It is a matter of pleasure that the Field crops -II (Rabi crops) manual is being published by the Department of Agronomy, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar for the benefit of agriculture students. The manual contains complete crop husbandry of rabi field crops from field preparation to the crop harvesting. It seems to be very useful not only to the students to prepare for examinations but also to the farmers and associated persons engaged in raising rabi field crops. The authors Drs. R.K. Pannu, A. K. Dhaka, Bhagat Singh and Satish Kumar have needed teaching and research exposure on field crops. The manual so developed may also serve as a text book as this has been written as per revised curriculum, which will help the undergraduate students for their better understanding of the crop cultivation. The language of manual is simple and easily understandable with cultivation practices elaborated in detail. The production constraints of each crop with practical solution have been explained very well. This publication will certainly help the students to prepare for competition of different examinations. I congratulate the authors for their tireless efforts in bringing out the manual only to help in development of quality human resource. This manual can also be used as ready reckoner by all stakeholders of field crops.
(K.S. Khokhar)
PREFACE
Crop cultivation as subsistence farming has been followed since ancient times. Raising field crops is a dynamic process of taking decision from time to time as the cultivation practices changes with change in agro climatic conditions, soil types and locations. Crop production embraces the knowledge to perform the various operations at the farm in a skillful manner. This also teaches judicious and efficient use of farm resources and inputs are required for sustainable production. In view of the ever-growing human and cattle population and horizontal expansion of crop cultivation is impossible, therefore very limited scope for extension of cultivated area, it is necessary to produce more food, feed, fodder, fuel and fiber from the existing land area with the available resources. Depletion and degradation of natural resources by intensive agriculture in post green revolution era coupled with increasing cost of inputs required for crop production are posing serious threat to sustainability of crop production. Therefore, it requires developing skilled man power through human resource at global level. The apex body of agriculture at national level (ICAR) has developed a common course curriculum for the graduates in agriculture for parity. None of the available books covers the whole syllabus and taking this in to consideration a manual has been written by the authors. The course contents have been implemented from 2011-12 in Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The new course of field crops (Rabi) is more comprehensive as it deals with the complete package of practices of major rabi season cereals, pulses, oil seeds, forage crops, sugar crops, commercial crops and medicinal and aromatic plants. A comprehensive document on different aspects of crop production i.e soil, climatic requirement, crop production and crop protection technologies along with the processing and value addition will provide comprehensive knowledge to the students. We hope the manual will be helpful in fulfilling the objective of holistic knowledge of crops for increasing the income of farmers and sustainability to the production system. We wish this manual will be useful to the students, teachers and farmers alike pursuing the sacred mission of increasing food availability to the hungry millions. We are thankful to the Worthy Vice-Chancellor for writing forward for this manual and authorities of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar for granting permission to publish this manual. The encouragement and guidance by Dr. (Mrs.) Sucheta Khokhar, Dean, College of Agriculture and technical help rendered by Dr. A.S. Dhindwal, Professor and Head, Department of Agronomy is thankfully acknowledged. We are extremely thankful to the authors of various books, manuals and documents for getting useful material for inclusion in this publication. We are also grateful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for providing financial assistance for publication of this manual. Suggestions for improvement of the subject matter are always welcome.
Hisar R. K. Pannu March, 2012 A.K. Dhaka Bhagat Singh Satish Kumar
Origin, geographical distribution, economic importance, soil and climatic requirements, varieties, cultural practices, manuring, water management, important limiting factors and constraints in production and cultivation of rabi crops. Cereals: Wheat and Barley Pulses : Chickpea, Lentil, Peas and French bean Oil seeds : Rapeseed and mustard and Sunflower Sugar crop : Sugarcane Commercial crop : Tobacco Forage crops : Berseem, Lucerne and Oat 6
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WHEAT
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is locally known as Gehun/Kanak belongs to family Poaceae. It is the Worlds number one cereal crop with an area of about 214 million hectare, which is about 14% of the global arable land area. The area under wheat is almost static around 220 million hectare since last three decades but its production has been increased by four fold due to improved varieties, increase in irrigation and fertilizers use with modern production technologies. Wheat is the second most important food crop of the country, which contributes nearly one-third of the total food grains production. It is consumed mostly in the form of unleavened pan-backed bread, called chapati. Wheat is consumed in various other preparations such as dalia, halwa, puri, upma, flakes, cakes, biscuits etc. It contains more proteins (10-12%) than other cereals. Wheat has a relatively high content of niacin and thiamine. Wheat proteins are of special significance beside nutrition; they provide characteristic substance gluten, which is very essential for bakers, because gluten provides the structural frame work for the spongy, cellular texture of bread and other baked products. Wheat straw is used for feeding the cattle. Origin According to De Candolle wheat was originated in the valley of Euphrates and Tigris and spread from there to China, Egypt and other parts of worlds. But, Vavilov believed that durum wheat was originated in Abyssinia, while soft wheat was probably originated in the region of western Pakistan, south western Afghanistan and the southern parts of mountainous Babshara.
Area, Production and Productivity The major Wheat producing countries in the world are China, India, United States, Russia and France. In India the major wheat growing states are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan with a highest productivity in Punjab (45.1 q/ha), Haryan (44 q/ha) and UP (31.2 q/ha) with all India average of 29.1 q/ha. The average productivity of wheat in Haryana during 2009-10 was 42.13 kg/ha. The area under wheat has steadily gone up since the start of the Wheat Revolution in 1967 and its production and productivity has increased tremendously. The overall increase in area, production and productivity of wheat in our country during 1965-2010 had been 207%, 655% and 317%, respectively. Another major change that has occurred in wheat cultivation since independence is that the proportion of area under irrigated wheat has increased greatly. It has gone up from 34% in 1967 to 51 % in 1970 and more than 89.6% in 2006-07. Thus the crop has now become largely irrigated as compared to being primarily rainfed earlier.
Classification of wheat According to Bayles and Clark (1954) the 12 cultivated species of Triticum are Triticum aestivum/vulgare (Common bread Wheat), T.durum (Durum/macroni Wheat), T. 8
dicoccum (Emmer Wheat), T.sphaerococcum (Shot Wheat), T. macha (Macha Wheat), T. vavilovi (Vavilovii Wheat), T. spelta (Spelt Wheat), T. compactum (Club Wheat), T. polonicum (Polish Wheat), T. turgidum (Poulard Wheat), T. persicum/carthlicum (Persian Wheat) and T. monococcum (Einkorn Wheat). Out of total 18 species of Triticum genus, Perival (1921) classified 12 cultivated species into three distinct groups; deploids (Einkorn Wheat) , tetraploids ( Emmer, Durum, Persian, Poulard and Polish wheat) and hexaploids ( Common, Club, Spelt, Shot, Macha and Vavilovii wheat), with 7, 14 and 21 chromosomes, respectively in their cells. T. sphaerococcum has now practically gone out of cultivation because of its low productivity and high susceptibility to diseases. Only spring-type wheat varieties are grown in the country, though these are raised in winter. Common bread wheat (T. aestivum) is the most important species, occupying more than 90% of the total wheat area in the country. It is grown all over India from the sea-level up to an elevation of 3,500 m in the Himalayas. Mexican dwarf wheat developed by incorporating dwarfing gene Norin 10 was introduced in India by Dr. N.E. Borlaug (Noble Leurate). Macaroni wheat (T. durum) is the second most important species, occupying nearly 10% of the wheat area. Earlier its cultivation was primarily confined to the central and southern India, with very small area in Punjab and West Bengal. Its cultivation was most common under rain fed conditions only, on account of high susceptibility to rusts. But with the development of high-yielding semi-dwarf types, a large area has come up in Punjab under irrigated conditions. The durum wheat is good for making suit, semya, sphagetti. Emmer wheat (T. dicoccum ), is grown on a very restricted scale in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where it is known as popatiya, khapli, ravva, godhumalu, samba etc. A large pocket of several thousand hectares of this species exists in Belgaum district of Karnataka along the river Krishna. It has a very high degree of heat tolerance and can be sown as late as December and January without much fear of heat damage during grain filling, even in the southern zone. It is preferred for several south Indian dishes, which use granular form of wheat.
Growth stages Pre-establishment stage: a. Pre-emergence (up to 5 DAS): Sprouting of seeds by giving rise to seminal roots and coleoptiles. b. Emergence (6 DAS): Appearance of coleoptiles from germinating seeds above the soil surface. Vegetative stage: a. Seedling (up to 30 DAS): The young plants establish larger root systems in this stage. This stage may be further differentiated as one leaf, two leaves, three leaves and four leaf stages. b. Crown root initiation (22 DAS): This coincides with three or four leaf stage in the plant. At this stage the roots emerge from the crown disc. 9
c. Tillering (35 - 45 DAS): Plants develop crown and branch out into tillers from their base at soil surface. d. Jointing (65 DAS): This is the stage at which the plants start elongating when the nodes start developing above the crown node. Reproductive stage: a. Booting (75 DAS) in this stage the uppermost leaf swells out into flag holding the spike into it. b. Heading (85 DAS) The spikes start emerging out from the flag leaf sheath at this stage. c. Flowering/Anthesis (95 DAS) Anthesis of florets and fertilization of ovaries take place at this stage. Post- Anthesis stage Grain filling (105-135 DAS): The ovaries, after fertilization, start elongation into seeds or ovules passing through Milk stage (105 DAS), Soft dough stage (120 DAS) and Hard dough stage (135 DAS). Maturity stage: Colour of glumes changes and kernels become fairly hard at this stage. There are two stages of maturity i.e. Physiological (140 DAS) and harvestable maturity (145 DAS)
Climatic requirement In India wheat is a winter season (rabi) crop. The sowing is done in autumn and harvesting in summer. The high temperature at both ends of the crop season determine the duration available for cultivation, which ranges from 100 days in south to more than 145 days in north-western plains and 180 days in the hills. The best wheats are produced in areas favored with cool, moist weather during the major portion of the growing period followed by dry, warm weather to enable the grain to ripen properly. The optimum temperature range for ideal germination of wheat seed is 20 to 25 0 C though the seeds can germinate in the temperature range of 3.5-35 0 C. During the heading and flowering stages, excessively high or low temperature and drought are harmful to wheat crop. The temperature conditions at the time of grain filling and development are very crucial for yield. Temperature above 25 o C during this period tends to depress grain weight. Early seeding severely restricts tillering capability, crop duration and yield potential of most varieties. Very hot temperature during grain-ripening period can result in grain shriveling.
Soil requirement Well-drained loams and clayey loams are considered the best for growing wheat. However, good crop of wheat can be raised in sandy loams and the black soils also. Durum wheat is considered more suitable for cultivation in heavy and black soils, whereas aestivum wheat is grown in all types of soils.
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Crop rotations In Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh where rice is now extensively grown in kharif and is followed by wheat. Similarly, wheat is now extensively cultivated after rice in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The sugarcane-wheat and cotton-wheat rotations are also common in several parts, in northern India under irrigated condition Pearl millet--wheat, Sorghum-wheat and jute-wheat are other rotations followed in some parts of the country. Development of short-duration varieties of pigeonpea has made the growing of wheat feasible after harvest of this crop. In north-western India and in the foot-hill tarai areas of Uttar Pradesh, irrigated wheat is also grown as a companion crop between rows of sugarcane and potato. In the black soils of central and peninsular India, dryland wheat is rotated with sorghum, pearl milet or cotton in kharif in the preceding year. The growing of quick-maturing crops, viz. greengram, onion, coriander and even groundnut or early sown maize as catch crops before wheat are fairly common. All over India, the growing of rainfed wheat mixed with Chickpea, lentil, mustard, linseed, barley and safflower is quite common. Even under irrigated conditions a row of mustard for every 8 to 12 rows of wheat is a common practice.
Field preparation Wheat crop requires a well pulverized but compact seedbed for good and uniform germination. With 3 to 4 ploughings, repeated harrowing, cultivation and planking before sowing to produce firm seedbed are considered desirable for raising a good crop of wheat. Very timely cultivation to conserve moisture in the soil is essential under rainfed condition. In the black cotton soils, blade harrow (bhakar) is used instead of the plough. For field prepration 1 to 3 ploughings with an iron plough may sometimes precede the use of bhakar. Pre-sowing irrigation (palewa or rauni) of field, followed by cultivation and planking to prepare a fine well pulverized seed bed. Recently zero-tillage and minimal tillage sowing practices using a specially designed zero-till seeding-cum-fertilizer drill have been recommended to save the time required to prepare proper seedbed under the rice-wheat rotation, particularly when medium long and long duration varieties of rice (or basmati types) are grown and the fields get vacated very late in November and December. Such practices can be followed even for timely sown wheat to reduce expenditure on field preparation. However, these are successful when weeds are not a serious problem or when these are controlled with the use of herbicides. Resource conservation technologies (RCT) 1. Laser land leveling: This is precursor resource conservation technology that is a must for the proper implementation of other RCTs for greater productivity and profitability. This technology increases productivity, increases area under crop, saves water and other inputs, enhances factor productivity and reduces costs of production. 2. Surface seeding: This RCT is specifically suited to single crop diara lands of eastern parts of India where soil remains wet after rice harvesting. The technology requires no tillage, 11
broadcast dry or soaked seed under saturated condition, scope in areas where soil remains wet after rice harvesting and doubles the cropping intensity. 3. Zero tillage: The main features of the technology are; zero tillage drill is simple and affordable, direct drilling in untilled condition, advances sowing time realizing higher yields, saves more than 90% fuel energy and time, similar yield at lower cost in comparison to timely sown wheat with conventional tillage and better management of herbicide resistant biotypes of Phalaris minor 4. Bed Planting: The Furrow irrigated raised bed system (FIRBS) accommodate 2-3 rows of wheat on raised bed with 75-90 cm spacing between beds. The furrows in between the beds are used for irrigation purpose. The method helps in saving of water upto 40% without loss of yield.
Sowing time Normally wheat is sown when the average daily temperatures fall to around 22-23C, which happens only in November in most wheat-growing areas. Sowing wheat while the temperatures are high (around 25C) results in poor germination reduced tillering and early onset of flowering, thereby exposing the floral parts to cold damage. All these factors depress the crop yields. Only few varieties, viz. C 306 and WH 533 are suitable for sowing in the end of October to Ist week of November, which makes these suitable for rainfed conditions where seeding is done early. Under irrigated conditions, the first fortnight of November is considered the optimum time for sowing the medium and long-duration varieties, which are capable of producing the highest possible yield.
Seed rate For varieties with the medium sized grains (38 to 44 g for 1,000 seeds) a seed rate of 100 kg/ha is recommended. For bold seeded varieties (around 45 g or more/1,000 seeds) a seed rate of 125 kg/ha is optimum. For late-sown and mild salinity condition, 25% higher seed rate (125-150 kg/ha) is recommended.
Method of sowing In many places the seed is sown by hand in furrows behind the plough, drawn by bullocks by the kera method. In Paddy - wheat rotation areas the sowing of wheat should be done with the help of zero till seed- cum -fertilizer drill. The seed of semi-dwarf varieties should be placed at seeding depth of 4 to 5cm depth, since they have a short coleoptile, but that of the tall types can be placed up to a depth of 6 to 7 cm. For irrigated timely sown wheat, a spacing of 20 cm between the rows is considered optimum. For irrigated late-sown conditions, the row spacing is reduced to 18 cm. Under rainfed conditions seed is required to be placed deeper, and after sowing, the furrows are left open. Rainfed wheat is sown at relatively wide spacing of about 25 to 30 cm between the rows. Some farmers sow the crop by broadcasting seeds in the well-prepared fields followed by harrowing. This is an 12
undesirable practice since seed cannot be spread uniformly, and get placed at variable depths resulting in erratic crop stand. However, in case this method has to be adopted under certain constraints then seed rate should be increased by 25% and moisture availability ensured in top-soil level.
Varieties Early Sowing, Medium Fertility and Restricted Irrigated Conditions C 306: This is a most drought tolerant variety of wheat. This is suitable for early sowing (i.e. last week of October to 1st week of November). This is a tall variety (135 cm) and has high tillering capacity. It has white and hairy ears on maturity. It has high early growth vigour and medium late in maturity (150 days). Due to its tall stature and weak stem, it is susceptible to lodging. It has excellent chapati making quality and its grains are hard, amber and medium in size. This variety yields about 25q/ha without irrigation. WH 1025: It is recommended for early sowing, low fertility and low irrigated areas. Medium in height (105 cm), lodging resistant. Grains are medium in size, amber coloured and hard. Its chapatti making quality is very good. It is resistant to rust. Average yield is 27.5 q/ha. WH 1080: It is recommended for rainfed and restricted irrigation areas. The plant has average height of 86 cm. The stem is hard and lodging resistant. The grains are of medium size, hard with amber colour. It can tolerate the drought conditions very well. It gives average yield of 30.8 q/ha with crop duration of 151 days. Timely Sowing, Medium Fertility and Restricted Irrigated Conditions WH 147: It is a dwarf variety with fast growing habit, good tillering capacity, and compact plant type with broad and erect leaves. The flag leaf is prominent. Its earhead is thick at the top. This variety is about one week early in heading and maturity. Hence, it can escape high temperature at the time of maturity of crop. The average yield is 50 q/ha. It has resistance to brown rust but susceptible to yellow rust and powdery mildew. Therefore, its cultivation should be avoided in humid climate areas. The last irrigation should be light and done when winds are not blowing to avoid lodging. WH 416: It has 105 cm height, quick growing habit and green foliage with broad and erect leaves. Its spikes are smooth and fusiform and have white glumes on maturity. The grains are amber and fairly bold with about 40g per 1000 grains. It has been found most suitable for timely sowing, high fertility and irrigated conditions. The average yield of this variety is 55 q/ha. Timely Sowing, High Fertility and Irrigated Conditions WH 711: It is a dwarf variety with an average plant height of 81 cm its plant is compact with profuse tillering capacity having stout stem which resists lodging. Leaves are erect, small and medium sized of dark green foliage. Spikes are tapering bearing medium awns and semi- dense which turn creamy white on maturity. It matures in 145 days. Grains are amber, medium and of oral shape and its average yield is 59 q/ha. 13
WH 542: It is a semi-dwarf variety (90 cm) with high tillering and compact plant type having dense and white spikes with short awns. It is highly resistant to lodging. It has resistance to all the three rusts, flag smut and loose smut, Karnal bunt and powdery mildew. Its foliage colour is light green. The awn and ear colour at maturity becomes white. The grains are amber colour, semi-hard and medium in size. This variety has very good chapati making qualities. It matures in 140 days and its average yield is 58 q/ha. WH 283: It is a dwarf variety with an average height of about 104 cm. The tillering is fairly good and the foliage is dark green and drooping. Its grains are bold; shining and amber. The bread and chapati making quality is very good. It is highly resistant to leaf rust and has good field resistance to Karnal bunt. The average yield of this variety is 50 q/ha. PBW 502: It is dwarf variety (95 cm) with profuse tillering habit. The ears are dense and tapering in shape. Its grains are bold, amber, lustrous and hard. It is resistant to yellow and brown rust. It is less susceptible to Karnal bunt but susceptible to loose smut. Its average yield is 50 q/ha. It matures in 150 days. PBW 550: It is dwarf (85 cm), high tillering, grains are medium in size (41 g/1000 seeds) and hard. It is resistant to yellow and brown rust. It is resistant to Karnal bunt also. Its average yield is 58 q/ha. It matures in 140 days. DBW 17: It is recommended for timely and irrigated conditions. It is dwarf (85 cm), high tillering, grains are medium in size (39 g/1000 seeds) and hard. It is resistant to yellow and brown rust. It is resistant to Karnal bunt also. Its average yield is 58 q/ha. It matures in 143 days. UP 2338: It is a dwarf variety with an average height of about 100 cm. Its grains are bold and amber. Moderately resistant to brown rust. Average yield is 57.5 q/ha. PBW 343: It is a, semi-dwarf variety with an average height of 95 cm with high tillering and compact plant type having resistance to lodging. It has recently turend susceptible to the rusts. The grains are amber, hard and medium bold. It matures in 142 days and its average yield is 57.5 q/ha. Late sown and high fertility conditions WH 1021: Dwarf (95 cm), high tillering and ears are brown in colour at maturity. Grains are medium in size, shiny and have 12.2% protein content. It is resistant to brown and yellow rust. It is tolerant to high temperature. Average yield is 47.5 q/ha. PBW 373: Dwarf (96 cm), high tillering, strong stem and resistant to lodging. Grains are medium and hard. It is resistant to brown and yellow rust. Average yield is 46 q/ha. Raj 3765: It is recommended for late and very late sowing. Plant height is 95 cm. It has profuse tillering and strong stem. Its spike is dense, pointed and white in colour. Its leaves are light green in colour. Grains are hard, bold and amber in colour. It is heat and rust tolerant. Its average yield is 46 q/ ha. Sonalika (S 308): Semi-dwarf, low tillering and ears are light red in colour at maturity. Grains are bold and soft. Incidence of Karnal bunt is less but sensitive to yellow rust. Average yield is 42 q/ha. 14
Timely Sowing under Salinity and Alkalinity Conditions WH-157: It is a dwarf variety with an average height of 105 cm with compact habit of growth in the early stage. Its foliage and stem remain dark green throughout its growth period till maturity. However, the older leaves show a tendency of tip drying. The grains of this variety are bold, hard and amber. Its tillering capacity is low. Its ears are fully bearded and mid-dense. Its ear heads have whitish glumes, slight hairiness and long awns. It matures in 142 days. It has high resistance to yellow rust and resistance to brown rust. Its average yield under salt affected lands is 35 q/ha. KRL 210: Recommended for timely sown, irrigated saline and alkaline soil conditions. Semi-dwarf and early maturing (125 Days) variety with high yield potential, giving about 33.75 q/ha grain yield. Grains are medium, semi-hard and amber in colour. Highly resistant to loose smut disease and tolerant to Karnal bunt and foliar blight. Fairly good for chapatti making quality. KRL 213: Timely sown, irrigated- saline and alkaline conditions. Semi-dwarf and maturing in 145 days giving about 33.57 q/ha grain yield. Grains are medium, semi-hard and amber in colour. It has high level of resistance against rust diseases. Good for chapatti making quality. Durum wheat varieties WH 896: It is recommended for timely sown, high fertility and irrigated conditions. The leaves of this variety are erect growing. It is dwarf in nature and have strong stem. Ear head is white in colour and compact. Grains are bold and attractive. It is good for suji making. It is resistant to rust, Karnal bunt and loose smut. Its average yield is 52.5 q/ha. WH 912: It is recommended for timely sown, high fertility and irrigated conditions. The stem is strong and resistant to lodging. It is dwarf in nature. Ear head is brown in colour and compact. Grains are bold and attractive. It is good for pasta making. It is resistant to rust, Karnal bunt and loose smut. Its average yield is 55 q/ha. PDW 233: It is recommended for timely sown, high fertility and irrigated conditions. The leaves of this variety are light green in colour. It is dwarf in nature. Ear head is white in colour and compact. Grains are bold and shining. It is good for pasta making. It is resistant to rust, Karnal bunt and loose smut. Its average yield is 52q/ha.
