBRAHMANYAM Indian Instilute of Horticultural Rasaarch. 60ngoloro EGETAULES play an hnpol'tant role in social welfa.re V and economic spheres of the society. Besides being a source ofvitamitls and minerals, they arc also good source of quick al\d regular income for small anel marginal cultivators. Though vegetables in general arc profitable to grow, the actual returns realized differ from vegetable to vegetable owing to factors like initial investment, yield and gross returns. Therefore selection of the right type of vegetables will help the cultivators to realize higher retums from a unit area. Hence vegetables were groupecl on the basis of economic factors like costs and returns, in this paper. ]alluary-marc" 1983 Data were collected by personal interview from the cultivators growing vegetables like tornat.o, brinjal; okra, cabbage, cauliflower, french-bean and carrot in Kolar district to Karnataka state in both rainy (khanj) and ;"intel' (rabi) season.' during Total 382 eultivavator, were sampled fol' different vegetables and seasons. The cost of cultivation included the cost of inputs like sced, manures, fertilizers, charges of human and bullock labour and plant~protcction chemicals and interest on working capital. In kharif, tomato incurred the highest cost of cultivation (Rs 5,200Iha) followed by cabbage (Rs 5,000), bri[jjal (Rs 4,800), [I'encll-bean (Rs 4,350), 21

120 'table i. RANKING OF VEGETABLES ON THE IlASIS OF NET RETURNS (lts/ha) Vlgttable Raj,!>, SUlson Willft fscasoil J)olh u(uollj Ilt/ur/lS ( Rs) Rallk Returns (Rs) Rank RtlllrtJs(Rs) Ra"k Tomato 13,055 I 13,006 II 2G, I+I I Cabbage 19,766 Il 1I,4G5 1Il 22,253 II nrinjal 0,666 III 13,333 I 22,0 19 III Carrot 7,'iU'f IV II, WI IV 10,66;) IV French-bc2111 1,873 V 10,715 V 15,500 V CA\,II.nower 7,404 VI 7,401 VI Okra 3,499 VI 5,552 VLI 9,059 VII Data or one season Duly. TAllLF,2. NET l\eturns (RS/I-1A/DAY) FRO~~ DIFFERENT VEGETABLES Vegtfahle R(li,~)' Retrlms (.Rs) FrenchMhean Cabbage 119.B7 TOnlftto ClIorrot DrirlJal Okra Cauliflower- stllloli Rallk HI 1 II IV V VI loy infer 3etl,H)II Dolh seasons Returns (Rs) Rallk Rt/mlls (Ror) Rrmk I [ II G II (; IV III HI IV V V VI 110,35 VI 74.0'[ VII VlI Data or one season only. carrot (Rs 3,980) and okra (Rs 2,900). 'TIms the most of the vegetables require an investment around Rs 4,000 to 5,000 per hectare. The gross returns were also high for tomato in both the 'e'l' ons (Rs 10,289/ha in klwri] and Rs 17,033/ ha in rabi) followed by cabbage (in klran] Rs 15,787/ha) and b.-injal (in,.hi 17,501/ha). On the basis of input-output ratio Ihe order of performance wa' tomato, cabbage, brinjal and carrot ill kltarij; and brinjal, carrot, cabbage and tomala in rabi. Net returlls (deduced by dcducling variable cost from gross returns) form the basis of selection of a crop by tlle cultivator. I found that in both the seasons tomato, cabbage and brinjal gave net returns of more than Rs 1O,000/ha. Okra ga.ve the least, Le. Rs 3,500 ha in klwrif and Rs 5,500/ha in rabi (Table 1). The net returns per day based on the duration of the crop showed th;tt in kharif it is \letter to grow cabbago, tomato Or french-bean instead of brinjal, and in rabi vegetables should be preferred in the order french-bean,. cabbage, carrot and tomato (Table 2). On an average of both the seas()ns, french-bean proved bettcr owing to its shortest durati0i1, followed by cabbage, tomato and carrot; cauliflower beillg the last choice: Therefore in Karnataka it is bettcr to grow tomato, ca.bbage and brinjal in both the seasons, and especially frencll-bean and carrot in rabi for getting good tct urns. 22 Enjoy a beautiful garden full of beautiful flowers. We offer a large varieties of bulbs, plants and seeds of Azalia. Anthurium, Bird of Paradise. Camellia. Cactii and Succulents. Tuberous and fibrous rooted Begonia. Orchids and many others. Catalogue available. Books: <I) Beautiful Indian Orchids Rs 35 <~) Cactil and Succulents ; Rs 7.50 Please send cash with orders to G. GHOSE & ~O. Town-end (near Victoria Falls) DARJEELING Indian H'o,tioultur<