Fertilizer requirement It is better to apply fertilizer on soil test basis. Under irrigated conditions for dwarf varieties of wheat, 150 kgN+60 kg P 2 O 5 +60 Kg K 2 O + 25 Kg ZnSO 4 /ha is recommended. While for tall/desi variety 60 kg N+30 kg P 2 O 5 +30 Kg K 2 O/ha is recommended under irrigated conditions. Half nitrogen and full dose of phosphorus, potash and zinc should be drilled at the time of sowing. Remaining half nitrogen should be applied after first irrigation. If the zinc is not applied at the time of sowing then spray twice 0.5% zinc sulphate + 2.5% urea at 45 and 60 days after sowing. 15
Under rainfed conditions 30 kg N+15 Kg P 2 O 5 /ha is recommended. All the fertilizers must be drilled at the time of sowing. Treat 100 kg seed with 10 pkts of azotobacter + 10 Pkts. of P.S.B before sowing will improve the wheat nutrition as INM. If wheat is sown after legumes or fallow then 25% dose of nitrogen can be reduced. In case of light soils, nitrogen can be splitted at three times instead of two times. In light soils, if the deficiency of nitrogen is observed then spray 3% urea at tillering stage.
Irrigation management Generally 5-6 irrigations are applied to wheat crop in the absence of winter rainfall. The first irrigation should be applied at CRI stage (22DAS). In case of late sowing 1 st
irrigation should be delayed to 4 weeks after sowing. Irrigation at CRI should not be avoided in wheat crop. Depending upon the irrigation avalability the following schedule should be followed. Available number of irrigations Irrigation application (DAS) 2 (at CRI and heading) 22, 85 3 (at CRI, Jointing and milking) 22, 65, 105 4 (at CRI, Tillering, heading and milking) 22, 45, 85, 105 5 (at CRI, Tillering, heading, milking and dough) 22, 45, 65, 105, 120 6 (at CRI, Tillering, jointing heading, milking and dough) 22, 45, 65, 85, 105, 120 In high water table areas, after pre-sowing irrigation only two irrigations at 25 and 85 DAS are sufficient.
Weed management Weeds reduce the grain yield of wheat by10 to 80% depending upon intensity and type of weed flora under different cropping systems. The major weeds of wheat are: (A) Grassy weeds: Phalaris minor, Avena ludoviciana, Poa annua, Polypogon monspliensis and Lolium temulentum. (B) Broadleaf weeds: Chenopodium album, Rumex dentatus, Melilotus indica, Medicago denticulata, Anagallis arvensis, Vicia sativa , Lathyrus aphaca, Malva parviflora, Chenopodium murale, Convolvulus arvensis, Coronopus didymus, Fumaria parviflora, Cirsium arvense and others. Integration of cultural, mechanical and chemical methods give good control of weeds in wheat. Crop rotation with pulses, oilseeds and fodder crop and hoeing after 35-40 DAS gives good control of weeds. 16
Chemical control of weeds in wheat Sr. No. Weeds Herbicide Dose (g/ha) Time of application (DAS) 2,4-D Na salt (80% WP) or 625 30-35 1 Broadleaf weeds 2,4-D Ester (34.6% EC) 750 30-35 2,4-D Na (80% WP) or 1250 30-35 2 Hardy broadleaf weeds (R. dentatus, C. arvensis, C. arvense and L. aphaca) 2,4-D E (34.6% EC) 1500 30-35 Metsulfuron-methyl (Algrip, 20% WP) 20 30-35 3 Broadleaf weeds and Asphodelus tenuifolius, Carfentrazone-ethyl (Aim 40 % DF) 50 30-35 Isoproturon 50% WP (Delron, Tolkan, Taurus, Greminan, Hilproturon. 2000 30-35 4 Grassy weeds Isoproturon (75% WP) Nocilon- 75, Arelon 75% WP) or with Triton, Selvit) 1250 30-35 Triallate (Avadex, 10 % EC) Or 3000 PPI Use 25% extra seed rate 5 Grassy weeds Particularly Avena Ludoviciana Triallate fb Isoproturon 2500 fb 1250 PPI & 30-35 Glyphosate (Round up, Glycel 41 % SL) or 2.0% Solution Spray after wheat harvest at peak growth of Weed Glyphosate + surfactant or 1.0% + 0.1% ---do- 6 Pluchea lanceolata 2,4-D E (34.6% EC) 3000 ---do- Isoproturon (75% WP) + 2,4-D Na (80% WP) or 900 + 650 30-35 Isoproturon + metsulfuron 900 + 15 30-35 7 Complex weed flora (grassy + broad leaf weeds) Total (SSN + MTS) 40 30-35
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Precaution should be taken that Isoproturon has been found to cause phytotoxicity in wheat CV. WH-157 and DWL 5023. 2,4-D should not be used under mixed cropping where gram, raya or any other broadleaf crop has been grown with wheat. It should also not be used in wheat varieties viz. WH 283, HD 2009, Raj 3077, WH 416 and Sonak. Medicago denticulata and Melilotus indica spp. and Rumex dentatus are not controlled by 2,4-D, but can effectively be controlled by Algrip. Fumaria parviflora is not effectively controlled by Algrip, but can be controlled by 2,4-D only. Aim is very effective against Malva parviflora, Convolvulus arvensis and Rumex dentatus. Delayed application may lower its efficacy against Chenopodium album, Melilotus indica, Medicago denticulata and Anagallis arvensis.
Chemical control of weeds in Isoproturon resistance affected areas Herbicide Common name Dose (g/ha) Weeds controlled Sulfosulfuron 75% WP Leader, SF-10 and Safal -75 32.5 + 1250 ml Surfactant (0.25%) Avena ludoviciana, P. minor and 30-40 % control of broadleaf weeds Clodinafop-propargyl 15% WP (Topik, Point, Moolah, Rakshak Plus) 400 Avena ludoviciana and P. Minor Pinoxaden Axial 1000 Avena ludoviciana and P. Minor Fenoxaprop-p-ethyl Puma Power 1000 + S (Puma activator 0.1%) Avena ludoviciana and Phalaris minor Sulfosulfuron+ metsulfuron (R.M.) Total 40 + S (0.25%) Grassy as well as broad leaf weeds such as Rumex dentatus, Malva parviflora, C. album, Medicago Denticulate and Coronopus didymus Mesosulfuron+ Idosulfuron ( R.M.) Atlantis 400 + 0.1 activator Grassy as well as broad leaf weeds . Clodinafop-propargyl + Metsulfuron- methyl ( R.M.) Vesta 400 + 1250 ml surfactant Grassy as well as broad leaf weeds such as Rumex dentatus, Malva parviflora, C. album, Medicago Denticulate and Coronopus didymus Note- Apply any one of the above mentioned herbicides by mixing in 500 litre of water per hectare area after 30- 35 days of sowing.
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For complex weed flora (grassy and broadleaf weeds) where clodinafop or fenoxaprop are used; sequential application of 2,4-D, one week after the application of grassy herbicides provides good control of most of the weed flora. Tank mixing of grassy weed herbicides with 2,4-D is antagonistic and should be avoided. Tank mix of clodinafop or fenoxaprop with Aim (carfentrazone) is compatible, but not that of fenoxaprop plus Algrip (metsulfuron). Sequential application of Algrip, one week after fenoxaprop spray should be followed. Precautions: Sulfosulfuron or its ready mix formulation (Total) should be avoided in areas where sorghum or maize is grown after wheat harvest; however, no residual effect of these herbicides was observed on cotton.
Diseases management Black rust or stem rust (Puccinia graminis tritici): Disease starts as dark reddish brown elongated pustules without yellowingon leaves, leaf sheaths, stems and ear heads. The fringed epidermis covering the pustule later ruptures, revealing powdery mass of brick red coloured uredospores on the stem. Later in the season rusty coloured pustules turn black and telia are formed which produce teleutospores. Brown rust or leaf rust (Puccinia recondita ): The pustules are circular, brown to orange brown generally irregularly scattered or scattered around the central pustules on ventral side of the leaves but also occur on leaf sheath, peduncles, internodes and ear heads. Later on rusty colour pustules turn black when teleutospores are formed. Yellow rust or stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis):The disease occurs under comparatively cooler conditions. The symptom starts in the form of narrow, yellow to orange yellow stripes which become clearer in adult plants. Later on these stripes turn black when teleutospores are formed. The infection also occurs on leaves, leaf sheath, stem, glumes, awns and also some times on kernels. Foliar sprays with Zineb (Dithane Z-78) or Mencozeb (Dithane M-45) @ 2kg/ha in 600 litre of water at the time of disease appearance effectively control the disease. Loose smut [Ustilago segatum var. tritici (Syn.= U. tritici)]: Symptoms can be seen at the time of ear emergence. Normally, infected ear heads emerges earlier than the healthy ones. In the infected plants, the ears are transformed into a black powdery mass consisting of smut spores, initially covered by a delicate papery membrane which ruptures and exposes the spores. Subsequently these spores are dislodged by the wind leaving behind the naked rachis. For control, Solar heat treatment- Soak the seeds in water for four hours in the morning and spread the seed in the noon for drying during the months of May June, and seed treatment with Vitavax or Carbendazim (Bavistin) @ 2g or Tebuconazol (Raxil-2DS) @ 1g per kg seed is quite effective. 19
Flag smut (Urocystis agropyri): The disease affect the leaves primarily, leaf sheath, culm and stem. The affected leaves become twisted which later drop down like flag and finally wither away. These sori are formed in the mesophyll tissue under the epidermis of the leaf. The epidermis ruptures exposing black powder mass of the spores. The culms remain sterile and plants generally do not produce grain but sometimes shriveled grains may be produced. Control: Burning of diseased plant debris, shallow sowing and one to two year crop rotation reduces the disease. Seed treatment with Vitavax or Carbendazim (Bavistin) @ 2g or Tebuconazol (Raxil-2DS) @ 1g per kg seed is quite effective. Karnal bunt (Neovossia indica = Syn. Tilletia indica): Symptoms are evident only on the grains. Only few grains in an ear head are affected. In a stool, all the ears are not infected and in an ear all the grains are not bunted. The infected spike lets may flare up the glumes to expose the bunted grains. The infected seeds emit foul odour due to production of volatile chemical trimethylamine. For control: Use of disease free seed and crop rotation should be followed.Seed treatment with Bavistin (2 g/kg seed) reduces the seed borne inoculum.Foliar spray of carbendazim (Bavistin) or Dithane M 45 (0.2%), Hexaconazol or propiconazole(0.1%) at anthesis stage gives effective control. Powdery mildew (Erysiphe graminis tritici):The pathogen attacks all the aerial parts of the plant. The symptoms appear on the upper surface of the leaves as white to grayish brown colonies of fluffy superficial powdery mass. As the disease advances, premature drying of the leaves takes place. Under favourable conditions the pathogen covers leaf sheath, stem and glumes. Control: Burning of crop debris and deep summer ploughing helps in eliminating the inoculum. Crop rotation helps in minimizing the disease incidence. Foliar spray of Sulfex @ 2-2.5 kg/ha in 400-500 litre of water at first appearance of the disease and repeat after 10-15 days Ear Cockle (Mamni) and Yellow ear rot (Tundu) (Anguina tritici and Rathyi bacter): Diseased plants have spreading tendency and swollen base, leaves become crinckled and twisted. Earheads contain dark brown, hard and roundish galls (Mamni) instead of grains.For Control: Before sowing of seed, put wheat seed in water and agitate vigorously for few minutes. Ear cockle galls will float to the surface. These may be skimmed off with an ordinary sieve and brunt. Molya (Heterodera avenae): Plants become stunted with yellowing of leaves, reduced tillering and absence of ears on some tillers or small ears with poorly filled grains. The root system of infected plants gets reduced in size and becomes bunchy with profuse development of thin rootlets. Cysts (shining white bodies of female nematodes) are seen attached to the roots at the later stage of the crop. For control: Expose the soil to the hot sun by summer cultivation. follow rotation with non- cereals in badly infested soils. Use resistant variety Raj M R- 1. Apply Temik 10G @ 10 kg or Furadan 3G @ 32 Kg/ha at sowing time.
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Insect management Termites (Microtermos obesus): Termites damage the crop soon after sowing and near maturity. The damaged plants dry up completely and are easily pooled out. The plants damaged at later stages give rise to white ears. The damage is generally more in low irrigated light soils areas. For control : Treat the 100 kg seed with 150 ml Chlorpyriphos 20 EC or 250 ml Formothion 25 EC or 500 ml Ethion 50 EC, make the total solution of 5 litre by adding water and then after spreading the seed on polythine sheet or floor mix solution with seed. To control termite in standing field condition mix the 5 litre of Chlorpyriphos 20 EC in 5 litre of water and 5 kg sand or ash, then spread in field evenly followed by a light irrigation. Aphid (Lipophis erysimi) and Jassid (Amrasca biguttula): These pests damage the crop in the month of Feb - March in our conditions by sucking the cell sap from leaves, earhead and flag leaf. For cntrol: If you find 10 pests in one group on flag leaves of crop then go for spray of 625 ml Fanitrothion 50 EC or 1000 ml Malathion 50 EC mix with 625 litre of water per hectare area.
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BARLEY
Barley (Hordium vulgare L.) commonly known as Jau belong to family Poaceae. It is very hardy crop and can be cultivated in adverse agro-environment like drought, salinity, alkalinity etc. in plains and hilly areas under rainfed and irrigated conditions. The carbohydrates present in barley help in the regulation of the glucose level due to high fiber content which is five times more than that of the other whole grains. Barley grain are rich in Vitamin B, Vitamin E and folic acid. Its feed helps in reducing the body weight, as it makes a food appetite suppressant, making one feel filled and satisfied. Barley is a good source of protein and 60% produce in India is used as a feed for the livestock. Barley contains about 15% water, 6.7% of gum, 3.2 % of sugar, 60% of starch and 2.2% of fat. A wide variety of barley products are known to be suitable for human consumption. These include porridge, muesli, cookies, barley flakes, breads, pasta, etc. The energy rich drinks like Bournvita, Boost, Horlicks, Maltova etc. are prepared from malt extracts of barley. The parched grains of barley are consumed in many parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. Barley is malted in alcoholic beverages like beer, wine, etc. The by-products of malted barley are also used in the form of animal feed. Barley straw is used to make the bed for the livestock, making paper, fiberboard, etc.
Origin According to Vavolov (1951) there are two main centers of diversity i.e. One group of investigators considered North- East Africa and Mountainous regions of Abyssinia as the principal centre of origin because many diverse forms are available there. This region is particularly rich in two rowed, hulled, awned types which are classified as occidental type. Another group of investigators considers that possible centre of origin is south eastern Asia, particularly China, Japan, Tibet and Nepal which is characterized by hull-less six rowed varieties with short awn or no awn which grouped as oriental type barley. All the cultivated forms of barley are thought to have originated from a wild species Hordium spontaneum a species very similar to the present two-rowed barley.
Area, Production and Productivity The leading barley producing countries are USSR, China, France, Canada, USA and Spain. The area under barley cultivation in India has been gradually going down as farmers are shifting to more remunerative crops like wheat and gram or cash crops like rapeseed and mustard or safflower. Barley is grown mainly in the northern plains of the country but its cultivation extends up to an altitude of about 4,575 metres in the Himalayas. In India, barley occupied 0.62 m ha area and produced nearly 1.35 m tons grain, with a per hectare productivity of 21.7q/ha during 2009-10. Its greatest concentration is in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, M.P., Punjab, Haryana and Bihar in plains and Himachal Pardesh, Uttrakhand and Jammu & Kashmir in hills. In Haryana barley is grown on an area of 42 22
thousand hectare with a production of 137 thousand tones and average productivity of 3262 kg/ha (2009-10). The major barley growing districts are Hisar, Sirsa, Bhiwani, Mohindergarh, Rewari and western part of Jind, Rohtak and Gurgaon.
Classification Barley can be classified in different groups which are given below: a) Classification based on arrangement of spikelets on rachis Aberg and Wiebe (1946) classified all the cultivated barley varieties into three distinct species based on the number of rows of grain and their arrangement: (i) Hordium vulgare L. six-row barley (ii) Hordium distichon L. two-row barley (iii) Hordium irreglare L. two-row barley Six-rowed hulled and some hull-less barley are generally cultivated in the country. In very high altitudes in Leh and Kargil with cool arid climate, 6-rowed hull-less type is grown in summer for food. With the demand from malting industry, the introduction and release of some 2-rowed improved barley has also created considerable interest towards their cultivation. The 2-rowed varieties are preferred for malting because of their bold, plump grains, uniform germination, higher malt extract and other desirable traits. b) Classification based on Awns Depending on the presence or absence of awns in grains it has been grouped into: (i) Awned type (ii) Awnless type: Awnless types are also called hooded because of the hood shaped structure that develops in place of awn. On the basis of nature of awn presence they are sub-grouped into: (a) Smooth awned (ii) Rough awned. c) Classification Based on Adherence of Chaff to grains Barley are grouped into 2 types as i) Hulled (syn. husked) type: (ii) hull-less (syn. naked) type. In case of hulled barley the husk, i.e. floral glumes also called chaff remains attached to grains resulting in poor flour making. In the hull-less type the husk readily falls after threshing and naked grains free of chaff can be collected.
Growth stages Barley has well defined stages of growth and development similar to wheat as follows: 1) Germination and seedling stage: After germination below the soil surface the coleoptile emerges on the soil surface. This stage is marked by the exhaustion of endosperm and initiation of crown roots. This stage lasts upto 20-25 days after sowing. 2) Tillering: The seedling after initial establishment of crown root system starts tillering. In general, two row barley produces more tillers than six row barley. This stage of growth continues upto 30-35 days after sowing. 3) Jointing and booting: At this stage plant develops its vegetative parts like stem, nodes start multiplying and internode distance become longer. This stage lasts upto 55-65 daya after sowing. 23
4) Heading: The flag leaf give rise to emergence of ear head and anthesis begins in the central florets ultimately resulted into milk stage. This stage lasts upto 75-85 days after sowing. 5) Ripening: At this stage grain filling and grain development starts resulted into hard dough stage. This phase lasts upto 90-100 days after sowing. 6) Maturity and drying: This stage is the final stage in the crop life, plant turn yellowish, loose stiffness and become droopy and becomes ready for harvest.
Climatic requirement Barley requires cool weather during early growth and warm and dry weather at maturity. It grows reasonably well in temperate as in sub-tropical regions of the world. The optimum temperature at the sowing should be around 22- 24 o C. The crop requires around 12- 15 o C during growing period and around 30 o C at maturity. Being drought resistant, barley suits to areas with scanty rainfall. The crop can withstand cool humid and warm dry climates, but hot humid climate disfavour its growth, mainly due to prevalence of diseases. It can not tolerate frost at any stage of growth and incidence of frost at flowering is highly detrimental for yield. Intermitted drought during the growth period results in premature ripening with high nitrogen content and shriveled grains unfit for malting. Uniform moisture supply and bright sunshine at the ripening are important for the production of clean bright kernels required by the malting industry.
Soil requirement Sandy to moderately heavy loam soils of Indo-Gangetic plains having neutral to mild saline reaction and medium fertility are the most suitable for barley cultivation. However, it thrives well on well-drained fertile deep loam soils. Severe lodging occurs when grown on extremely fertile soils. Its cultivation also extends, although to a limited extent, to medium black soils of Maharashtra and Karnataka. It is more tolerant to alkali and saline conditions than other rabi cereals and is grown extensively under such conditions in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Crop rotation It is generally rotated with crops, such as pearlmillet, maize, paddy, sorghum, cotton, groundnut, smaller millets, greengram and balckgram in different parts of the country. Double-cropping with barley is practiced under assured soil moisture or irrigation facilities. Barley is grown pure or mixed with other rabi crops, such as gram, peas and lentil. Sometimes, rape and mustard, taramira and linseed are also intercropped with barley. The following are common crop rotations where barley is included: Paddy barley, Maize barley, Sorghum barley, Cotton barley, Pearlmillet - barley, Groundnut - barley, Blackgram barley, Greengram barley, Cowpea barley, Guar barley.
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Field preparation Barley requires a well-pulverized but compact seedbed for good and uniform germination. Two to three ploughings, repeated harrowing, cultivation and planking before sowing are required to prepare seedbed. Cultivation is essential after effective rainfall to conserve moisture in the soil under rainfed condition.
Sowing time Sowing time plays a pivotal role in barley production. Under rainfed condition the optimum time for barley sowing is second fortnight of October, whereas, under irrigated situation is better to plant the crop between 15-30 th November for harvesting a good crop. High malt content varieties such as BH 393 sowing must be completed between 15-30 th
November otherwise it will affect malt content in grain.. Under late planting the quantity and quality of malt is reduced.
Seed rate Under irrigated conditions 85-90 kg/ha seed is required for sowing. However, under late sown condition increase the seed rate by 25%. In rainfed situation, 75 kg/ha seed is sufficient to avoid competition for moisture.
Method of sowing Sowing method depends upon the moisture content in the top soil. If the moisture is sufficient in the top soil than seed can be sown by kera method, otherwise, it must be planted by pora method. Row to row spacing must be maintained at 22 cm under normal planting, however, under late sown condition it should be reduced to 18-20 cm for obtaining optimum plant population.
The important barley varities recommended in Haryana state areas follows:
Fertilizer management Barley needs 60 kg N, 30 kg P 2 O 5 and 15 kg K 2 O/ha under irrigated condition. Apply full dose of P 2 O 5 , K 2 O and half nitrogen at the time of planting and remaining half dose of nitrogen should be applied at first irrigation. However, under rainfed situations barley needs 30 kg N and 15 kg P 2 O 5 /ha and all the fertilizers should be applied at the time of sowing. Aviod excessive nitrogen application as it leads to lodging which will reduce the grain quality. Application of FYM helps in conservation of moisture.
Irrigation management Due to low water requirement, barley can be grown as a rainfed crop. To harvest good yields, barley requires two irrigations at the active tillering stage (40 - 45 DAS) and the other at the anthises stage (80 - 85 DAS). One extra irrigation is required only on sandy soils. If the supply of water is inadequate, its efficiency can be increased by a proper timing of its application at the critical stages of growth of the crop. If only one irrigation is available, its application near the tillering stage has proved very profitable. On highly alkali-saline soils, frequent light irrigation gives better results than a fewer heavy irrigation. Variety Av. Grain Yield (q/ha) Duration (days) Reaction to major disease/ insects/ pests Other features BG 25 34 136 Resistant to yellow rust, susceptible to blight and moderately resistant to aphids Six row, waxy and suitable for irrigated conditions BG 105 37 137 Susceptible to yellow rust, blight and aphids For irrigated late conditions BH 75 38 136 Moderately resistant to yellow rust, susceptible to blight and aphids For irrigated timely sown conditions BH 393 46 121 Resistant to yellow and brown rust and molya disease Six row, early maturity, very good malting traits BH 331 43 127 Resistant to major diseases Suitable for brackish water and salt affected soils BH 338 39 107 Tolerant to yellow rust Suitable for late sowing BH 902
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130 Resistance against yellow, brown and black rusts. It is also moderately resistant to leaf blight. Six row barley variety for feed barley group. 26
Weed management Weeds generally pose greater problem in irrigated areas, though barley is known to be a good competitor of weeds due to its fast growing habit and high initial vigour. Both broadleaf (Chenopodium album) and narrow leaf weeds (Phalaris minor and Avena ludoviciana) are common in barley. The weed population also depends upon the extent of tillage practices followed prior sowing of barley crop. To prevent losses from weeds, one hand weeding after first irrigation is quite useful. Application of 2, 4-D sodium salt @ 1 kg/ha in 500 litres of water after 1st irrigation (40 DAS) can take care of broadleaf weeds. Broad leaved weeds can also be controlled with the application of Algrip 20 WP (Metsulfuron Methyl) @ 20 g + 500 ml surfactant or Affinity 40DF (Carfentrazone ethyl) @ 50g per hectare in 500 litre of water at 40-45 DAS. Whereas, application of Axial 5 EC (Penoxadene) @1 litre per hactare in 500 litre of water at 40-45 days after sowing can control narrow leaf weeds. For control of mixed weed flora apply Axial 5 EC (Penoxadene) @1 litre mixed with Algrip 20 WP (Metsulfuron Methyl) @ 20 g + 500 ml surfactant or Affinity 40DF (Carfentrazone ethyl) @ 50g per hectare in 500 litre of water at 40-45 DAS.
Diseases management Rusts (Puccinia spp.): Black, brown and yellow rusts occur in barley. Rust resistant varieties of barley are: - Black rust:- Azad, BCU 73, BH 505, BH 508 and HBL113. Brown rust: - Alfa 93, BCU 73, HBL 113, BH 514, RD 2503, RD 2508 and PL 419. Yellow rust:- BH 902,C 164, BH 75, Alfa 93, R 2503, RD 2508, PL 419, BH 393. Seed treatment with Vitavax or Carbendazim (Bavistin) @ 2g or Tebuconazol (Raxil- 2 DS) @ 1g per kg seed is quite effective. Covered Smut (Ustilago hordei) is observed at the time of heading. All the ears of diseased plant become infected and all the grains in the ear turn into smut sori. Each smut sorus remains covered by a white, shining, silvery membrane. The membrane may ruptures by mechanical pressure during threshing and release smut spores black powders. For control this diseses infected plants should be rouged out and burnt. Shallow sowing should be followed. Seed treatment with carbendazim (Bavistin) or carboxin (Vitavax) @ 0.2g/Kg seed is quite effective. Resistant varieties K 12, K 18, K 24 and BG 105 should be cultivated. Stripe Disease (Dreschlera graminea) usually occurs at late tillering stage. Narrow yellow stripes initially appear on lower leaves and later appear on the upper leaves also. As the disease progresses, yellow stripes increase in length parallel to the veins and soon turn reddish to dark brown. Heavily infected leaves mature early which later on dry and give shredded look. The spots also appear on glumes and spike- lets. Seed treatment with Bavistin (2g/kg seed) is quite effective in managing the external seed infection. Foliar spray of Dithane M 45 @ 0.2% at the initiation of disease. Resistant varieties K 12, K 24, K 125, Vijaya, C 164, BG 105 and BH 87 should be cultivated
Insect management There is no major insect in case of barley, however, termite attack is observed in this crop and for its control treat the seed with Chlorpyriphos 20 EC or Formathion 25 EC @ 6 ml /kg of seed and prepare the solution in 25-30 litres of water for one hectare area, mix the insecticide well in water and spray the solution on the seed and air dry it overnight before sowing. 27
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CHICKPEA
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important cool season food legume. It is also known as Bengal gram. Globally it is the third most important pulse crop after dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and dry peas (Pisum sativum L.). Chickpea seeds contain on average 18- 22% protein, 52-70% total carbohydrates, 4-10% fat, 6% crude fiber and 3% ash. Seeds are rich in mineral content as phosphorus (340 mg/100 g), calcium (190 mg/100 g), magnesium (140 mg/100g), iron (7 mg/100 g) and zinc (3 mg/100 g). Its leaves contain consist of mallic and citric acid, which is very useful for stomach ailments. Chickpea is best blood purifier. It assists in lowering of cholesterol in the bloodstream. Chickpea is mostly consumed in the form of processed whole seed (boiled, roasted, fried, steamed and sprouted) or dal or as dal flour (Besan). It is an excellent animal feed. Its straw also has good forage value. In India, chickpea flour is used for preparation of number of sweets and recipies.
Origin Chickpea is one of the pulse crop domesticated in the old world. Chickpea is known to have originated in western Asia (probably eastern Turkey). The cultivated chickpea is not found in the wild and C. reticulatum is its progenitor, while C. echinospermum is a close relative. It has a wide geographical distribution covering Indian sub-continent, the Mediteranean region, western and eastern Asia, northern and eastern Africa, southern Europe and Australia.
Area, Production and Productivity Globally India, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Australia, Mexico, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Spain and Bangladesh are the major chickpea producing countries which contributes 96% of the total production. India ranks first in area and production of chickpea at world level. Chickpea in India occupies 7.89 million ha area, producing 7.06 million tones and a productivity of 895 kg/ha. Presently, the major chickpea producing states are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat which together account for more than 80% of the total production. In Haryana this crop is generally grown in south western districts. The area, production and productivity of Haryana during 2009-10 was 84,000 ha, 62,000 tons and 735 kg/ha, respectively. Madhya Pradesh with 2.8 M ha producing 2.6 M t with productivity of 981 kg/ ha, ranks first in area, and production. The national average productivity is 895 kg/ha (2008-09), which is much lower than the highest average productivity (1800 kg/ha) in Egypt.
Classification Two major cultivar types designated as Desi/Brown gram (microsperma) and Kabuli/ White chickpea (macrosperma) have emerged under domestication. In addition `gulabi', pea shaped forms of local importance are also recognized. Desi chickpeas are small and angular 29
with rough brown to yellow testas, while kabuli types are relatively large, plump, and with smooth cream colored testas. Kabuli types are considered relatively more advanced because of their larger seed size and reduced pigmentation achieved through conscious selection. Study at ICRISAT revealed that desi and kabuli types differ in their dietary fiber components of seed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Kabuli types contain higher amount of dietary fiber, particularly cellulose and hemicellulose.
The differences in desi and kabuli-chickpea are as follows Desi chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Kabuli chickpea (Cicer kabulium) The seed colour ranges from yellow to dark brown The seed colour is usually white Seed size is usually small. Seeds are bold and attractive. Yield potential is high Yield potential is low Plants are small with good branching ability Plants are generally taller and stand more or less erect. Canopy colour is dark green Canopy colour is light green Leaflets are smaller in size Leaflets are larger than desi gram The chromosome number 2n = 14, 16 The chromosome number 2n = 16
Climatic requirement Chickpea is essentially a subtropical crop, it grows well in a wide range of climates. The crop is very sensitive to excess moisture, high humidity and cloudy weather, which limit flower production, seed set and yield. Severe cold and frost are injurious to it. Chickpea is usually grown after rainy season on stored soil moisture during winter in tropics or spring in temperate and Mediterranean regions. In India, it is grown as rabi crop in areas of 400- 700 mm rainfall. The average air temperature varies from 25 to 30C with warmer nights with 20-25C temperature. Chickpea is a long day plant requiring 1216 hrs bright sunshine per day. In India, two distinct agroclimatic regions are recognised. In cold winters (rabi) of north India, the crop duration is 160-170 days. In Peninsular India, where winters are warm, the crop duration is short (90110 days). Hence, the productivity of chickpea is higher under north Indian conditions. Pod set and seed development is limited by temperatures less than 5C and higher than 30C. The optimum temperature regime for chickpea is 24- 30C.
Soil requirement Chickpea thrives well on a wide range of soils including sandy, sandy loam and black cotton soils. It is highly sensitive to saline and sodic soils. A pH range of 6-9 is favourable. Chickpea is highly sensitive to aeration. Therefore, on heavy soil having high moisture retention capacity, care should be taken during seedbed preparation to ensure adequate aeration. Well drained sandy/silty clay loam to deep loam soils of medium fertility which may retain up to 200 mm of moisture in a profile to a depth of 1 meter are considered ideal for chickpea cultivation. The alluvial soils of the Indogangetic belt support bumper crop of Chickpea.
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Crop rotation Chickpea is cultivated during rabi seasion. Chickpea in rotation with cereal crops helps in controlling soil born diseases. The most common rotations are Kharif fallow- chickpea, paddy-chickpea, Maize-chickpea, Bajra-chickpea and Jowar- chickpea. Chickpea is also grown mixed with wheat, barley, linseed, sunflower and rapeseed and mustard.
Field preparation Chickpea needs clody and rough land for good aeration in root zones and does not need a fine seedbed. When grown on residual moisture under rainfed conditions, care should be taken to conserve rain water. At the onset of monsoon deep ploughing and one light harrowing followed by planking at the end of monsoon helps to conserve the moisture.
Sowing time The ideal time of sowing in rainfed areas is the middle of October whereas under irrigated condition, middle of November is the optimum time. If the temperature is more than 30 o C than chickpea should not be sown as it will lead to high vegetative growth and increase the incidence of wilt. In order to utilize residual moisture of kharif season, sowing in Central and Southern Zones is generally 10-15 days earlier than that in north India. For getting good yield the optimum sowing time is second fortnight of October. While the optimum time of sowing of Kabuli chickpea is the end of October to the first week of November.
Seed rate Chickpea has wide variation in seed size from 12 to 40 g per 100 seeds. The small seeded varieties require less seed in comparison to large seeded varieties. For timely planting of desi type, 40-45 kg seed per ha is adequate, however for bold seeded varieties like HC-3 and Gaurav a seed rate of 75-80 kg seed per ha is optimal. In case of kabuli types the optimal seed rate is 80 - 100 kg per ha. Under late planting conditions, the seed rate should be increased by 20-30% (50-55 kg/ha) so as to compensate the per plant yield loss. In case of intercropping, the seed rate should be adjusted as per the area available to the crop.
Seed treatment For nodulation and nitrogen fixation, the seed must be treated with specific Rhizobium culture before sowing. The inoculation should be done 10-12 hours before sowing. To inoculate 10 kg seed, 100 g Gur be added in one liter of water followed by heating up to prepare homogenous mixture. After cooling the mixture at room temperature, one packet of Rhizobium culture is added in it and mixed up thoroughly. Rubbing this mixture of the culture solution on seeds provides a uniform thin coating all over. After drying in shade for about 6-8 hours, seeds can be used for sowing.
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Method of sowing Delayed sowing require higher seed rate for optimal plant stand than the normal planted crop due to restricted growth. Adequacy of moisture and nutrients leads to enhance vegetative growth and therefore, a low plant stand is desirable under such condition.The optimal row spacing for timely sown crop is 30cm under sufficient moisture condition, whereas for rainfed condition it should be wider i.e. 45 cm. However for late (December) planting in irrigated areas, it should be 25 cm. Sowing depth decides the period of emergence. The period of emergence can be shortened with appropriate sowing depth according to soil types and moisture. In loamy sand soil of northern India seeding at 10 cm depth is better than shallow seeding (5 cm depth) if the chickpea be sown on conserved soil moisture condition.