121 'K1', A VALUABLE ADDITION TO 'SNOWBALL' GROUP OF CAULIFLOWER H. S. GILL. K. D. LAKHANPAL. S. R. SHARMA and P. M. BHAGCHANDANI Indian Agricultural Researoh Instit"te. Regional Station. Kat,"in. Himachal Pradesh T HE seed production of late cauliflower) commonly known as 'Sn.owbaU' group~ is restricted t.o the temperate regions of tile country, altllougl, it does not require chilling as in otber temperate vegetables. A sudden rise ill temperature at tj1c lime of flowering causes sterility, resulting in a few shrivelled seeds or no seed at all in the plains of northcrn India bccause of withering away of the plants. Therefore inlprovemcnt work on the late g"oup of cauliflowcr is also restricted to temperate regions. The Katr'ain station of Indian Agricultural Research Institute has done some pioneer work on cau liflower sced production and has succeeded in l'eleasillg a. number of new oultivars beuer suited to' our agl'o~clitnatic conditions. TllC improvcment WOJ'k js going on for 1]lc last two decades at this station, l'csulting in the release ofanumbcr ofval'ietics, Recently a new selection, (K 1', made froln an exotic material whioh was being tested in co~ordinatcd trials has been recommended for release by the Fifth Vegetable Improvement Workshop held at Coimbatore owing to its supcl'ior' performance in the tri:alsconducted tlll'ouglloui the country under All-India Co-ordinated Vegetable Improvement PI'oject. The new va1'iety besides,giving high yield and superior curd characteristics at most oft1le places possessed considerable field resistance to black rot, a bacterial disease caused by Xan t/lomon"s camp'slris. Even under artincal inoeultllion it showcd B to J 5 pel' cciil inlccliol' comparcd with 50 to 60 pel' cenl in ouler cuhivars'of this group. J a " " a ry -'. Mar c /r Yield performancli TJIC pcdol'mance of this variety in comparison with the recommended variety 'Pusa Snowball' is given in Table L TIlis variety, however, matures a week l ater than 'Pma Snowball I " and hence will be an additional variety that will increa,~ the period of availability of cauliflower in the plains. Cbtd chot'rcierlstlc8 Foliage is light green with wavy margins, covering the head very tightly. Snow-white compact curds are slightly raised in the centre. The curds do not turn yellow even after expos Ul'e, which is t)te usual drawback with other cultivars of this group. It t'lkes days froln sowing to first harvesting. CUL'l'URAL PIlI\C'l'ICI!S. The cultural practices being f()llowed for growing late cauliflower;n different regi()ns arc alsl) applicable to the new cultivar. Diseases Recently tile disease problem Ims p()sed a grave threat to the well-esta.blished cauliflower seed industry in the country, especially in Himachal Pradesh. Important diseases along with their control measures arc therefore discussed below. DAMPING-OFF. The disease is caused by Pylhiurn sp. and Rhizoolorlia sp. and attacks in the nursery stage. It can be very effectively controlled by t1'cating the nursery bed with I part of crude formaldehyde + 48 parts of water. The nursery bcds should be thoroughly drel, ched to depth of 2.5 em and then covered with poly- 23