Varieties Recommended varieties of different zones Zone Varieties NWPZ Uday, GPF-2, GNG-663 Alok, Samrat (for Raj., HR, Pb.), PDG-3 (Pb.), HC-3, HC-5, HK-1, HK-2, GNG-1292 (Raj.), Pusa-547, Phule G 9425-9, Aadhar NEPZ SadaBahar, Uday, KWR 108, Pant G 186, Gujrat Gram 4 CZ ICCV 10, Vijay, JAK 92-18, Gujrat Gram 1, KAK-2, Jawahar Gram-16, Pusa Shubra, BGD 128, JKG 1 SZ ICCV 10, JG 11, Phule G 95311 EZ Uday
High yielding cultivars for specific situations are: o Drought tolerant: RS 10, G 24, T 3, T 87, RSG 888 o Late sown situation: JG 74, Strain 76, G 235, Pant G 114. o Wilt resistant: HC 1, GPF 2, JG 315, KWR 108, DCP 92-3, Vijay, Vishal, JG 74. o Ascochyta blight tolerant: Gaurav, GNG 146, Pusa 261, GNG 469, PBG I. o Early maturing thermosensitive: KPG 59, BG 372, Pant G 186. o Extra bold and bold seeded: Kabuli KAK 2, BO 1053, HK 2. Varieties Jyothi (100-110 days), Kranthi (100-110 days), Swetha (80-85 days), Annegiri (100-110) and ICCV 10 (110-120 days) are popular cultivars during post rainy season on black cotton soils of Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh. The popular varieties in Haryana are: H 208: It is most suitable for drier, rainfed, and wilt-prone areas as it is tolerant to wilt. It also does well in irrigated areas. The pods are comparatively small and two-seeded. The grains are small (115 g/1000 grains) and brownish yellow. The average yield is 20 q/ha. C-235: It is tolerant to blight and is suitable for cultivation in blight-prone areas, particularly humid regions of the State. The grains are medium bold (135 g/1000 grains) and brownish yellow. The average yield is 19 q/ha. This variety gave very good yields in rainfed areas also. 32
HC 1: Seeds of this variety are light yellow, pointed and medium in size. It is specially suitable for late sowing in rainfed as well as irrigated areas as it takes only 145 days for maturity. Due to its early maturing nature it escapes the loss by pod borer. It is also small seeded variety. Its average seed yield is 20-25 q/ha. HC 3: This variety is resistant to root rot, wilt and other important diseases of chickpea. It matures in 155 days. Grains are bold (265 g/1000 seeds) and average yield is 20-22 q/ha. Suitable for sowing in 1 st week of November in irrigated areas. HC 5: The plants of this variety are erect compact and tall with high yields. This variety is tolerant to root rot and wilt. The maturity duration is 145 days. Grains of this variety are medium bold (165 g/1000 seeds) and brownish in colour. This variety is suitable for irrigated areas and very much suitable to inter cropping in autumn planted sugarcane where chickpea is planted on raised bed. Average yield of this variety is 20-25 q/ha. HK 1: Plants of this variety have medium height, profused branching and podding; lightish green leaved and matures in 142 days. Grains are medium in size and white in colour. This variety is developed for irrigated areas. It is resistant to chickpea blight and wilt diseases. Average yield is 20-23 q/ha. HK 2: This is white seeded variety of kabuli chickpea, it is tolerant to wilt. Its leaves are broad and dark green in colour. The seed size is bold (280g/1000 seed). This variety matures in 142 days and average yield is 17.5- 20 q/ha.
Fertilizer management Chickpea responds 15-20 kg N per ha on coarse textured soils unless the soil is rich in organic matter. Foliar application of 2 % urea at the time of flowering and 10 days thereafter is useful, specially in rainfed areas.The crop responds to 40 - 60 kg P 2 O 5 per ha. Application of 20 kg K 2 O per ha is recommended under deficient soil conditions. The recommended fertilizer should be drilled at sowing. In addition to this, it is also advised to apply zinc sulphate @ 25 kg/ha in irrigated conditions.
Irrigation management Pre-flowering (45-60 DAS) and pod filling stages appear to be the most sensitive to soil moisture stress. Depending upon the initial moisture content, winter rains and sowing time, the schedule may vary. Kabuli chickpea needs a little more irrigation. Chickpea should not be irrigated at flowering stage otherwise flower drop may take place.
Weed management The dominant weed flora associated with chickpea crop are Chenopodium album, Melilotus indica, Lathyrus aphaca, Medicago denticulata, Trigonella polycerata, Polygonum pblebilium, Asphodelus tenuifolius, Euphorbia dracunculoides and Anagallis arvensis. The initial four to eight weeks are most critical for weed competition and the first mechanical weeding has been advised 25-30 DAS, and the second 45-50 DAS. However, in case of 33
severe infestation, a third weeding may be needed around 70-75 DAS. Chemical weed control with pre-sowing Fluchloralin application @ 1.0 kg per ha followed by one hoeing 45 DAS has been effective. Pendimethalin @ 1 kg a.i. per ha as pre-emergence followed by one hand weeding at 45 DAS provide effective control of annual broad leaved and grassy weeds in chickpea crop.
Nipping It is the process of plucking the apical buds of the crop at about 30-40 days after sowing to control excessive vegetative growth. Nipping stops the apical growth and promotes the lateral branching, thus the plants become more vigorous and produce more flowers and pods and yield per plant is increased.
Diseases management Ascochyta Blight (Ascochyta rabiei): This disease appears on leaf blade, petioles, flowers, pods, branches and stem in the form of brown spots. Fruiting bodies of the pathogen (pycnidia) are produced on the spots in the form of concentric rings which is the characteristic symptoms of the disease. The lesions are circular on leaves and pod whereas elongated on stem and branches. Pod infection leads to seed infection through testa as well as cotyledons. Disease spreads rapidly in the field and field gives the burnt appearance.The disease is both externally and internally seed borne. The secondary spread of the disease takes place by winds, storms and rain splashes. Destruction of disease debris, deep summer ploughing and crop rotation reduces diseases. For control of blight seed treatment with Bavistin or Captan @ 2.5 g/kg seed and spray of Dithane M-45 @ 0.2% at the initiation of the disease. Wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. Sp. Ciceri ): The disease appears on 3-6 weeks old seedlings in susceptible varieties. In early stages, seedlings may collapse due to disease, where as older seedlings show drooping of the leaves and dull green color in the initial stages. Petioles, rachis and leaves turn yellow and become straw colored. Discoloration of xylem vessels can be seen when roots are split open. For the control of wilt deep ploughing during the summer months and destruction of diseased debris. Crop rotation with non leguminous crop and do not sow the crop before 10 th of October. Seed treatment with Bavistin @ 2.5 g/kg seed. Seed treatment with Trichoderma viride (Bioderma) @4g + Vitavax @1g by making a paste in 5 ml of water per kg seed is also effective. Root Rot or Collar Rot (Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium solani Sclerotium rolfsii): The symptoms are sudden and complete wilting of the plants. The disease appears at any crop stage. The initial symptom appear as dark brown spots around the stem at the soil level by R. solani, whereas in case of F. solani, spots are yellowish in color. Later on leaves of infected plants turn yellow and ultimately plant wilts. Infested soil and diseased debris spread from infested fields, help in spread of the disease. Seed treatment with Bavistin @ 2.5 g/kg seed is advised for its control.
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Insect management Termites (Microtermos obesus): Termites damage the crop from sowing to maturity. The damaged plants dry up completely and are easily pooled out. The damage is generally more in low irrigated light soil areas. For control treat the 100 kg seed with 850 ml Monocrotophos 36SL or 1500 ml Clorpyriphos 20 EC make the total solution of 2 litre by adding water and then after spreading the seed on polythene sheet or floor, mix solution with seed. Cut worms (Agrotis sp.): The caterpillar of this pest are polyphagus in nature and causes the damage by cutting the stem or branches of growing shoot. For control spray 200 ml Fenvalrate 20 EC or 125 ml Cypermethrin 25 EC or 225 ml Decametharin 2.8 EC by mixing in 500 litre of water per acre hectare. Pod borers (Helicoverpa armigera): The borers of this pest are greenish or yellowish in appearance, which generally feed on the leaves, buds and pods. These completely destroy the crop by eating the grains developing in size of the pods. For control spray 1 liter Quinalphos 25 EC or 1 kg Carbaryl 50 WP or 500 ml Monocrotophos 36 SL or 200 ml Fenvalerate 20 EC or 300 ml Cypermetharin 10EC or 375 ml Decametharin in 250 litre of water per acre hectare as and when average one catterpiller per metre row length of plants at 50 % pod formation stage is noticed. Repeat second spray after 15 days. 35
LENTIL
Lentil (Lens esculenta Moench syn) also known as Masur is a leguminous crop. It is recognized as one of the most nutritious pulse crops, ranking next to chickpea amongst rabi pulses. It is one of the oldest pulse crops. It is also used as a cover crop to check the soil erosion in problem areas. The plants are ploughed back into the soil as green manure also. It derives the name Lens from the lens shaped seeds. In Indian subcontinent, it is commonly consumed as dal, which are deep orange red or orange yellow in colour. The whole grain is also used in some of the dishes. It is also rich in protein (26%), calcium (560 ppm), iron (7.54 mg) and niacin. It has the lowest content of lectins and trypsin inhibitors among legumes. Since it is a leguminous crop, it improves the fertility of soil biological nitrogen fixation. Lentil seeds also provide a source of starch for textiles and printing. Lentil floor is used for thickening of soups. It is mixed with wheat flour in bread and cake production. It is also ground into flour to make variety of preparations. It is also used in preparation of several snacks and sweets. The dry leaves and stems, empty pods and broken bits all are used as cattle feed. Lentil residues form important livestock feed.
Origin Lentil or masur is one of the oldest crops that originated in near East and Mediterranean region. It was known to ancients in Egypt and Greece. It had spread to Europe, India and China, and now it is introduced and cultivated in most sub-tropical and warm temperate regions.
Area, Production and Productivity Globally lentil shares only 5% of the total area under pulses. This pulse crop is predominantly grown in Asia followed by north and eastern Africa, north central America and southern Europe. Lentils are relatively tolerant to drought and are grown throughout the world. World production of lentils for 2009 was 3.917 million metric tonnes, primarily coming from Canada, India, Turkey and United States. About a quarter of the worldwide production of lentils is from India. It is grown throughout northern and central India. In India during 2008-09, Uttar pardesh, Madhya Pardesh, Bihar and West Bengal contributed more than 90% of the total area and production of lentil at national level. But highest productivity was recorded in U.P. (889 kg/ha). Our national productivity was 693 kg/ha against 2,111 kg/ha in Australia. In Haryana it is mainly grown in the paddy areas of north and middle Haryana along with some western parts of state. The total area under this crop in Haryana is 12 thousands hectares.
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Classification There are two cultivated species of genus Lens i.e. Lens esculenta Moench and Lens culinaris Medik. The cultivated species L. esculenta are classified into 2 sub groups according to size of the seed. Sub-species microsperma (Small seeded): They have small seed of 2-6 mm diameter and are produced in India, Africa and Asia. Pods are complex and small. Sub-species macrosperma (Bold seeded): They have large seeds of 6-9 mm diameter and are grown in Mediterranean region and North America. Mostly pods are flat and large.
Climatic requirement It requires cold temperature during its vegetative growth and warm temperature at the time of maturity. It is very hardy and can tolerate frost and severe winter to a great extent. Unlike chickpea, it remains unaffected by rains at any stage of its growth, including flowering and fruiting.The optimum temperature for its growth and development ranges from 18 to 30C.
Soil requirement Lentil is grown on a wide range of soils ranging from light loamy sand to heavy clay soil in northern parts and in moderately deep, light black soils in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Well drained, loam soils with neutral reaction are best for lentil cultivation. Acidic soils are not fit for growing lentil.
Crop rotation Lentil is generally grown as rainfed crop during rabi after rice, maize, pearl millet, sorghum and cotton. It is also grown as an intercrop in autumn-planted sugarcane. Two lines of lentil may be sown 30 cm apart in the center of 2 sugarcane rows. In north-eastern plains, it is also grown as utera crop after rice. Intercropping of linseed+ lentil (2:1), lentil+ mustard (4-6:1) in Bundel khand region of Uttar Pradesh is also promising. Lentil is relatively more shade tolerant than chickpea. Hence, it performs better in mixed and intercropping systems.
Field preparation Soil should be made friable and weed free so that seed could be placed at a uniform depth. In case of light soils, less tillage is required to prepare an ideal seed-bed. In heavy soils, after harvest of kharif crop, one deep ploughing followed by 2-3 cross harrowings should be given. After harrowing, the field should be leveled by giving a gentle slope for easy irrigation. There should be proper moisture in the soil at the time of sowing for proper germination of seeds. In utera/ paira cropping system of rice-lentil in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, seeds are sown in standing rice crop and therefore no tillage is done. 37
Sowing time The seed is sown in second fortnight of October under rainfed conditions. However, it can be sown in the month of November in irrigated areas. Under late-sown conditions, the seed can be sown up to first week of December. However, a reduction in 20% grain yield will take place as compared to normal sowing.
Seed rate The seed rate is 30- 40 kg/ha for small-seeded varieties and 4550 kg/ha for bold- seeded varieties and late sowing. Treat the seed with Benomyl or Aagrosan GN @ 2 g/kg of seed before sowing. The lentil seed should be treated with rhizobium culture before sowing. After wetting the seed with jaggery solution, mix it thoroughly with rhizobium inoculant, dry in shade and sow the seed thereafter immediately.
Method of sowing Show the crop with plough or seed drill in lines with row spacing of 22.5 cm. Under late sown condition the crop can be planted at 18 cm spacing.
Varieties The small-seeded varieties resistant to rust are Pant L 406, Pant L 639, Pant L 4 and LL l47 and bold-seeded varieties resistant to rust and tolerant to wilt are Lens 4076, LH 844, DPL 15 and DPL 62. Bold seeded variety JL 3 released for Central Zone is tolerant to wilt. The other high yielding bold seeded recommended varities are Haryana Masar 1: It is recommended for cultivation in whole Haryana. It is a small seeded variety and released for cultivation in 2005. The plants of this variety are medium growing and leaves have dark green colour. It matures in about 140 days and average yield is 16.0- 17.5 q/ha. Sapna : It is bold seeded variety recommended for irrigated areas. It matures in about 140 days and average yield is 15 q/ha. Seeds are with small blackish tints. Garima : It is recommended for irrigated areas and various type of soils for timely sowing in Haryana.The leaves are broader and dark green in colour. Its seed size is bolder than Sapna along with blackish spots. It gives an average yield of 15 q/ha just in 135 days of duration.
High yielding bold seeded varieties of lentil recommended for different states Varities Duration (Days) Yield (q/ha) Recommended areas Pant L234 130-150 15-20 Uttar Pardesh NFL 92 120-130 15-20 Uttar Pradesh Pusa 1 100-110 15-20 Bihar, U P,M P,Haryana and Orissa JLS 1 120-130 10-15 Central plateau region Bombay 18 130-140 10-12 Maharashtra, Punjab&Haryana DPL 15 (Priya) 130-140 14-16 North-western plains zone 38
DPL 62 (Sheri) 130-140 15-20 North-western plains zone IPL 81(Noori) 110-120 10-15 Central zone K 75 (Malika) 120-125 14-16 North-eastern plains & central zone Pusa 4076(Shivalik) 130-135 25-28 North-western plains & central zone Pusa 4 130-140 20-25 Uttar Pradesh, Bihar& West Bengal Pusa 830 120-125 20-25 U.P. and Uttarakhand
High yielding small seeded varieties of lentil recommended for different states Variety Duaration (Days) Yield(q/ha) Recommended areas BR 25 125-130 15-20 Bihar and Madhya Pradesh L 4147 130-135 17.8 North-western T 36 130-140 16-18 Uttar Pradesh Pusa 6 130-135 20-25 Delhi, UP, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar &WB Pant L 406 125-130 20-25 UP, Bihar, Punjab, North-eastern hills L 830 120-125 8-12 North-western plains zone PL 81-17 130-140 14-18 North-western plains zone LH 84-8 130-140 14-16 North-western plains zone VL 4 150-160 10-12 Hilly areas of northern eastern India Asha 125-130 14-16 West Bengal B-17 120-125 15-20 West Bengal S 177 125-130 15-20 West Bengal Ranjan 116-120 16-18 West Bengal Pant L 639 130-140 18-20 North west & east plains Zone Garima 130-140 12-15 Haryana PL77-12 125-130 12-15 Bihar BR 26 125-130 20-25 North Bihar LL 147 135-140 12-16 Punjab L-9-12 125-130 15-20 Punjab VL-1 165 10-12 Hilly areas of UttarPradesh VL-3 160-165 10-12 Uttar Pardesh T8 120-125 18-20 Uttar Pardesh
Fertilizer requirement The recommended dose of fertilizers is 20 kg N and 40 kg P 2 O 5 /ha. Conveniently, 100 kg/ha diammonium phosphate may be added. Full dose of fertilizers should be applied at sowing time. In some areas Zinc deficiency is generally observed after 4 weeks of sowing. The leaves become chlorotic at the tips. In such fields ZnSO 4 should be applied @ 25 kg/ha at the time of sowing and if the symptoms appear after sowing than spray 1 kg ZnSO 4 +5 kg urea solution in 250 lt of water.
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Irrigation management Providing one or two irrigations particularly when winter rains are not properly distributed, higher yields can be obtained. First irrigation should be given at 45 days after sowing and second, if needed, at pod filling stage.
Weed management In the crop of lentil period from 30 to 60 days after sowing is most critical for competition with weeds. The major weeds found in lentil fields are Chenopodium album (Bathua), Lathyrus spp. (chatrimatri), Vicia sativa (ankari), Melilotus alba (senji) and Cirsium arvense (kateli), Convolvulus arvensis L. and Pluchea lanceolata. Maintenance of weed free period of 45- 60 days from sowing is important. Two weedings 30 and 60 days after sowing are adequate. Weedicides like fluchloralin (pre-plant incorporation) and pendimethalin (pre-emergence) @ 0.75-1.0 kg/ha can be used for effective weed control.
Diseases Management Ascochyta blight: Grey to tan spots or lesions on leaflets, stems, flowers and pods, with dark margins and often with tiny black fruiting bodies (pycnidia) in the centers. The centers of the spots turn light-colored and develop small black spots in them. Lesions first appear on lower leaflets close to soil surface and spread up the plant canopy. Lesions on stems can girdle the plant resulting in wilting. To control treat the seed with Bavistine @ 2.5 g/kg seed. Anthracnose: It can be first noticed as white to gray or cream-colored spots develop on the leaflets and stem. They usually appear on the base of the stem and move up the plant canopy. Leaves and entire plants may die back and stems of mature and dead plants often blacken. Leaflets litter soil surface. Lesions on stems can girdle the plant resulting in wilting. Root rots: It become evident at any stage from emergence to maturity. Individual plants become stunted, turn yellow, and die. Essentially the root system has been destroyed. Crop rotation may help. However, the wide host range of these diseases makes this a less than effective option. Wilt: This is a serious disease of lentil in which the growth of the plant is checked, the leaves start yellowing, plants start drying and finally die. The roots of affected plants remain under developed and look light brown in colour. Keep the field clean and follow a three year crop rotation. This will help in reducing the disease incidence. Use healthy seed and plant lentil variety tolerant or moderately resistant to wilt like shivalik (L-4076), Pant L-4, Sapana; DPL- 62, Pant L-406 etc. Rust: This disease is caused by a fungus, Uromyces fabae. This disease appears in the filed from January onwards and is known to cause exten- sive damage to the crop, particularly if the variety is susceptible. It is char- acterised by the appearance of pink to brown pustules on leaves and stems. Later, black pustules are also visible on stems and leaves. In case of severe attack, the affected plants may dry. After harvest, the affected plant trash should be burnt. Grow resistant varieties like Pant L-406, Pant L-639, Pant L-4, DPL-15, DPL-62, 40
NarendraLentil-1 etc and spray the crop with 0.2% Mancozeb 75 WP. Two sprays may be given at 15 days interval. Powdery Mildew: This disease is caused by a fungus, Erysiphe polyqoni. The symptoms of this disease are seen about three months after sowing in the form of small whitish patches on the lower surface of the leaves. These whitish patches spread further and cover leaves, stem and pods as whitish pow-dery mass. Collect and burn the affected debris. Spray the crop at the appearance of the disease with any wettable sulphur like Sulfex-or Elosal (0.3%). A second spray may be given after 15 days of the first spraying. Downy Mildew: It is caused by a fungus, Peronospora tentis. The disease affects the plant in the later stages of growth. Initially, it is observed in the form of light greenish to yellow spots on the upper surface of the leaves. On the lower surface, opposite to these spots a brownish cottony growth of the fungus can be observed. Later, the whole affected leaf is covered by this cottony growth of the fungus and may become chlorotic. Treat the seed with Thiram or Carbendazim (Bavistin) at the rate of 2.5 g/kg of seed before sowing.
Insect Management Aphids: Aphids feed by sucking the plant sap from the phloem. They can infest leaves, stems and pods and mostly colonize the young leaves and growing points, which become characteristically deformed. Yield can be drastically reduced, and if infestations are early and severe, plants can be killed. Aphids also transmit several virus diseases. For control aphid in case of severe infestations before or at flowering, foliar spray of Rogor or Roxion (dimethoate) @ 1 ml per liter water will provide adequate control. If reinfestation occurs before pod maturity, a second spray may be given. Pod borer: [Helicoverpa armigera (Hb.) and Heliothis spp.] All larvae have characteristic and distinct light and dark bands along the sides.The adult moths are active at night and lay eggs on the undersides of leaflets. The small larvae feed by scraping the surface of leaflets; older larvae feed on foliage and flowers, and bore into the green pods to eat the seeds. For control, Deltamethrin (Decis 38 g a.i./ha) and Monocrotophos (0.04%) at the time of flowering/early pod-setting can provide adequate control.
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FIELD PEA
Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is an important leguminous crop which is also known as Matar in India; the crop is generally cultivated for its green pods. It is highly nutritive and is rich in protein. There are two types of cultivated peas, the garden pea and the field pea. Garden peas are harvested in an immature condition to be cooked as green peas to provide a delicious dish, or to be canned or frozen for subsequent uses. Field peas are grown as a seed crop. The mature seed may be used as whole or split into 'dal' and prepared in various ways for human consumption. Pea straw is a nutritious fodder. Dried peas are often made into a soup or simply eaten on their own. Peas are roasted and salted, and eaten as snacks. Bioplastics can be made using pea starch. It is highly nutritive and contains high proportion of digestible protein (22.5%), carbohydrates (62.1%), Fats (1.8%), minerals (Ca, Fe) and vitamins (Riboflavin, Thiamin and Niacin).
Origin The field pea is native to the Mediterranean region of southern Europe to western Asia. It is probably indigenous to the region comprising Italy, southwestern Asia and eastwards of the Himalayas, including northern India.
Area and Distribution Field pea is one of the important pulse crops of the world. The important field pea growing countries are China, India, USA, Egypt, Russian Federation and Ethiopia. China ranks first in the world in respect of production as well as acreage followed by India. In India Uttar Pradesh is the major field pea growing state. Uttar Pradesh alone produces about 60 per cent of total pea produced in India. Besides, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar are the major field pea producing states.
Classification Two types of peas are generally cultivated all over the globe. (1) Garden Pea (Pisum sativum var. hortense): It is also called table pea. In this type young, green seeds are used mostly in vegetables and also for canning purposes. Seeds are bold and wrinkled. These are generally, white flowered. Leaf axils are generally green. Seeds are yellowish, whitish or bluish-green. (2) Field Pea (Pisum sativum var. arvense): In this type the ripe, mature seeds are used as the pulse (dal). They are also grown as forage or green manure crop. Field peas are hardy plants and grown on a large scale without irrigation. These plants are also able to withstand frost. Seeds are rounded and little angular. They have generally coloured flowers. Leaf axils are often pigmented. Seeds are greyish-green, greyish-brown or grayish yellow.
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Climatic requirement Pea is a cool season crop and performs best at 10 0 C to 18 0 C. Peas can be produced successfully in temperate, semi-arid zones. They do not thrive in the summer heat of warmer temperate and lowland tropical climates but do grow well in cooler high altitude tropical areas. The flower and young pods are badly affected by frost. The optimum mean monthly temperature for pea is 12.8 0 C to 18 0 C. High humidity is harmful to pea crop as it favours incidence of disease.
Soil requirement A well drained soil is essential for successful production of field pea. Field pea is highly sensitive to water logging conditions; hence a well drained loam soil is considered best for pea cultivation. They tolerate a moderate soil pH range (6.0 to 7.5). The optimum pH is 6.5.
Crop rotation Field pea is sown as rabi crop. The most common rotations are: Maize-field pea, Rice- field pea, Cotton-field pea, Sorghum-field pea and Pearl millet-field pea. It is generally grown mixed with chickpea, barley, wheat, oats, rape and mustard crops. It is also grown as an intercrop in autumn sugarcane. Two rows of field pea may be sown 30 cm apart in the centre of two sugarcane rows shown at 90 cm spacing.
Field preparation Field is prepared as in the case of other rabi crops. After harvest of kharif crops, the field should be ploughed with disc or moulboard plough. Where tractor is available one deep ploughing followed by two to three harrowings and plankings should be given to prepare a well pulverised seed-bed. Where bullocks are the source of power, deep ploughing followed by two to three harrowings or three to four cross ploughing with local plough should be done. Avoid very fine seedbed. Field should be well levelled. Field should be prepared after pre- sowing irrigation to ensure adequate moisture at the time of sowing.
Sowing time The pea is generally sown in India in rabi season from the beginning of October to mid of November in the plains and from middle of March to end of May in the hills. In case of early sowing, special care should be taken against stem borer. It should be sown when daily maximum temperature is below 30C and the daily minimum temperature comes down to 20C.
Seed rate and Method of sowing Seed rate and spacing vary according to the periods of maturity of different varieties. The early maturing varieties are given closer spacing and higher seed rate and the late varieties are given wider spacing and lower seed rate. In case of early maturing dwarf varieties crop should be sown in rows 20 cm apart and about 100-125 kg seed per hectare 43
should be sown. In late maturing and taller varieties a row spacing of 30 cm is optimum. The seed rate should be reduced to 75-80 kg per hectare. It may be sown by dibbling or behind the plough.
Seed treatment The seeds are soaked in water overnight before sowing for better germination. Before sowing, seed should be treated with Thiram or carbendazim (Bavistin) at the rate of 2.5 g/kg of seed. For good nodulation seed should be treated with proper strain of bacterial culture before sowing. Seeds treated with Rhizobium culture give higher yield.
Varieties Aparna: This variety matures in 125-130 days. Plants are of medium height with less number of leaves. Seeds are white, round, smooth and bold (210 g/1000 seeds). This variety is resistant to powdery mildew disease. Yield potential is 25-30 quintals per hectare. Jayanti: This variety matures in 125-130 days. Plants are dwarf with less number of leaves. Seeds are bold, white with light green tinge. It is resistant to powdery mildew and wilt. Yield potential is 28-30 quintal per hectare. Uttara: This variety matures in 125-130 days. Plants are dwarf with very tiny leaves. Seeds are round, medium sized and creamy colour. This variety is resistant to powdery mildew and rust. Yield potential is about 30 quintals per hectare. Pant Pea-5: This variety matures in 135-140 days. Plants are tall. Seeds are white, round, attractive, smooth and bold (210 g/1000 seeds). This variety is resistant to powdery mildew disease. Yield potential is 20-25 quintals per hectare. Rachna: This variety matures in 130-135 days. Plants are tall and erect. Seeds are white, round and bold. It is resistant to powdery mildew disease. Yield potential is 20-25 quintals per hectare. Kinnauri: This variety matures in 130-140 days. It is a spreading type variety. Seeds are round, attractive and white in colour. It is susceptible to powdery mildew disease. Yield potential is 15-25 q /ha. Sikha: This variety matures In 130-140 days. It IS a dwarf variety of field pea. Yield potential is 25-30 q/ha. It is moderately resistant to powdery mildew. Swati: This is a short duration variety maturing in 120-125 days. Seeds are round and white in colour. It is resistant to powdery mildew and rust. Yield potential is 25-30 q/ha. Malvia Pea-2: It matures in 125-130 days. Plants are of medium height with very tiny leaves. Seeds are bold and white. This variety is resistant to powdery mildew. Yield potential is 20-25 q/ha. Malvia Pea-15: This variety matures in 120-125 days. Plants are of medium height with less number of leaves. Seeds are bold, round and white. It is resistant to powdery mildew disease. Yield potential is 28-32 q/ha. JP-885: This variety matures in 130-135 days. Colour of the leaves is light green. It is suitable to grow in heavy soils. It is resistant to powdery mildew. Seeds are round, bold and white. Yield potential is 20-25 q/ha. 44
VL Pea-1: This variety matures in 160-165 days. It is suitable to grow in hills under unirrigated conditions. Yield potential is 18-20 quintals per hectare. It is recommended for cultivation in hills of Uttaranchal. KFP-103: This variety matures in 130-140 days. It is a tall growing variety. Seeds are bold, round and white in colour. It is resistant to powdery mildew. Yield potential is 20-25 quintal per hectare. Alankar (OMR-7): This variety matures in 115-120 days. It is a tall variety. Seeds are bold, round and white in colour. This variety is resistant to powdery mildew. Yield potential is 24 quintals per hectare. Sapana: This variety matures in 130-135 days. It is a dwarf variety. It is tolerant to powdery mildew. Yield potential is 20-25 quintals per hectare. LFP-48: It is a short duration, short statured with light green bold seeds. It is suitable to grow in Punjab. Its yield potential is 20 quintals per hectare. Varieties suitable for Haryana are Alankar, DMR-11, Uttara, Jayanti, Aparna and Haryal.
Fertlizer management Incorporate 20 tonnes of organic manures per hectare in the soil at the time of land preparation. This should be supplemented with 20-30 kg nitrogen as a starter dose per hectare as a basal dressing at the time of sowing. Drill 40-60 kg P 2 0 5 , 30-40 kg K 2 0 and 25 kg ZnSO 4
per hectare at 4-5 cm deep from seed.
Irrigation management First irrigation should be given at 45 days and second, if needed, at pod filling stage. Light and uniform irrigation should be given.
Weed management The pea field should be free from weeds for the period up to 40-50 days after sowing. The major weeds found in pea crop are Chenopodium album (bathua), Fumaria parviflora (gajri), Lathyrus spp. (chatri-matri), Melilotus alba (senji), Vicia sativa (ankari). The field should be kept free from weeds by giving two weedings and hoeings after three and six weeks of germination. Fluchloralin (Basalin) at the rate of 0.75 kg a.i. per hectare in 800-1000 litres of water as pre-planting spray may be used as an effective herbicide. It should be well incorporated in the soil before sowing.
Diseases management Wilt and Root Rot: These diseases are caused by Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani fungi. The symptoms may be seen in seedling stage. Roots rot and plants show yellowing of the lower-most leaves, followed by wilting. The diseases control by treat the seed with 2.5 g of Ceresan or Carbendazim (Bavistin) per kg of seed before sowing. Avoid early sowing in badly infested areas. 45
Powdery Mildew: This disease is caused by a fungus, Erysiphe polygoni. White powdery, patchy growth on both the surfaces of the leaf and also on the tendrils, pods, and stem. In advanced stage, entire plant surface may be covered with white powder which consists of mycellium and spores of the fungus. To control disease avoid late plantings. The disease can be controlled by two to three sprays of wettable sulphur like Sulfex @ 3 kg/ha or 1kg Bavistin or 2 kg Kerathen/ha in 1000 litres of water. Give the first spray after appearance of the disease in the crop and spray should be repeated at 15 days intervial. Rust: The disease is caused by a fungus, Uromyces fabae. The stem of the plant becomes malformed and the affected plant dies out. All the green parts of plant are affected. The earliest symptoms are the yellow spots having aecia in round or elongated clusters. Then the uredopustules develop which are powdery and light brown in appearance. For control the affected plants trash should be burnt after harvest. Spray the crop with Mancozeb 75 WP at the rate of 2 kg per hectare in1000 lit res of water. Two to three sprays at 15 days interval are sufficient.
Insect management Pea Stem Fly: The adult fly lays eggs in the plant tissues and the maggots damage the internal tissues of the stem and ultimately the entire plant dies. Damage is more severe in early plantings. For control, mix 36 kg carbofuran (Furadon) 3% granules or 10 kg Phorate (Thimet) 10% granules in the soil before sowing the crop and do not go for early sowing of crop. Leaf Minor: Larvae feed by making tunnels in the leaves. They cause serious damage during December-March. For control spray 250 ml of Phosphamidon 85 SL (Dimecron) or 1 litre of oxydemeton methyl (Metasystox) 25 EC or Dimathote (Rogor) 30 EC in 1000 litres of water per hectare when the attack begins, and repeat at 15 days intervals. Pea Aphids: They suck the sap of the cells, owing to which the leaves turn pale and yellow. In case of severe infestation the plant growth is checked. For control spray 1.25 litres of dimethoate or oxydemeton methyl (Metasystox) 25 EC in 1000 litres of water per hectare. Repeat the spray after 10-12 days. Pod Borer: They bore into the pods and feed on the grains inside. Generally a late sown crop is damaged more by this pest. For control spray crop with 500 ml Monocrotophos 36 SL or 200 ml Fenvalerate 20 EC or 125 ml Cypermetharin 25 EC or 1 kg Carbaryl 50 WP in 1000 litres of water per hectare. Picking of green pods should be done 15 days after spraying. Thrips: This insect causes the yield loss due to sucking of cell sap from plant parts. For control of this pest spray 150 ml cypermethrin 25 EC in 1000 litres of water per hectare.
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FRENCH BEAN
French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) also known as rajmash, rajma, haricot bean, kidney bean, common bean, snap bean and navy bean is a legume plant. It is valued for its protein rich (23%) seeds. Seeds are also rich in calcium, phosphorus and iron. The fresh pods and green leaves are used as vegetable. The anti metabolites of dry beans need removal by cooking and soaking in water.
Origin Vavilov (1951) reported Mexico and Central America as the primary and Peruvian- Ecquadrion-Bolvian region of South America as the secondary center of French bean.
Area and Distribution Globally, French bean is cultivated on about 28 m ha with a production of 19 million tonnes. Brazil is the leading producer of french beans. Columbia, USA, Canada, Ethiopia, China and Turkey are other leading countries producing french bean. In India, it is grown on an area of about 1 lakh ha mainly in the states of Maharashtra (60,000 ha), Jammu and Kashmir (10,000 ha), Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Hills, Nilgiri (Tamil Nadu) and Palni (Kerala) hills, Chickmagalur (Karnataka) and Darjeeling hills (West Bengal).
Classification The genus Phaseolus has over 50 species and French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of them accounting for 90% of cultivated species worldwide. In India, both bushy and trailing types french bean are found.
Climatic requirement Major french bean producing areas are located in tropical and temperate regions with a temperature around 21 o C. The optimum temperature for better growth is 16-24 o C. Growth of plant ceases if temperature falls below 10 o C. Temperatures above 35 o C cause dropping of buds and flowers resulting in poor yield. It is highly susceptible to frost. The crop is generally raised in areas receiving 50-150 cm annual rainfall. Water logging at any stage adversely affects its yield. Rains cause flower drop and spread of leaf spot diseases.
Soil requirement French bean grows on a variety of soils ranging from light sand to heavy clay, but well drained loams are the best. Soil pH around 5.2-5.8 is optimum. The crop is sensitive to salinity. An electrical conductivity of 1 dsm -1 is threshold limit for frenchbean. Soil having high amount of organic matter promote more vegetative growth.
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Crop rotation In north India it is grown in spring season after potato or mustard. In the hills, it is intercropped between maize and soybean. In rabi, intercropping of potato + french bean (3:2 ratio) is being practiced in central and eastern Uttar Pradesh and northern Bihar. French bean + linseed (2:1) are also found to be an efficient cropping system.
Field Preparation Crop requires fine seedbed and adequate soil moisture for good germination. A deep ploughing followed by 2-3 harrowings and planking is adequate to obtain required tilth.
Sowing time French bean is grown in kharif and rabi seasons in different parts of the country. The optimum time of sowing in rabi season varies from state to state. For Haryana 10-20 th
September is the optimum sowing time for higher yield. In early sowing the plant die due to high temperature and in delayed sowing after 20 th September, there is yield reduction due to low temperature and frost at the time pod formation and grain filling stage. It is first and second fortnight of November for central Uttar Pradesh and north Bihar. However, mid October is optimum for Vidarbha region (Maharashtra). For early varieties, October end is the optimum, while late varieties can be sown up to mid November. In kharif, mid May - mid June is ideal. The spring crop can be sown from February - early March.
Seed rate and spacing Seed rate varies with seed size. Bold seeded varieties with a test weight of 350-450 g need 120-140 kg seed/ha, while in small seeded varieties, it varies from 80-100 kg/ha. The seed rate in intercropping may vary with row proportions. French bean is generally sown in rows 30 cm apart. The Plant to plant spacing is 10- 12 cm. For obtaining good yield, its plant population should be 2.5-3.0 lakh plants/ha. The optimum depth of sowing is 8-10 cm.
Varieties The prominent varieties which are recommended in Haryana state are as follows: Him-1: The variety is erect and short statured, recommended for irrigated areas of Haryana. The variety takes 80-85 days for maturity. The grains are medium in size. The variety gives average production of 10-12 q/ha. Jawala: The variety is dwarf and erect in growth, recommended for irrigated areas of Haryana. The variety takes 85-90 days for maturity. The grains are bold in size. The variety gives average production of 7.5-10 q/ha. VL 63: The variety is dwarf and erect in growth, recommended for irrigated areas of Haryana. The variety takes 85-90 days for maturity. The variety gives average production of 12.5-15 q/ha. 48
Fertilizer requirement French bean lacks biological N fixation because of poor or no nodulation. Hence, it needs liberal N fertilization 100-120 kg/ha. The crop requires 45 - 60 kg P 2 O 5 /ha and response to potassium and other micronutrients are rarely observed. Apply full dose of phosphorus and half dose of nitrogen at the time of sowing and remaining half dose of nitrogen at the time of flowering.
Irrigation management French bean has shallow root system and hence moisture stress at any stage is detrimental to its performance. As a rainy season crop, it does not require irrigation, when rainfall distribution is even throughout crop cycle. However, rabi crop requires irrigation. Irrigation at 25 days after sowing (DAS) is critical. In north-east plains zone, 3 irrigations at 25, 75 and 100 DAS and in central zone 4 irrigations at 25, 50, 75 and 100 DAS are necessary for optimum crop performance.
Weed mamagement French bean suffers severe competition from weeds in initial stages. First 30-40 days after planting is the critical period for crop weed competition. One hoeing at 20-25 DAS and second at 40 -45 DAS are found beneficial. Pre-emergence application of pendimethalin @ 1.0 kg/ha or pre-plant incorporation 1.0 kg/ha of fluchloralin have been found effective in controlling weeds.
Diseases and pests management Bihar hairy caterpillar, blister beetle, bean bug and aphids are important insect pests of the crop. Rot (collar, stem and pod) and bean golden mosaic virus are important diseases limiting french bean productivity.
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RAPESEED AND MUSTARD
Crop under Brassica genus encompass many diverse types of plants, which are grown as vegetables, fodder or sources of oils and condiments. The oleiferous Brassica species, commonly known as rapeseed-mustard, are one of the economically important agricultural commodities. Rapeseed-mustard comprising eight different species under Brassicaceae family viz. Indian mustard, Indian rape, turnip rape, canola, Ethopian mustard and rocket salad are being cultivated in 53 countries spreading all over the globe . The leaves of young plants are relished as a green leafy vegetables as well as fodder crop. Seeds are used as condiments in the preparation of pickles and for flavoring curries and vegetables. Mustard a nutritious food contains 28-36% protein along with 38-45% oil contant. Oil is used for edible purposes, including salad, cooking and margarine. Oil is also used for greasing of bread before cooking. Mustard oil contains high amount of essential fatty acids like Linolenic acid. Oil cake is mostly used as livestock feed in India, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, but an equally large amount is used as a fertilizer in Japan, India and Europe because of its high nitrogen content. Mustard cake contains Glucosinolate and major deleterious effects of glucosinolate ingestion in animals are reduced palatability, decreased growth and production. Rapeseed-mustard oil is being used in number of Ayurvedic medicines. Tocopherols present in mustard help to protect the oil from rancidity, thus contributing to a long shelf life. The essential oil in mustard inhibits growth of certain yeasts, molds and bacterial enabling mustard to function as a natural preservative. Mustard oil is one of the richest source of essential fatsOmega-3 alpha-linolenic acid (ALNA).