122 thene to prevent Ille escape of fumes for 96 hr. After I'emoving polythcnc Ihe beds arc opened for 40 Ill' before sowing Il,C seeds. If formaldehyde is not available, the beds sllotdd be trented with 0.2 per cent Captan. Overcrowding in the nursery is another cause of damping ofl; which sllould be avoided. WIRE 51'''''. T hough of l'eeont origin, the disea.le is very severe both in thc nursery slage as well as wilhin 2 to 4 weeks of transplanling. It is caused by Rhizuc{ollia solalli. The stem neal' the ground leve l tlll'lts black and the aflected plants wilen uprooted have only black tap root like a wirc 1 g iving characteristic name Lo t]lc disease. The disease is more severe in low-lying patdlcs. Hence under waterlogging conditions the crop shoujd be planted on ridges. DI'enching the affected plants with 0,3 per cent Oaptan or O. 2 par cent Drassicol is also helpful in coni rolling the disease. BLACK ROT. This is a bacterial disease caused by XmlthomO/las campeslris. The new variety possesses fi~ld l'csistancc to this disease. I-Iowcver, hot water treatment of seed for 30 min at 50'C and rotation for 3 years with non'el'ucifel'ous Cl'OPS pl' ave useful. Oonsider. able headway has also been made in breeding highjy J'csistant varieties against this disease. 1n (Sci 12' res is.. tant genes have been successfully transferred from an Asiatic lille 'SIl 445'. SCLEROTlNIA ROT. This is tj~e mos t dreaded disease of cauliflower seed crop tlla t causes up t090 pcr cent damage under unfavourable circumst:ances. It is caused by a fungus Sclerotillia sclel'oliom1il, whieh attacks the plant at flo\'vcring time. A Dum.bel' of control mcasui'cs including soil amendment practices have beell tricd at this station. Application of JO q sawdust of kclo (Cedrus deotlara) at thc time of soil preparation inhibits the germination of sclcl'otinia that remain in soil and ger.. minate at the time of flowering, causing infection. Spraying the crop at intervals of 15 days altem"tely with 0.2 per cellt Dithane M 45 and O. I per cent Davistin, starting from the time of curd formation, also gives considerablc rclief. For resistance breeding, resistant genes have been successfully transferred from the heading broccoli to the caulihowcl' cultival's. Insect pests There are two major insect pests of cauliflower, namely cabbage butterfly and caterpillar. Botll of them can be controlled by the application of insecticides. For the vegetable crop, sp raying of 0.15 pel' cent Thiodan 01' 0.2% Malathion i. recommended. For the sced crop' spray of systemic insecticides like Rogor (0.1 pci' cent) and Mclacid (0. 1 per cellt) gives protection against these pests for a longer period. However, at the time of flowe";ng the use of O. I pci' cent Nuvan and Sumithion is beneficial, as these insecticides do not interfcm wit11 the activities of the bees. Seeds of cauliflower 'Pusa Snowball' (proposed name of 'K 1 ') can be had from the Head, Indian AgriCllltural Research Institute, Regional Station, Katrain (Kulu Va.lley), Himachal Pradesh, or from the Head of Divi. son of Vegetable Crops and FloriClllture, Indian Agricultural ReSt:arch Institute, New Delhi TABLE I. YIELD PERFOR,,,,IANCE OF CAUl.IFI.OWER VARIETIES AT VARIOUS TESTING CENTRES Varit.l)l r i,{d('1if1a) hi 1.11.IU.,Lllrlhjmlll Pon/rlOgar Kali{l/Iftur A/mora HisSfir Kalraill 'K I' t7 185, J52.98 (15.21) (3.29) (111.51) (55.52) H (-) IPUI'I<l Sn.owbn.1I l' , < 'K I' J67.GO (5.09) H (26.34 (-) 'Pusn Snowball I' 'l 'KI' , arop failed because or (50.91) (-) (5.19) (29.53) (29.17) Inclement weather 'Pu s-a Snowba,1I 1 ' t 'K I' 3+1.< IOB.55 (26.18) (-) (-) n9. 31 ) 'Pusn Snowba.1l I' H Pel'cclltageillcl'casc is given ill parenthescs. *n.cports from these centres were not made available at thc.woi'kshop, hence datil could not be incorpol'atcd. 24 Indian Horticulture