Origin According to Prain (1898), Bailey (1922) and others the Raya (Brassica juncea) originated in China and from there it was introduced to India. From India it spread to Afghanistan via Punjab. According to Vavilov (1926) the place of origin of rape seed (Brassica campestris) is eastern Afghanistan and adjoining parts of India and Pakistan, Brassica campestris var. yellow sarson to be the oldest of the various rape seed and mustard in India.
Area, Production and Productivity The area, production and productivity of rapeseed-mustard in the world was 30.74 m ha, 59.93 mt and 1950 kg/ha, respectively, during 2009-10. Globally, India account for 21.7% and 10.7% of the total acrage and production, respectively. In Haryana Rapeseed and Mustard was grown in about 513 thousands hactare area during 2009-10. Out of which 90% area was covered by Raya alone. Average productivity of Rapeseed and Mustard in India and Haryana was 1142 and 1655 kg/ha, respectively during 2009-10.
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Classification of Rapeseed and Mustard
Sr. No. Species Common name Local Name Brassica campestris var. yellow sarson Turnip rape Yellow sarson 1 Brassica campestris var. brown sarson Turnip rape Brown sarson Brassica campestris var. yellow toria Indian rape Yellow toria 2 Brassica campestris var. black toria Indian rape Black toria or lahi Brassica juncea Indian mustard Rai or Raya or Laha Brassica juncea var. rugosa Rugosa Pahari rai Brassica nigra Black mustard Banarsi rai Brassica napus Canola Gobhi sarson Brassica carinata Ethopian mustard Karan rai 3 Eruca sativa Rocket plant Taramira
Difference between rape and mustard Rape Mustard The plant is shorter, the height ranges between 45-150 cm. The plants are tall, the height ranges between 90- 200 cm. The leaves borne sessile and are glabrous and hairy. The lower part of grasps the stalk partially or completely. The leaves are not dilated at the base and clasping as in the case of rape but are the blade (lamina) stalked, broad and pinnatified. The Fruits (siliquae) are thicker than those of mustard (rai) and are laterally compressed with the beak one-third to half their length. The fruits (siliquae) are slender and only2-6.5 cm long, strongly ascending or erect with short and stout beaks. Seeds are either yellow or brown with a smooth seed coat. Seeds are brown or dark brown.
Climatic requirement Cool temperature, clear dry weather with plentiful of bright sun shine accompanied with adequate soil moisture increase the oil yield. Toria is more liable to suffer from frost and cold and is, therefore, usually sown earlier and harvested before the onset of frost. They require an annual precipitation of 350-450 mm. Rapeseed mustard requires higher temperature at vegetative phase (30-32 0 C max. and 20-22 0 C min.), cool temperature and clear sky during reproductive phase for seed filling and oil development. Foggy and cloudy weather during flowering adversely affects the activity of honey bees and hence the crop yield. 51
Soil requirement Rape seed and mustard are capable of growing under a wide range of soil conditions varying from sandy loam to clay loam soils but they thrive best on light loam soils. They neither tolerate water logging conditions nor do well on heavy soils. Plants can tolerate moderate salinity reasonably well but a soil having neutral pH is ideal for their proper growth and development. Taramira can be taken successfully in very light soils and rainfed areas. Crop rotation Rape seed and mustard are grown in rotation with other crops like.maize, cotton, pearlmillet, pulses, etc. Rape seed and mustard should never be grown in fields which were sown with the same crops in previous two years. Such a minimum period of rotation is require to break insect and disease cycle. Toria being a catch crop, maturing in 90-100 days can easily be adjusted in the following crop rotations. (1) Maize-toria-wheat (2) Maize-toria-sugarcane (3) Pearl millet-toria-barley (4) Maize-toria- cotton (5) Maize-toria-sugarcane-ratoon Brown sarson and mustard (raya) are usually cultivated as pure crops in rainfed areas. During rainy season no other crop should be sown, rather moisture should be conserved as much as possible by ploughing. ln regions where irrigation facilities are available, following crop rotations may be followed: (1) Green gram-brown or yellow sarson or raya (2) Black gram-sarson or raya (3) Guar (green manure)-sarson or raya (4) Maize-sarson or raya (5) Early Rice-sarson or raya Rape seed and mustard are generally grown mixed with Rabi crops like wheat, barley and chick pea. The practice of taking mustard (raya) as an intercrop with autumn planted sugarcane in which no additional land is required also offers scope to augment mustard production without ad- versely affecting the yield of companion crop of sugarcane Intercropping Intercropping of rapeseed-mustard is done with several crops. Under rainfed conditions mustard and taramira can be intercropped with gram and barley. Paired row planting of gram with one row of mustard in between two pairs was more profitable than barley. However, under irrigated conditions of Haryana experimental studies revealed that sole cropping of mustard (raya) is more profitable than any other intercropping combination.
Field preparation The Rapeseed-mustard is small seeded crop therefore, the field should be well prepared for uniform germination. Rapeseed-mustard seedlings are very susceptible to crusted soil. It requires fine seed bed. Field should be ploughed by mould board plough or tractor drawn harrow before pre-sowing irrigation followed by two ploughing with cultivator are required to prepare good seed bed. Planking should be done after each ploughing. There should be no clod or weeds at sowing time.
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Sowing time The crop of toria is to be sown in the last week of August to mid September whereas, for mustard it has been found that 25th of September to the first fortnight of October is the most appropriate time of sowing mustard crop in conserved moisture. Under irrigated conditions the sowing of raya is completed by 20th October. The maximum temperature should be around 32 0 C. It is advised to delay the sowing if the temperature is high specially under rainfed conditions.
Seed rate Under irrigated condition 3-4 kg seed is sufficient for sowing of one hectare area whereas, the seed rate can be increased to 5 kg per hectare under rainfed condition depending upon the availability of soil moisture.
Method of sowing Rapeseed-mustard crop should be sown in line, 30 cm apart with plant to plant distance of 10-15 cm and at a depth of 4-5 cm under irrigated conditions whereas; a row spacing of 45 cm is beneficial and practical in rainfed conditions. In order to maintain the proper plant population thinning is to be done after 20-25 days of sowing.
Varieties Toria TH 68: Its plants are medium in height with dark green leaves. This variety is suitable for Toria-wheat rotation. Its seeds are medium in size and brown in colour which contains 45% oil content. It matures in 89 days and gives an average seed yield of 12-14 q per hectare. Sangam: It is high yielding (15 q/ha) late maturing (110-115 days). Plants are tall, profusely branched, smooth leaves with long siliquae. The seeds are small brown in colour which contains 45% oil content. TL 15: Plants of this variety are medium in height. It has more primary and secondary branches with sufficient number of siliqua. Seeds are bold and brown in colour with 44% oil content. It matures in 85 90 days. It can be fitted well in wheat rotation. Its average yield is 5 -6 q/ha. In addition to these, important varieties of toria are Type-9, Bhawani, PT-30, PT-303, TLC 1, PT 507, M27, TS 29, Agarni, BR 23, Panchali, RAUTS 17 and PVT 37. Indian mustard /Raya varieties RH 9304 (Vasundhra): Distinguish morphological characteristics are irregular deep serrations with small hairs on lower surface and creamish mid rib, apex lobe acute. This variety matures in 138-142 days. This variety is medium in height with predominance of primary branches. The seeds are bold, blackish brown in colour which contains 40 % oil content. It holds promise in early and normal sowing conditions. This variety is resistant to shattering and lodging with responsive to fertilizer. It is Thermo-tolerant as well. It gives an average seed yield of 22-25 q/ha. RH 9801 (Swarn Jyoti): It is suitable for late sown (sowing around 15th November) with normal fertility and irrigated conditions. This variety possesses medium seed size, 40.0 % oil 53
content. Distinguish morphological characteristics are sharp leaf serration, with acute leaf apex, stem green smooth waxy. This variety matures in 130-135 days and gives an average seed yield of 17-18 q /ha. RB 9901 (Geeta): This variety has been released for rainfed conditions. The important characters of this variety are tall in height, profuse branching, and tetra locule siliquae with long main raceme. It yields about 18-20 q per hectare and matures in 145 days. Its seeds are medium bold and dark brown in colour and have 40% oil content. RH 30: This variety is recommended for irrigated and rainfed areas of Haryana. It is also suitable for mixed cropping and late sown conditions due to its non-shattering habit and early maturity. It is characterized by medium height, cone shape leaves with deep but less serrations. Seeds are very bold and contain 40% oils. It matures in 135 days and yield about 20-22 q/ha. RH 8812 (Laxmi): This variety is suitable for irrigated condition and high fertility soils under timely sown conditions. Special characters of this variety are medium bold and blackish brown seeds, small thick leaves, upright branching and thick pods. On an average, it yields about 20-24 q/ha and matures in 142 days. Its seeds contain 40% oil. RH 819: This variety has been released for rainfed areas. The important characters of this variety are tall in height, profuse branching and bright green leaves. It yields about 18-20 q/ha and matures in 145 days. Its seeds are medium bold and brown in colour and contain 40% oil. RH 8113 (Sourabh): This variety is tall having profuse branching with broad leaves. Small seeds possess about 40 % oil, mature in 150 days and give an average seed yield of 22-25 q/ha. It is medium tolerant to alternaria blight, white rust and downey mildew. RH 781: It is a frost tolerant variety. This variety is medium in height. It matures in 142 days and gives an average seed yield of 20-22 q/ha. It seeds are medium bold, brown in colour and have 40% oil content. T-59 (Varuna): This variety have wide adaptability and can be grown in all conditions. It takes about 140-142 days for maturity. The seeds of this variety are bold with 40% oil content. It gives an average yield of 20-22 q/ha. RB 50: It is generally recommended for rainfed areas. Plant height is around 2 m. It is medium in duration (146 days) and bold seeded variety. Oil content is 39%. Average yield is 18 q/ha. In addition to these, other important varieties of raya which are cultivated in India are Sita (B-85), Bhagirathi (RW-3510), Shekhar, Kranti, Krishna, Narendra Rai, Vaibhav, Vardan, Rohini, Gujrat Mustard 1, Durgamani, Prakash, RLM 619, Pusa Bahar, Pusa Jaikisan, Rajat, TM 2 and PRB-91. Taramira T 27: The plants are hairy with weak stem, profusely branched, and serrated leaves with rough surface. It matures in 150 days and gives an average yield of 5-6 q/ha. The seeds are yellowish green in colour and contain 32 % oil. 54
Yellow Sarson YSH 0401: This variety was released for timely sowing in all mustard growing irrigated areas of India. It is a short duration variety of just 115-120 days. The average yield is 17-19 q/ha with oil content of 45 %. In addition to these, important varieties of yellow sarson which are grown in different zones of India are YST 151, Type 42, K-88, YS 24, Vinoy, PS 66, PYS 842 and NDYS 842. Brown Sarson BSH-1: Its crop duration is 136 days. The average yield is 12.5 q/ha with oil content of 45%. Pusa Kalyani: This variety matures in 125-135 days. Seeds are medium and brown in colour with average oil content of 45 %. Its yield potential is 16-20 q/ha.
Fertilizer requirement The recommended dose of fertilizer for rainfed condition is 40 kg N and 20 kg P 2 O 5
/ha. In irrigated areas apply 60 kg N, 20 kg P 2 O 5 and 25 kg ZnSO 4 for toria and mustard, 80 kg N, 40 kg P 2 O 5 and 25 kg ZnSO 4 for raya and only 30 kg N for taramira. Drill all the fertilizers at the time of sowing under unirrigated conditions. Apply half dose of nitrogen and full dose of P, K and Zinc Sulphate by drilling at sowing time under assured irrigated conditions and remaining half dose of nitrogen be top dressed at the time of first irrigation. Rapeseed-mustard is generally grown on coarse textured soils which are highly responsive to P, S, Zn and Boron. It is advisable to apply phosphorus through single super phosphate because it contains 12% sulphur which is required for increasing the oil content. If phosphorous is applied as DAP than apply 250 kg Gypsum/ha at the time of field preparation or before irrigation. Seed treatment with Azotobacter has been found beneficial to the crop.
Irrigation management The irrigation requirement of rapeseed-mustard varies depending upon the crop conditions, moisture storage in the soil profile and prevailing weather conditions. Two irrigation i e. one at flowering and another at siliquae development stage is recommended. If irrigation water is limiting and is available for one irrigation only, then the crop should be irrigated at the time of flowering. Excessive water at later stages of crop growth reduces the yield by inducing secondary flowering and lodging in the crop.
Frost management Occasionally frost prevails from last week of December to January end in north and north western parts of the country resulting into considerable yield loss or sometimes total crop failure. To minimize the loss grow RH 781 a frost tolerant variety. Irrigate and smoke the fields when the temperature is low, 30-45 days after anthesis is most sensitive. Spray of Dimethyl sulphoxide (0.5 ml), Foltaf Difolatan (0.2 per cent) and Mencozeb (0.3 per cent) prevents the effects of freezing of seed. First spray is recommended 20 days after anthesis followed by two more sprays at fortnightly intervals. 55
Weed management The most common weeds of rape seed and mustard crop are Chinopodium album (bathua), Lathyrus spp. (chatrimatri), Melilotus indica (senji) and Fumaria parviflora (gajri). One dry hoeing with wheel hoe or hand hoe at about four weeks of sowing i.e. prior to first irrigation and if possible second hoeing after first irrigation may be done. Orobanche (Broom rape) a parasitic weed is a major problem in north India. For its control, spray 25 and 50g glyphosate at 30 ans 50 DAS, respectively.
Disease management White rust (Albugo candida): In the initial stage of infection small isolated (creamy white) pustules develop on the lower surface of the lower leaves when the crop is about 40-50 days old. The pustules increase in size and number covering the leaves and defoliation takes place which leads to weakening of the plants. The dangerous stage is floral infection in which the floral parts are malformed and become thick leathery green. The branches become zig-zag in structure and white growth of the fungus can be seen on these affected branches. Affected branches bears no siliquae thus causing yield losses. Cool, moist weather, temp. 6-12 O C and RH above 90 per cent is very favourable for the development and spread of this disease. Late sown (November) crop suffers more from this disease. Alternaria blight (Alternaria brassica): Small light brown round spots develop on the lower leaves first and then on upper leaves after 40 days of sowing. Later on these spots develop into big circular dark coloured with concentric rings clearly visible in these spots. Black lesions also develop on the stem and pods leading to reduced seed size, quality and quantity of the seed. In severe cases defoliation also occurs. When the temperature ranges from 18- 25C with high humidity (80 per cent) dense crop canopy and rains during February increases the disease at faster rate. Downey mildew (Peronospora parasitica): At flowering stage, the whole inflorescence is malformed and becomes thick green, twisted and covered with white cottony growth. There is always mixed infection of white rust and downy mildew on floral parts. Disease development is favoured by a temperature 10-20C and wet weather (RH 90% or above). White stem rot (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum): The disease starts on stem near the soil level as elongated water soaked lesions which later on covered with white mycelial growth of the pathogen. The diseased plant dries up before maturity without grain formation. The disease generally appears at flowering or pod formation stage. If we split open the affected stem, black sclerotial bodies are found in the pith of the stem. In low lying areas it can cause up to 35 per cent losses to the crop, cool and moist weather favours the disease development. Phyllody (MLO): Mainly this is a disease of toria and may cause 10-20 per cent losses in early (August) sown crop. Infected plants are stunted and produce more branches giving bushy appearance to the plants. Leafy structure develops in place of flowers. Such plants bear no pods. This is a mycoplasma disease and is transmitted by Jassid (Orosius albicinctus) from plant to plant. 56
Powdery mildew (Erysiphe cruciferarum): Dirty white, circular floury patches develop on leaves stems and pods. As the disease advances, the whole plant (Stem, leaves and pods) looks as if dusted with white powder. The disease usually appears late in the season when the temperature rises (15-28C and RH less than 60%) with no rainfall. Integrated disease management For the management of rapeseed-mustard diseases integrated approach should be followed with deep summer ploughing to expose the fungal propagules as source of infection. Adopt short duration varieties like RH 30, Laxmi and Varuna which escapes the incidence of major diseases. Always use healthy quality seed. Sowing of the mustard crop in time (10- 25 th October) is very important single factor which helps the crop to escape from major diseases. Phyllody incidence in toria can be avoided by sowing the crop around mid September. Rouging of the affected plants in case of toria phyllody and sclerotinia stem rot and burn them. Crop rotation is very important tool in disease management by growing the non host crops for minimizing sclerotinia stem rot Wheat/Barley-maize should be rotated with mustard. For the control of white rust, alternaria and downy mildew spray Mancozeb 1.5 kg/ha at initial appearance of white rust or Alternaria and repeat the spray 1-3 times after 15 days. Spray with Bavistin 0.1 per cent twice during flowering at 45-50 and 65-70 days after sowing for management of Sclerotinia stem rot.
Insect management Mustard aphid (Lipaphis erysimi): This is the most important pest of rapeseed and mustard. This pest is more active at flowering stage of the crop. Cloudy and moist weather favours the rapid multiplication of this pest. They are small light greenish coloured insects suck the sap from all parts of the plant. Nymphs are small and wingless. Both nymphs and adults suck the sap from different parts of the plant which devitalize the whole plant. Insects' secreats honey dew which results in black fungus growth called sooty mould. Insects' multiply rapidly at low temperature and 60 to 80 percent relative humidity. For control, remove aphid infested twigs from the borders of the field which helps in preventing the inward spread of this pest. If there are 10% plants with 9-19 aphids or an average of 13 aphids per plant, spray the crop with 625 to 1000 ml oxydemeton methyl (Metasystox 25 EC) or dimethoate (Rogor) 30 EC after diluting it in 625 to 1000 lt water. If needed repeat the spray after 15 days. Care should be taken that the crop grown for 'saag' should be sprayed only with malathion 50 EC @ 625- 1000 ml after diluting it in 625 to 1000 litres water. The spray should always be done in the afternoon when activity of the honeybee is less. Painted bug (Bagrada hilaris): This pest is more prevalent in lighter soils of drier region. This pest is black in colour with yellow and brown markings over the body. Young ones are red in colour and small in size than adults. Adult bugs are pretty looking sub-ovate black or grey and have many orange and brownish spot on the body. Both nymphs and adults suck sap from the plants at seedling stage and from seed at maturity stage of the crop. It is more serious at seedling stage of crop. Severe attack of this pest results in whitening of leaves 57
leading to complete drying up of plant which necessitate resowing. For control, maintain cleanliness in the field by following regular inter-culture operations which helps in killing the eggs and nymphs of the insects. If there is one nymph or adult/ meter row length spray the crop with 500 ml malathion 50 EC after diluting it in 500 lt of water/ha. Hairy caterpillar (Diacrisia Obliqua): This pest is highly polyphagous and cause damage to the leaves in October - November sown crop. The caterpillar feed gregariously initially. The larvae are covered with hair. The attacked plants leaves are completely denuded in severe infestation. For control the leaves along with the larvae should be plucked and destroyed. In case of severe infestation, large caterpillars can be controlled by spraying 1250 ml quinalphos 25 EC or 625 ml monocrotophos 35 SL or 500 ml dichlorvos 76 WS after mixing in 625 liter of water/ha. Mustard sawfly (Athialia lugens proxima): A black coloured larva feed at seedling stage of the crop. The larvae have three parallel strip lengthwise on dorsal side of the body. The damaged plants can be identified by the presence of mid rib only. Severe attack of this pest may necessitate re sowing of the crop. The pest can be managed by dusting with 2% Methyl Parathion dust at the rate of 20-25 kg/ha or spraying the crop with 0.05% Malathion 50 EC. Pluck the infested leaves alongwith the gregariously feeding larvae and destroy them. Leaf miner (Chromatomyia horticola): This is also a polyphagous pest which damage all the brassica crops. The maggots of this pest damage leaves by making galleries in them which in turn hinders photosynthesis. The adults of this pest are tiny greyish flies with one pair of wings. The attacked crop can easily be identified by galleried leaves from a distance with sick look. For control this pest can easily be managed by spraying monocrotophos 35 SL @ 625 ml in 625 liter per hectare.