123 WILD CARDAMOM OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH R. C. UPADHYAYA " and S. P. GHOSW" ICAR Research Complex for North-Eastern Hills RegIon Centre Basar (Arunachal Pradesh) ARDAMOM of commerce is mainly of two type" small C cardamom (Elet/aria cardamomum) and largc cardamom (Amomum SIlbulatwn). Small cardamom is cultivateel mostly in the southern states like Kernla anet Kamataka, anel large cardamom in Sikkim, sub-himalayan regions of West Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan anel in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh. In Arunachal P"adesh the scope for cultivation of large cardamom is very good, pal'licularly in some midhills 01' low hills. In the humid fbrcst of Siang district, quite a good number of wild and semi-wild cardamoms are ",vailable. A rew types having potential foj' commercial exploitlltion and useful for the impl'ovement of large cardamom of commerce wcre collected by us and their descriptions are given ill brief, along with local names in usage by the Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. BAllO (Amomum sub,dalum). The plants are widely available in the lore,(s and they grow luxuriously in swampy areas. The plant is.nedillm iall (about 2.5 m), herbaceous perennial with loot! leaves pel' plant. Average size of fully mature leaf is BO em X 13 em. Flowers are yellowish red. An inflorescence on an average develops fruits. The fruit (capsule) is deep brown with the average,ize of 2_2 cm X 1.7 em (circumference). The capsule matures in October and weighs g with BO-85 seeds pci' fruit. Seeds are medium,ized, blackish brown, having IOO-,eed weight of 1.3 g. Yield pel' plant varies from 1 no to 200 g (on dry-weight basis). The capsule is edible and closely resembles the commercial large cardamom type. Volatile oil content in the whole capsule (sun-dried) is about 0.35 pel' cent. TALI (Al/lomulII sll.). Plants arc tall (3.5-4 m in height) with long (125 em) anti broad (23 em) leaves. The numbel' of leaves per plant varics from 8 to 10. Flowers arc wllitc but the capsule surface is brown. Individual inilol'e,cence contains almost double the Scientist S (Horticulture), ~OAR Rc."lcarch Complex (or North Ea!ltern Hill!! Region, Centre llnsar (Arunachal Prtldesh). '" ScicntilJt S~3 (Horticulture:)_ Central Soil nnd Water COllservation Resc:nrch and Training Institute, Dchra Dun (Uttar Pradesh). J~IIU,ary'March 1(183 number of capsule, (21-22) compared with that of babo alld the capsules are naked (without sheath). Cap. sules mature early in June-July and arc large (2.5 em X 1.02 em), with average weightof2.65g. Theoutsidc cover of the capsule is quite lta.l'd and remains uncracked even after dl'ying. The seeds are reddish brown and their number per capsule varies from 40 to 50 with,jle 100-seed weight of 2.4 g. Average yield of dry capsules per plant is quite high, ranging from 400 g to 450 g. Volatile oil recovery of dried capsule is about 0.3 per cent. The local tribe uses its seeds for medicinal purpose, especially for curing stomach pain. The slimy sugary pulp ofiullnaturc capsule~ is used by (dbals in quenching thirst while working in the Jilum (shifting cultivation) during the hot day time. JAKER (Amom"l11 sp.). Plant is similar to tali, tall (3-4 m) with about 8 leaves pel' plant. TIle average size ofmatul'e leafis 125 em x24 em. Flowers are white, and capsules arc while initially but turn light brown at maturity in October. On an average there are about 20 capsules per inflorescence unlike in ordinary cardamom, giving a yield of 160 g pel' plant. The capsules arc curved and taper towards the apex with an average size of3.3 cmx 1.4 em. Seeds are quite bold, brown and 70 per cap,ule. Volatile oil content of dry cap,ule is about 0.3 per cent, BELAK (Alllonium sp.). Plant is medium tall (3 rn) with about II leaves per plant. The size of matum leaf is 140 cmx 15.5 em. Plant is heavy sllekel'illg in nature with about 8 suckers in each clump. li'lowers are wllile and capsules arc white-brown. Individual inflorescence contains 16-lll capsules, each of2. 7 cmx I. I Ctn. The outside cover of the capsule is very tl1in and resembles that of small cardamom. The number of,eeas per capsule is much more in comparison with other types (225 in number) and the seeds arc very small in si2e. Capsules mature in October. The seeds are black and the IOO-seed weigllt is 0.33 g. Average yield of dry capsules is 360 g pel' clump. BOKt.OK (Amom"II! 'p.). This lype is grown mostly at highel' elevation (1,000 m above mean sea level). The 25

124 plant is 4.1 In tall and well adapted to swampyareas. The average numbcl' oflcavcs per pl(l.nt ls 13. Flowers arc wltitish yellow. Each inflorescence cont"ins 46 capsules, mltturing in November. The clump yields 280 g dry capsules, each capsule weighing 2. 2 g. The capsule is 3.1 em x l. 36 em in Si~C, :mcl has thin whitish cover but is W"i t!lout a sllcath. The number of sced~ per capsule vai ies from 85 to 95 with a IOO-seed weight of J. 6 g. Seeds arc b1ackisjl brown. The dry ca psule contains 0. 4 per cent volatile oil. Detailed obscrval ions on I he pian type and of I h~ capsules i ndicale Ihat sonte of Ihe collected wi ld types of cardamom may be of inlcrcsl academically and jj1 pl'actical utility. For c:xamplc, the type tali J whose capsules become ready for harvesting by June-July, is <listinctly different from ollter types, including Ihe cultivated large cardamom, whose fruit never matu res before Aug ust and September. The earliness in maturily is significant in. the improvement' pl'ogl'ammc of large cardamom. The toughness of Ihe ouler sl<in of its capsule is desirable durillg post-harvest handling a!ld n1arketing of the capsules. The capsules may prove a good medicine for stomach pain. T he type belak, having very sma.ll seeds and very smooth and thin Ouler cover, resembling that of small c(.wdan10il1, may be more closl!l' to sma. 1l card amom rather than 1.0 large cardamom. Type boklok, which is well adapted IP high altitudes of ( CONTINUED ON!>AGE 27), ro,. 7fJlfj 8Jxe.h{oo~..Apply. ~nnthp~dse~~~~ '.. ~====================~====~~~ B005T' YlnDS OVER 40'1. AND SAVE W,ATER U'PTO 70'1, WITH,, ~avtn) WAVIN - POL YE NE DRIP IRRIGATION SY STEMS J<4os r EFFICIENT ME THOD Of CONTRO,lED 8li_Q. Save loboor upla 90'1. Sov. forlilizor "PI OSO'I, RQducoQ plont mortality to olmoft 7.f'rO AdvoncQ '! Hi YIQ1dinO atlqo~t by on a,qot-on SOVtl QnQrgy upto 70% Excellent Res ults ' Ach leved On Gauvo, Co conut, Citru'\", P'cl'och and otn,r orchordt Vi... t our drip dqmon~tro1ion tor'mco at N. Dvlll. Madra, and HydorQbad Systems Are Speclolly De signed For Orchard..,Vil)eyQrd~, Row Crapt And Vecjetablet For More Details Please Contact. WAVIN INDIA LIMITED Irrigation Systems Dlv,ision 706Rohit liautq, 3, T.ISl;.~ Maru. 'I. ", D~lhl-1I0DOl P~on , r.i , r.legram tnowavtn 26 ["dia" I.J~riicu l'lur. c