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SUNFLOWER
Sunflower (Helianthus ennuus L.) also known as Surajmukhi belongs to Compositae family has been grown for its ornamental value since quite sometime. Sun-flower as an oilseed crop is a new introduction in India. Since it has got 45-50 per cent good quality oil, and high amount of quality protein in cake. Sunflower holds great promise because of its short duration, photo-insensitivity, wide adaptability and drought tolerance. The oil of sunflower is light yellow in colour and possesses good odour which can be used for a variety of cooking purposes like any other edible oil. The oil is also used for manufacturing hydrogenated oil. Sunflower oil is a rich source (64%) of linoleic acid (unsaturated fatty acid) which helps in washing out cholesterol deposition in the coronary arteries of the heart and thus is good for heart patients. Oil is also used in the manufacture of soaps and cosmetics. The oil cake contains 40-44 per cent high quality protein. It is ideally suited for poultry and livestock rations. It can also be used for manufacturing baby foods. The sunflower kernels can be eaten raw or roasted. Sunflower oil is mainly triglycerides (fats), typically derived from the fatty acids linoleic acid (which is doubly unsaturated) and oleic acid. Sunflower oil also contains lecithin, tocopherols, carotenoids and waxes. Sunflower oil is light in taste and appearance and has a high vitamin E content. It is a combination of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats with low saturated fat levels. Sunflower meal is higher in fiber, has a lower energy value and is lower in lysine but higher in methionine than soybean meal. Protein percentage of sunflower meal ranges from 28% for non-dehulled seeds to 42% for completely dehulled seeds. It has been used in certain paints, varnishes and plastics because of good semidrying properties without color modification. Sunflower oil is used in the manufacture of soaps and detergents. The use of sunflower oil (and other vegetable oils) as a pesticide carrier, and in the production of agrichemicals, surfactants, adhesives, plastics, fabric softeners, lubricants and coatings has been explored. Sunflower can also be used as a silage crop. Moisture content of sunflower at maturity is usually high (80 to 90%) and would require wilting before ensiling. Crude protein level of sunflower silage is similar to grass hay and higher than corn silage.
Origin Sunflower is a native of southern United States and Mexico, from where it was introduced into Spain by early explorers and merchants before the middle of sixteenth century. Sunflower was brought to England from Spain in the Colonial period. In the nineteenth century, the cultivation of sunflower as oilseed crop began in the Soviet Union and the majority of the present day varieties grown all over the world trace back their orign to the USSR. Sunflower as an oilseed crop was introduced into India in 1969.
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Area and production According to FAO statistics, sunflower was grown in 21.39 million hectares globally leading to a production of 24.54 million tonnes during 2009-10. Russia was the largest producer of sunflower with 23.1 percent of production followed by Ukraine (17.0 percent) and Argentina (14.3 percent). India ranks fourth accounting for about 6 percent of the world production. It occupies fourth place among oilseed crops in terms of acreage and production. In India it is cultivated on 1.48 million hectares with a production of 1.0 million tonnes in the year 2009-10. Karnataka accounts for a major 42.83% share in the country's sunflower production, followed by Andhra Pradesh (28.15%) and Maharashtra (13.39%). The area, production and Productivity of sunflower in Haryana during 2009-10 was 20,000 ha, 34,000 tons and 1680 kg/ha, respectively.
Classification There are about 264 species in Helianthus genus. All the varieties grown in USSR and India are grouped into three main groups. (1) Large white seeded type: having high oil content. (2) Small black seeded type: best for eating seeds. (3) Intermediate type with striped seeds: good for both eating and oil purposes. Some of the workers have divided all the varieties into two distinct groups according to habit of growth: Group I: having tall, unbranched single headed types with well developed achenes. Group II: having comparatively shorter, branched growth and with many heads.
Climatic requirement Sunflower though basically a temperate region crop, but varieties adapted to a wide range of agro-climatic zones have been developed. It is raised from 40 0 S to 55 0 N latitudes. The crop can be raised up to an altitude of 2,500 m. Sunflower successfully tolerates temperature range of 8-34 0 C, indicating its adaptation to the regions with warm days and cold nights. However, it grows well within the temperature range of 20-25 0 C. The crop performs best with a rainfall of 500-700 mm during the growing period. The crop requires a cool climate during germination and seedling growth. Seedlings tolerate frosts moderately well until they reach the four to six leaf stage of development. It requires warm weather from the seedling stage up to flowering stage and warm and sunny days during flowering to maturity. High humidity accompanied with cloudy weather and rainfall at the time of flowering results in poor seed set. The amount of linoleic acid decreases with high temperature at maturity.
Soil requirement Sunflower can be grown in diverse type of soils from sands to clays with a pH range of 6.5 to 8.5. It thrives best on deep loam soils with good drainage and irrigation facilities. Good soil drainage is required for sunflower production. 61
Crop rotation Sunflower is grown in rotation with several crops. Some of the important crop rotations are Maize-sunflower, Rice-sunflower, Maize-potato-sunflower, Pigeonpea (ageti)- sunflower, Sunflower- safflower, Maize-toria-sunflower, Maize-toria-sugarcane-ratoon- sunflower, etc. Sunflower is grown mostly as a rainfed crop in India. The important intercropping systems are given as follows: Intercropping Row ratio Regions Sunflower+groundnut 6:2 Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, A P, Karnataka Sunflower+castor 1:1/1:2 Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat Sunflower+soybean 1:2 Maharashtra and Vidarbha region ofMaharashtra Sunflower+blackgram 1:3 Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh Sunflower+pigeonpea 2:1/2:2 Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh Sunflower+fingermillet 2:4 Karnataka
Varieties DRSH-1: A hybrid with 42-44% oil, matures in 92-98 days with seed yield of 13-16 q/ha. It is recommended for all India for rabi and zaid seasons. HSFH 848: A hybrid in 2005 with 40-42% oil, maturing 90-100 days to maturity with seed yield of 22-25 q/ha and is recommended for timely as well as late sown condition in Haryana. RSFH 1: A hybrid released for Karnataka with 40-43% oil, maturing in 95-100 days with seed yield of 13-16 q/ha . TAS-82: A mutant of Surya, with 40-42% oil and 8-12 q/ha yield in 90-95 days duration. CO-5: A selection with 40-42% oil, matures in 90-95 days with 8-12 q/ha seed yield. Haryana Surajmukhi-1: It matures uniformly in 90 days during summer season under irrigated conditions. Its yield potential is 25-30 q/ha. Badshah: This variety matures in 80-85 days uniformly. It is suitable to grow in various parts of Northern India. Seeds are solid, black in colour and contain 40 per cent oil. It is resistant to alternaria blight. Its yield potential is 18-22 q/ha. Divyamukhi: This variety matures in 90-100 days. Heads are of large size with medium black seeds. Seeds contain 41-42 per cent oil. It is suit-able for growing in various part of Northern India. Its yield potential is 25-28 q/ha. RSH-1: This variety matures in 80-85 days. It is resistant to downy mildew and lodging. It is specially, good for Maharashtra. Its yield potential is 25-30 q/ha under irrigated conditions. Surya: This variety matures in 90-95 days. Seeds are medium black with white stripes and contain 30-35 per cent oil. This variety is recommended for cultivation in Maharashtra. Its yield potential is 10-12 q/ha. CO-1: It is a short duration variety, which matures in 60-65 days. Seeds are medium black and contain 38-40 per cent oil. Its yield potential is 7-8 q/ha. 62
CO-2: This variety matures in 85-90 days. It is tolerant to rust disease. Seeds contain 38-42 per cent oil. It is suitable for growing in Maharashtra. Its yield potential is 8-10 q/ha. SS-56: It is a hot duration variety, which matures in 60-70 days. It is suitable for growing In Maharashtra. Seeds contain 40-42 per cent oil. It yield potential is 7-8 q/ha. KBSH-1: This variety matures in 90-95 days. It was released for Karnataka and is suitable for growing in alternaria blight. Seeds contain 42-45 per cent oil. Its yield potential is 12-15 q/ha. APSH-11: This variety matures in 90-95 days. It is resistant to alternaria blight. Seeds contain 40-42 per cent oil. Its yield potential is 12-15 q/ha. MSFH-8: This variety matures in 95-100 days. It is resistant to rust and alternaria blight. It is suitable for growing in various sunflower growing areas of India. Its yield potential is 10-15 q/ha. Seeds contain 38-42 per cent oil. MSFH-17: This variety matures in 100-105 days. It is suitable for growing in various sunflower areas of India. It is resistant to rust and downy mildew. Seeds contain 38-42 per cent oil. Its yield potential is 12-15 q/ha. MSFH-30: It is a newly released variety maturing in 90-95 days. It is resistant to rust. Heads are full of grains and attractive. It is. suitable for growing in all sunflower-growing states. Seeds contain 42-44 per cent oil. Its yield potential is 25-28 q/ha. Mega-363: This variety matures in 95-100 days. Seeds contain 40-45per cent oil. Its yield potential is 25-30 q/ha. Laxmi: It is a short duration variety suitable for growing during summer season. Plants are 160-165 cm in height. Seeds contain 45 per cent oil. Its yield potential is 25-30 q/ha. Vinimik: It is a Russian variety, which is known as EC-68413. The plants are tall, attaining the height of 160-180 cm with the varying size of heads (16-20 cm). The crop matures in 80- 90 days during Kharif, 125-135 days during Rabi and 105-110 days during spring season. Its average yield is 15-25 q/ha. Its seeds contain 43 per cent oil. Armaverts: It is an also Russian variety known as EC-69874. The plants are dwarf attaining a height of 120-140 cm. It takes 70-80 days during Kharif, 105-120 during Rabi and 100- 110days in spring season. Seeds are black in colour. Its average yield is 10-15 q/ha. Peredovik: It is also an introduction from Russian Fed., which is known as EC-68414. The plants are tall attaining a height of 160-180 cm. with the head size of 18-22 cm. It matures in 80-90 days during Kharif, 125-135days during Rabi and 105-115 days during spring season. The plants have a single branch. The seeds are medium in size and black in colour. Its average yield is 15-25 q/ha. Its seeds contain 44 per cent oil. Armavirskij: It is an also Russian variety known as EC-68415. It is the tallest variety among all the Russian varieties. The plants attain 170-200cm height and head of 16-20 cm diameter. This variety takes 80-90 days during Kharif, 125-135 days during Rabi and 110-115 days during spring season. The plants have a single branch. Seeds are medium in size and black in colour and contain 38-40 per cent oil. Its average yield is 15-25 q/ha. Sunrise Selection: It is a Canadian variety. The plants are dwarf, attaining height of 140-160 centimetres and head size various from 14-18 centimetres. The crop matures in 80-85 days 63
during Kharif, 115-125 days during Rabi season. The plants have a single branch. Seeds are medium and black containing 44 per cent oil. Its average yield is 15-25 q/ha. In addition to these, the hybrids recommended for Haryana are: Timely sown: KBSH 1, MSFH 8, PAC 36, KBSH 44 and PCSH 234. Late sown: MSFH 17, PAC 1091, Sunzin 85 and Prosun 09.
Field preparation Sunflower requires well pulverised and weed free land with adequate moisture supply. The first ploughing should be done by the mould-board plough and subsequently two to three ploughings could be done by local plough followed by planking. There should be sufficient moisture at the time of sowing for proper germination. Under irrigated conditions where sunflower is to be taken during Rabi, sowing should be done after pre sowing irrigation. Sunflower seeds have thick hulls and imbibe water at a slow rate.
Time of sowing Sunflower; unlike most other crops is not affected with the season and day length. With the exception of freezing temperatures, the sowing of sunflower can be done in any month of the year. In north India, sunflower is sown during kharif and spring/zaid crop. However, higher yields are obtained during early summer and rabi than kharif season, because of low biotic stress and favourable soil moisture conditions. The sowing date should be adjusted in such a way that flowering period does not coincide with heavy rains because the rains may adversely affect pollination and seed-set. In rabi, the suitable sowing time is between second fortnight of September and first fortnight of October. For Summer crop 15 th
January to 15 th February is the best sowing time in Haryana conditions. The Rabi crop sown late in December or January does not make proper germination and growth and heads of smaller size are produced. Similarly Zaid crop sown late in April suffers from heavy rains at harvest time.
Spacing, Seed rate and Depth of sowing A crop sown by placing seeds in furrows needs 8-10 kg/ha seeds to ensure good crop stand. While dibbling method of sowing requires 5-6 kg/ha seed. Seed rate for hybrids is 4-5 kg/ha. Sunflower hybrid and varieties should be sown at 60 cm and 45 cm row to row spacing, respectively along with a plant to plant spacing of 30 cm. The seed should be sown at 3-5 cm depth for better stand. Sowing can be done with seed drill in the furrows. After 10- 15 days of germination, thin the plants to provide a space of 30 cm between plants in rows.
Seed treatment Under dryland conditions, pre-soaking of seeds in water for 12 hours and subsequent drying in shade has been recommended. The seed before sowing should be treated with captan or ceresan @ 3 g/kg seed. Bold and certified seed should be used for sowing. In downy mildew prone areas, seed treatment with apron 35 SD @ 6 g/kg seed is necessary.
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Seed dormancy Sunflower seeds have a dormancy period of 10-50 days. The germination inhibitors are present in seed kernel and seed coat are active up to 10 and 45 days after harvesting respectively, thus the dehusked seeds can be germinated from 10 th day after harvest up to 75%. Method of breaking dormancy Exogenous application of ethrel, benzyl adenine and GA 3 promotes germination of dormant achenes (intact seeds). Pre-soaking of dormant seeds with ethrel solution (25 ppm) equivalent to 40% by volume of seeds was found to be optimum, and is the most effective chemical. Seeds can be soaked for 6 hours and then dried in shade or can be sown directly. If the quantity of seeds is small, they should be soaked for 24 hours in ethrel solution and then sow in prepared field. This treatment gives germination to the extent of 85% or more. Viability of seeds Normally sunflower seeds remain viable for 10-12 months. However, in areas of hot humid weather seeds lose viability quickly. At 50 to 85% relative humidity, seeds lose viability within 40-60 days. Pre-soaking seed with water or protein (10 M concentration) before storing increased the viability period even under high humidity conditions. Short term seed hardening treatment given to 6 months old seeds resulted in extending viability up to 10 months.
Fertiliser management Sunflower is an exhaustive crop and responds well to nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. In Haryana conditions 60 kg nitrogen and 40 kg P 2 O 5 per hectare is sufficient for non hybrids while 100 kg nitrogen and 50 kg P 2 O 5 per hectare will be needed for hybrids with application as half nitrogen and full phosphorus at sowing time and half nitrogen at first irrigation. All P and K fertilizers are applied as basal, 5 cm away in band on both sides of seed line. In acidic soils, liming is essential to overcome calcium deficiency. In soils, deficient in S and B, and in intensive cropping system, crop should be applied with 20-30 kg S and 2 kg borax/ha.
Irrigation management Sunflower is a crop of medium water requirement. Total 4-6 number of irrigations is required for better production of sunflower in Haryana condition. Give first irrigation at 30- 35 days after sowing and remaining after an interval of 12-15 days and last irrigation should be applied at 75-80 days stage. Its extensively branched taproot, penetrating up to 185 cm, aids the plant during water stress. A critical time for water stress is the period 20 days before and 20 days after flowering. Sunflower crop is highly sensitive to water stress between flowering and grain filling stages and at least one of the irrigation must be applied during this period. Irrigation at grain filling stage should be given light and on a calm and windless evening to avoid lodging.
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Weed management The crop suffers severe weed competition during initial 45 days of growth. The crop should be kept weed free during this period to obtain higher yields. The major weed flora includes Cynodon dactylon, Cyperus rotundus, Echinochloa (Grasses), Achyranthus aspera, Phyllanthus niruri, Celosia argentina, Portulaca oleracea, Parthenium hysterophorus etc. Two weedings with hoeing three and six weeks after sowing after sowing are quite effective. When the plant attains a knee high stage earthing should be done along the rows. This provides safeguard against lodging which is likely to occur at heading stage, if winds of high velocity blow. Pre-emergence application of alachlor or pendimethalin @ 1.5 kg/ha is also effective. Pre-emergence use of 1.5-2.0 kg/ha of nitrofen or 0.75-1.0 kg/ha prometryne also successfully control the weeds. Fluchloralin (Basalin) at the rate of 1 kg a.i. per hectare dissolved in 800-1000 litres of water could also be used as pre-planting. The crop and its residues have allelopathic effect on weeds due to secretion of chlorogenic acids and scopolin etc.
Diseases management Alternaria Blight (Alternaria helianthi): The disease is characterised by the development of dark brown to black, circular to oval spots varying from 0.2 to 5 cm in diameter. The spots are surrounded by necrotic chlorotic zone with grey white necrotic centre marked with concentric rings. Spots first appear on lower leaves, later spread to middle and upper leaves. At later stages, spots may be formed on petioles, stem and ray florets. 0.2 per cent Dithane M-45 (mancozeb) sprayed four times at an interval of 15 days proved very effective in controlling the disease. First spray should be given as the disease starts appearing on the lower leaves. Charcoal Rot (Macrophomina phaseolina): The most common symptom of the disease, under field conditions is the sudden wilting of plants, usually after pollination. Infected plants become weak, mature early and when dry, show a presence of black ashy discolouration of the stem. Black micro sclerotia are formed in huge number on the affected portion. Sometimes the disease causes seedling blight, damping off, root rot or basal stem rot. For control seed borne inoculum can, however, be minimized by treatment of seeds with thiram (3 to 4 g per kg seed). Use certified seed only. All infected plants should be removed and burnt. Follow 3-4 years crop rotation with wheat and barley like crops.spray should be given as the disease starts appearing on the lower leaves. Sclerotium Wilt or Rot (Sclerotium rolfsii): Sickly appearance of plants can be rotted from a distance. Later the entire plant withers and dies. White cottony mycelium and mustard-seed- type sclerotial bodies are conspicuous on the affected stem near soil level. The disease can be controlled by collection and destruction of plant debris. Treat the seed with Bavistin/ thiram @ 3g/kg seed. Collect and burn the affected plants. Follow up crop rotation preferably with cereals.Keep the field free from weeds. Flower Head Rot: At the grain formation stage light brown coloured spots are formed on the lower side of the head, which later on spred to whole flower head. In severity of disease the 66
flower head completely rotten and resulted in no grain formation. Treat the seed with Bavistin/ thiram @ 3g/kg seed to control the disease.