125 MOUNTAIN SPINACH A POTENTIAL LEAFY VEGETABLE FOR NORTH INDIAN PLAINS T. A. THOMAS and R. PRASAD National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, JAR! Campus New Delhi L EAFY vegetables have a very high protective food value. They are rich in calcium, iron and otjlcr Ininerals and vitaxnins A and C. Besides, their soft fibrous matter provides the necessary roughage ill the diet. Jfproperly cooked, leafy vegetablesa.refairlypalatable and ha.ve extra nutritive value. Mountain spinach (Alriple., 1I011",,;s; clwkrvat in Hindi, uslztallak in Kashmiri) belongs to the family Chenopodiaceae. It is hardier than spinach and is grown in Maharashtl a and Kamataka during winter and in Kashmir during warm season. The plant is characterized in the young stage by tender stem and soft and attraotive green leaves. The young plants arc either pulle(\ by the roots or their tops arc cut periodically. The leaves from thc full-grown plants are also picked. 'TI,e leaves taste saltish and arc used for the preparation of pakora, 01' nlixcd with sorrel (Rume.t: vesicar'ius), and in the preparation of different mixed vegetable dishes in the Vidal bha region of Maharashtra. The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources has made collections of its germ plasm from different parts of MaJmrashtra for its cultivation in north Indian plains during winter, The crop has done vely weh under Delhi conditions, comparable with other leafy vegetables like hal/lila and spinach. We have identified a promising line 'IE 33001', yielding 2.18 kg of green leaves from a row of 1 min 5 cllttings at an interval of 10 da.ys. It has brqad.lcaves and it flowers days latc. At present the only recommended variety is 'No. 11' released by the Department of Agriculture, Maharashtra. It produces soft leaves and gives high yield. Cultlvatlon Chakwat docs weh in light soil, having good organic content. For 1 ha, 2.7 to 5 pel) Cent seeds are sufficiont. The seed should not be sown decp: in clay soil it should not be sown deeper than 1.25 to I.5 em, though in light soils January-Marcil 1983 tl1c seed can gcl'll1inate (,:vcn. if sown 2.5 Lo 3,0 em deep. Rows should be spaced 30 to 50 CIn apart for ease in harvesting leaves. The ultimate spacing between plants should be 5 to 8 cm. A full-grown plant gives about 1 kg edible leaves, and 1 ho plot gives 6,175 g,'een leaves. The leaves are ready for harvest in 4.5 weeks after sowing. At later stages the leaves can be picked from the b.-anches of the grown-up plants when still gl een. However, it is rarely grown as a pui e crop. It is always grown mi~ed with clustcrbcau (guar), Illdiom dill (sown), sweet-potato, chilli, brinjal or okra (bltillcli). Tllc crop did not suffer any serious attack of pests and diseases when grown at Delhi. It produces 4 lypes of seeds, which arc either black or yellowish brown, and aj:c with or without bracts. The yellowish brown seed is good. The black seeds do not germinate unless treated with dilute nitric acid. On an average up to kg/ha of threshed clean seed can be obtained from ilie seed cmp. Seeds can be obtained fmm the Director, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, by intet ested growers and institutes for trial. (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26) 1,000 m above mean sea level, has some degree of cold tolerance. Hence it may be exploited in the improvement programnlc for extending the large cardamom area in the north-eastern region. TIle large cardamom of commerce in Sikkim is facing serious problem of sanle virus diseases like Furkey and Ohirkey. If some wild type is found to have a degree of resistance against this disease, it may be of immense value. Hence all the types are being maintained at the lcar Research Oomplex for North-Eastern Hills Region, Oentre Basar, Arunachal Pradesh, for further studies. 27

126 'MUDIKKODE LOCAL', A HIGH-YIE.LDING ORIENTAL PICKLING MELON VARIETY P. K. GOPALAKRISHNAN. SAUKUTTY JOSEPH. T. R. GOPALAKRISHNAN & K. V. PETI=R, Kerala Agricultural University. Trichur RI N'l'AL pickling melctl (ell"' O mis ",et. val'. Conomon) is a unique warm-season fruit vegetable of Kernla. Originating in the Western Ghats, it has passed through the southern Indian peninsllia. The crop ha.~ some aesthetic and religious imponallce. The golden ycl low fruit at first sight is placed before the family deity Vishnu dul'ing the religious festival. The immature fruits arc used ns salad whereas the matlll'c fruit is used ill many south Indian mcl1l1cs. The fruils can be st.ored for months, which adds to the economic impol'tance of the crop as a possible foreign-exchange carner. As no named Val'iCl y is available in this crop, Kerala Agricultural University collected ils gcl'mplmnl ["om 28 the Western Ghats as well as fl'otn the coastal districts of Kerala. From the eoucctions variety 'Muclikkode Local' was selected. It takes 56 days hom sowing La first harvest. First male flower appears in the third node, whereas Ule f1.l'st fcn).aie flower appears in the fifth node. Three harvests arc possible ill a season. The plant is monoacious, having a sex ratio of 8.5 females to 128 males (6.6 : 100). Fruit is 29 em long, having 3.4 emthick flesh and weighing 1.5 kg, with ascol'bic acid 3. 1,ngjiOO g, reducing sugars 0.58, and total soluble solids 2 Brix. Main seasons for OlC CLoOp arc February-May and September January. Seed is I gj40 m' at a spacing of 1.5 m X 3 m, in raised beds during rainy scason and in shallow phs during summer. Farmyard manure is kg/pit along with 250 g vegetable mixture (7:10:5). If fertilizers arc available, the vegctal)le mixture can be I'cplac~ cd by 35 g urea, 25 g superphosphate and 40 g murialc of potash. Full amounts of farmyard manure, superphosphate and llluriatc of potash and half the amount of urea are ~I pplicd as basal and the remain.. ing urea is top-dressed in several split doses. The Kc,."laAgl'ieultural University lui' initiated large-scale sccd production of this variety and seeds arc available fl'oin the Department of Oleri<:uILure, Collego of Hortieultbre, P.O. Vellanikkara, Tl'icbur Indian Horticult."c

127 SELECT I.C.A.R. PUBLICATIONS A History of Agriculture in India-Vol. I A History of Agriculture in India-Vol. II Statistical Methods for Allricultural Workers Rice Production Manual Races of Maize in India Bacterial and Fungal Diseases of Potato Wheat Research in India Castor Crop Substitution in Orissa Breeding Procedures in Pearlmillet Oats Forage and Pasture In sect Pests of Rajasthan The Grass Cover of India Handbook of Animal Husbandry Bee Keeping in India Livestock Feeding Genetic Analysis of Closed Herd of Hariana Cattle Milk Proteins Rinderpest Myxomycetas in India Oedogoniales Volvocales Research in Animal Production Price Rs Postage Rs Copies available from.. THE BUSINESS MANAGER INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH KRISHI BHAVAN, NEW DELHI

128 Suttons Seeds excel In qualitv. purity and production, All seads have to pass many tests before they ere permitted to bear Suttons' name. Suttons' production techniques, careful packing and strict quality control ensure good seeds which produce beautiful flowers and tasty vegetables. fer J.oPqUGV~ AW1.A, cv~ Sutton & Sons (India) Pvt. Ltd.,!'O. Russell SI160l, Calcutt, Printed in Indi:l at tlle Nalio/lnl PrintinK Works, 10 Darynganj, New Delhi , and pliblisht.d by p.e. Uedi, UIlf.kr~Sr.c:rc : tary, for the Indian Council of Agricultural R.esearch, New Dc:lhi. Ediloriu)'and Business OOke: K.. ishlljhn\ iln, New Dt:lhi