Insect management Head borer (Helicoverpa armigera): The eggs of this insects are laid singly on tender parts of the plant and flower bud. They hatch in 4-6days. Newly hatched larvae feed on leaves, buds and flowers for a short period of time and after making a hole in the disc may enter in it to feed the developing seed. Grown up larvae bore inside the disc by making apperant tunnels. Third and fourth instar larvae are more noxious than younger ones. For control deep ploughing of the field is helpful to kill the hibernating larvae. Install sex pheromone trap in the field @ 20 traps/ha. Release of egg parasitoid, Trichogramma sp @ 50,000 adults/ha at weekly interval keep the head borer at bay. Spray nuclear polyhedrosis virus @ 350 LE/ha. Need based spray of monochrotophos 40 EC @ 1.0 litre/ha or 1.5 litre/ha Quinalphos 25 EC in 500 lt water/ha controls the insect pest effectively. Bihar Hairy caterpillar (Spilosoma oblique): They are called hairy caterpillar because they have profused hairy growth on their body in larval stage. The female lays eggs in cluster on the lower surface of leaves. After hatching, the tiny larvae feed gregariously on the chlorophyll content of the leaf upto second instar. Light trap should be installed in the field and attracted moths should be destroyed. Application of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) 1.0 Kg/ha has been found effective in controlling hairy caterpillars. Spot application of chlorpyriphos 20EC 1.0 ml/litre of water are highly effective for the control of gregarious phase larvae. Digging trench around the field and dusting them with carbaryl 10% or methylparathion 2% dust prevents the migration of caterpillars from one field to another. Need based application of quinalpos 25 EC @ 1.2 lt/ha or 0.5 lt monocrotophos 36 SL in 500 lt water per hectare should be done in the evening. Cut worm (Agrotis ipsilon): Greasy brown colour larvae feed on the young roots and basal portion of the plant below the ground and kill the plant by cutting at the base. For control deep ploughing of the field should be done after harvesting of the crop in order to expose the pupal stage of pest. Treat the seed with chlorphyriphos 20 EC @ 12 ml/kg seed. Treat the soil with Chlorpyriphos 20 EC @ 2.5 Litre/hactare or Carbaryl 10% or fenvalrate 0.4 % dust @ 25-30 Kg/hactare. Dust the crop with malathion 5% or carbaryl 10% dust @ 15-20 kg/ha. Spray the crop with 200 ml fenvalrate 20 EC or 125 ml cypermetheren 25 EC in 300-400 lt water per hectare. Aphid (Aphis craccivora): Nymphs are light yellowish green or greenish black or brownish. Adults are mostly wingless but few winged forms also seen. Nymphs and adults colonise on the under surface of the young leaves, shoots and suck the sap resulting in crinkling and curling of leaves. Leaves appear shiny and sticky due to honeydew excreted by the insects. Later sooty mold grow on honey dew and leaves have a black coating. Cool and humid conditions are favourable for multiplication while heavy rains wash away the aphid colonies. Economic threshold limit is 15-20% affected plants. For control seed treatment with 67
Imidacloprid (5g/kg seed) keeps the crop free of sucking pests over a month. Dimethoate or methyl Demeton or Phosphamidon can be used for control. Paint on stem with a mixture of Monocrotophos: water (1:4) or Imidacloprad: water (1:20) at 20, 40 and 60 days age of crop. Tobacco Caterpillar (Spodoptera litura):Moth lays eggs on the under side of leaves in masses (100-300) and covered with brown hair. Soon after hatching, early instar larvae feed gregariously by scraping the chlorophyll of Lamina leading to skeletonization. Economic threshold: 5-10% incidence level in retained and shed fruiting bodies. For control spray Carbaryl 50% WP @ 500 gm/ha or Monocrotophos 40 WSC @ 500ml/ha.
Heliotropism A common misconception is that sunflowers track the sun. In fact, mature flower heads typically face east and do not move. The leaves and buds of young sunflowers do exhibit heliotropism (sun turning). Their orientation changes from east to west during the course of a day. The movements become a circadian response and when plants are rotated 180 degrees, the old response pattern is still followed for a few days, with leaf orientation changing from west to east instead. The leaf and flowerhead bud phototropism occurs while the leaf petioles and stems are still actively growing, but once mature, the movements stop. These movements involve the petioles bending or twisting during the day then unbending or untwisting at night.
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SUGARCANE
Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) also known as Ganna/ Ekh belongs to Poaceae family. It is the most important sugar crop, contributing more than 62% of the world sugar production. It is a C 4 plant, able to convert up to 2 percent of incident solar energy into biomass. It is one of the most efficient photo synthesizers in the plant kingdom. India has the largest area under sugarcane in the world and also ranks first in sugar production. Sugarcane is one of the main crop for earning foreign exchange. White sugar, Brown sugar (Khandsari) and Jaggary (Gur). Sugar industry is the largest agro based processing industry next only to textile in India. Molasses and bagassy are important byproduct of sugar industry. Molasses are used for production of alcohol by distilleries. Molasses are also used as an additive to livestock feed. Alcohols serve as a base material in pharmaceutical and several other industries. Green tops of cane are a good source of fodder for cattle. Press mud is used as manure in alkaline and saline soils. Ethanol is also a byproduct of sugar industry which is blended in petrol (5%) in India.
Origin Barber (1931) was of the opinion that the thin Indian canes probably originated in the moist parts of north eastern India, from some plant closely related to Saccharum spontaneum (Kans). Tropical cane might have originated in some of the larger islands of Oceana, most probably in New Guinea. Brandes (1956) also concluded that it originated in New Guinea, where various forms of thick, tall, tropical cane have been grown from ancient times.
Area, Production and Productivity Brazil is the biggest grower of sugarcane, which goes for sugar and ethanol for gasoline-ethanol blends (gasohol) for transportation fuel. Top sugarcane producers are Brazil, India, China, Thailand, Mexico and Pakistan. In India, sugarcane is sold as jaggery, and also refined into sugar, primarily for consumption in tea and sweets, and for the production of alcoholic beverages. Today, sugarcane is grown in over 110 countries. In 2009, an estimated 1,683 million metric tons
were produced worldwide which amounts to 22.4% of the total world agricultural production by weight. About 50% of production occurs in Brazil and India. In India sugarcane is cultivated in 4.42 mha with production of 285 mt with a productivity of 645 q/ha. The major sugarcane growing states in india are: UP, Maharashtra, TN, Karnataka, Gujarat and AP. Haryana ranks 8 th in production and 9 th in area in India with a productivity of 570 q/ha. The highest productivity is in Tamil Nadu (1062 q/ha). The sugar recovery is highest in Maharastra (11.1%) followed by Gujrat and Karnataka with all India average of 9.90%, which is much less than the Hawaii (12.28). 70
Classification Sugarcane belongs to the genus Saccharum in the family Poaceae. Cultivated sugarcane is classified into three species. Saccharum officinarum: These are noble canes known as Ponda in north India and grown for chewing purposes. These are thick and juicy canes goodfor chewing purpose also. This species includes the tropical canes indigenous to the New Guinea. These canes contain high sugar content, low fibre and produce high tonnage. These are generally resistant to smut but are susceptible to red rot and mosaic diseases. The cultivation of this species is limited to tropical areas. But in recent years these canes have been succeeded by hybridisation among Officinarum, spontaneum and other species in subtropical regions. Saccharum sinense: This specie of cultivated sugarcane is indigenous to north-eastern India. This specie is characterised by long and thin stalks, broad leaves, low to medium sucrose content and early maturity. This species includes 'Pansahi'. 'Nargori' and 'Mungo' groups of sugarcane. Internodes of these canes are long and more or less zigzag and nodes are prominent. Saccharum barberi: This species is also indigenous to north-eastern India. It is characterised by short and thin stalks, narrow leaves, low to medium sucrose content, and early maturity. This species includes 'Saretha' and 'Sunnabile' groups of sugarcane. Both the above mentioned species, indigenous to north-eastern India were in cultivation for many centuries but now-a-days canes of these species have been replaced by complex hybrid clones. In addition to the above three cultivated species there are two wild species S. spontaneum and S. robustum.
Growth Stages Germination and establishment stage: The germination phase is from planting to the completion of germination of buds. Under field conditions germination starts from 7 to 10 days and usually lasts for about 30-35 days. In sugarcane, germination denotes activation and subsequent sprouting of the vegetative bud. Optimum temperature for sprouting is around 28- 30 o C. Base temperature for germination is about 12 o C. Warm, moist soil ensures rapid germination. Under field conditions, about 60 per cent germination can be considered safe for raising a satisfactory crop. Tillering stage: Tillering starts from around 40 days after planting and may last up to 120 days. Tillering is a physiological process of repeated under ground branching from compact nodal joints of the primary shoot. Tillering provides the crop with appropriate number of stalks required for a good yield. Maximum tiller population reaches around 90-120 days after planting. By about 150-180 days, atleast 50 per cent of the shoots die and a stable population is established. Though 6-8 tillers are produced from a bud, ultimately only 1.5 to 2 tillers per bud remains to form canes. Ratoon crop gives much higher and early tillering than a plant crop. 71
Grand growth phase: Grand growth phase starts from 120 days after planting and lasts up to 270 days in a 12-month crop. During the early period of this phase tiller stabilization takes place. Out of the total tillers produced only 40-50% survives by 150 days to form millable cane. Most important phase of the crop wherein the actual cane formation and elongation and thus yield build up takes place. A temperature around 30 o C with humidity of around 80% is most conducive for good growth. Ripening and maturation phase: Ripening and maturation phase in a twelve-month crop lasts for about three months starting from 270-360 days. Sugar synthesis and rapid accumulation of sugar takes place during this phase and vegetative growth is reduced. As ripening advances, simple sugars (fructose and glucose) are converted into cane sugar (sucrose). Cane ripening proceeds from bottom to the top and hence bottom portion contains more sugars than the top portions. Ample sunshine, clear skies cool nights and warm days and dry weather are highly conducive for ripening.
Crop rotation Two year rotatons are: Maize-potato-sugarcane, Maize-sugarcane-wheat, Rice-sugarcane- wheat and Cotton-sugarcane-ratoon. Three years rotations are: Rice - sugarcane - ratoon - wheat, Cotton- sugarcane ratoon - wheat, Sugarcane - ratoon-kharif paddy-winter rice and Rice-groundnut-sorghum-ragi- sugarcane. Intercrops: Potato, chickpea, onion, garlic etc.
Climatic requirement Sugarcane cultivation requires a tropical or subtropical climate. It requires humidity of 70% for more vegetative growth. Heat, humidity and sunlight intensity play important role in sugarcane germination, tillering, vegetative growth and maturity. Sugarcane grows well in humid and hot weather. An average mean temperature of 26 to 32 o C is best suited for growth of sugarcane. Temperatures above 38 reduce the rate of photosynthesis and increase respiration. For ripening, relatively low temperatures in the range of 12 to 14 are desirable. Severe cold weather inhibits bud sprouting in ratoon crop and arrests cane growth. It needs a period of water stress for sucrose accumulation in the stems. Sugarcane in India is grown from 8 o N to 30 o N latitude covering a wide range of climatic conditions and soils. Two distinct regions of cane cultivation are recognized: the tropical and subtropical. The tropical region is south of Vindhyas and climatically best suited for sugarcane cultivation while the subtropical region, North of Vindhyas experiences extremes of temperature. Here the summer temperatures are very high and winter temperatures are very low. The cane growing season is thus restricted at both ends. The shorter the growing season the lesser the yields and lower the sugar recovery.
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Soil requirement Sugarcane does not require any specific type of soil as it can be successfully raised on diverse soil types ranging from sandy soils to clay loams and heavy clays. Sugarcane grows extremely well in medium to heavy, well drained, soils of pH 7.5 to 8.5 and high organic matter content. Water logged soils and soils with poor drainage are not suitable. Growth of sugarcane will be poor in light sandy soils.
Field preparation The successful raising of plant and subsequent ratoon crop depends, to a considerable extent, on the seed-bed provided to the plant crop. The soil should therefore be well prepared in improving tilth which contributes to good germination, stand and final yield of the crop. It is essential that preparatory tillage is done at deeper layers for better spread of roots. After the harvest of previous crop, the field is deep ploughed with a soil turning plough. All large clods are broken and leveling is done to facilitate irrigation and drainage.
Sowing time The crop must be planted according to the season as follows: Spring season (Basant kalene): Mid February to end of March. Late planting (After wheat): Upto 15th May (CoH 110, CoH 119, CoS 767, COH 35). Autumn season: End of September to first week of October.
Selection of seed Though yield of sugarcane depends upon variety, quality of good seed is an equally important criterion. Sugarcane is propagated by cuttings or section of the stalks called setts. The setts should be: i. Fresh and juicy. ii. Age should be of 9-10 months. iii. Should be free from pests and diseases. iv. Eye buds should be fully developed. v. Select sett from planted cane for seed and never from a ratoon cane. Use 2/3rd top portion of cane, being comparatively immature, has buds of good viability, and is the best portion for use as seed.
Seed treatment Dip the cane setts in 0.25% solution of Mencozeb (Dithane M 45) for 4-5 minutes. 250 liters of solution is sufficient for treating setts for one hectare area. Rubber gloves should be put on while treating the setts. The person employed for should not have any cuts or scratches on his hand.
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Spacing The crop is planted at a spacing of 60 to 75 cm between rows. But in intercropping with potato the row spacing should be kept at 90 cm. In case of winter season the crop can be intercropped with wheat and sowing of wheat should be done with the help of bed planter with three rows of wheat by applying 80 kg seed/ ha. Irrigate the furrows upto half level and this will help in better and early germination of the sugarcane.
Seed rate Before planting, the leaves of the cane-stalks are stripped off by hand to avoid damage to buds. These stalks are then cut into 1 or 2 or 3 budded setts each depending upon the method of planting. 87000 two boded setts or 58000 three buded setts which weigh about 7 to 10 t are required for planting sugarcane in one hectare area.
Method of sowing Flat planting: In this method shallow furrows are opened with a local plough or cultivator at row spacing from 60 to 75 cm depending upon the situation. There should be sufficient moisture in the field at the time of planting. The setts are planted in them . After this furrows are covered with 5-7 cm of soil and field is leveled by heavy planking. In most parts of northern India and some tracts of Maharasthra, cane is planted by this method. Spaced transplanting (STP) method with single eye sett: Recently in STP method single eye setts are used for planting. Either direct setts or seeding raised in polybag nurseries are transplanted into the field after 50-55 days. For this STP or single eyed sett method 18-20 q/ha seed is required. This method saves seed cost by 60-70%. In this method distance between two setts is kept at 30 cm. Furrow planting: In this method furrows are made with sugarcane ridger about 10-15 cm deep in northern India and about 20 cm in south India. Setts are planted end to end in furrows and covered with 5-6 cm soil, leaving upper portion of furrows unfilled. Immediately after covering the setts water is let into furrows. This method is practiced in parts of UP and in Peninsular India, particularly in heavy soils. Trench planting: In some coastal areas as well as in other areas where the crop grows very tall and strong winds during rainy season cause lodging of cane, trench method is adopted to save the crop from lodging. Trenches at a distance of 75-90 cm are dug with the help of ridger or manual labour. Trenches should be about 20-25 cm deep. After this already prepared mixture of fertilizer should be spread uniformly in the trenches and mixed thoroughly in the soil. The setts are planted end to end in the trenches. The tractor drawn sugarcane planter is a very suitable device for planting cane in trenches. Ring or Pit system: This system was evolved by Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow. In the system, circular pits of 90 cm diameter are dug out to a depth of 45 cm with a gap of 60 cm on one side and 90 cm on another side is found suitable. At this spacing irrigation channels are opened in the 90 cm gaps. At this spacing about 4000 pits can be 74
formed per hectare. The pits are re-filled with loose soil and farmyard manure or pressmud mixture to a depth of 15 cm. While planting, 20 setts are planted per pit and covered with soil to a thickness of 5 cm. As the crop grows, the soil is filled into the pits while manuring. This system has given very high yields in the subtropics. In the tropical India, about 25% higher yields were obtained. The system also gives better rations and has been found useful under saline soils and saline water irrigated conditions. The system may be useful under drip system of irrigation. In this system as the cane setts are packed closely lik spokes in rim. Mostly mother shoots develop which apparently were better than the tillers in the conventional planting. Due to suppressed tillering in the ring system from the very beginning, vigorous growth of mother shoots occurred. Due to this the thickness and height of individual canes increased resulting in higher single cane weight. Ridge and furrow method: The method is generally adopted in areas with moderate rainfall but have drainage problems. The furrows are made in v shape about 90 cm. Apart and about 20-25 cm deep. The setts are placed in horizontal position, usually in end-to-end system but if the seed stalk is not good and inter-nodes are longer eye-to-eye system of planting setts may be done. To minimize the border effects of gaps, doubling of setts is done at the ends of the furrows. As the canes start growing, the furrows are partly filled with soil and inter-row cultivation is carried out. This repeated inter-row cultivation results in leveling of the land by end of May or Mid of June which is called as first earthing. Further repetition of inter-row cultivation transforms the furrow into ridges by putting soil around the plants and inter-row space become furrow automatically, through which irrigation or drainage is provided. This transformation of furrows into ridges is called as second earthing. Wider row/Paired row plantation: To increase cane productivity and reduce the cost of production it is recommended that the sugarcane varieties having high tillering characters can be planted with a row spacing of 150 cm in case of heavy soils and 120 cm for lighter soils. The paired row plantation with 30-150-30 cm is also suited for sugarcane. These methods of planting ensure to take up intercrops in sugarcane together with higher inputs use efficiencies. Bud transplanting: Sugarcane buds with half of its stalk can be planted in small polythene sleeves, which are filled with leaf mould and soil and after they have sprouted out they can be transplanted in the final field along with the polythene bag opened at bottom. The seedling mortality has been found to about 5%. This is modified method of bud chip method where in bud chips of cane are taken out and placed in the required media for growing and then these seedling are used for planting cane.
Varieties In our country, sugarcane is being cultivated over a wide range of contrasting agro- climatic conditions and accordingly the varietal requirements also vary from location to location. To achieve this objective, All India Coordinated Research Project on sugarcane was initiated by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi during 1970-71. As a result 75
of sugarcane breeding programmes in different states a number of varieties yielding higher cane tonnage and sugar per unit area as compared to the commercially cultivated varieties have been developed. A list of such high yielding, high sugar varieties are given in Table:
State Early-ripening varieties Mid-late ripening varieties Andhra Pradesh
CoC 671, Co 6907, Co 7704, Co 8013, Co 8014, CoA 88088, CoA 89032, CoA 89085, CoA 9088, CoA 89098 Co 7219, Co 7805, Co 7706, Co 8021, CoT 8201, CoV 92101, CoV 92102 Bihar
BO 90, BO 99, BO 102, BO 120
Co 1148, CoS 767, BO 91, BO 104 BO 108, BO 109, BO 110, BO 116, BO 128 Haryana
CoH 56, CoJ 64, CoH 99, Co 7717 CoH 35, CoS 767, Co 1148, Co 1158 Karnataka
Co 419, KHS-3296, Co 6415, Co 7219, Co 7704 Co 449, Co 740, B 37172, Co 62175 Maharashtra
Co 419, Co 7219
Co 678, Co 740, Co 62175, CoM 7125, Co 7527 Punjab
CoJ 64, CoJ 83, CoJ 86, CoP 211 CoJ 79, CoJ 84, CoJ 83, CoS 767, Co 1148, CoS 8436 Tamil Nadu
CoJ 64, CoS 687, CoS 8436, CoS 88230, CoS 90265, CoS 92254, CoS 95255, CoS 96258, CoS 96268, CoS 98231, CoS 98247 CoS8432,CoP 84212, CoS 88216,CoS 92423, CoS 93278, CoS 94257, CoS 94270, CoS 95222, CoS 97264, UP 9529, UP 9530, CoS 94636
Varieties recommended for Haryana State are as follows Early maturing varieties CoJ 64: It is early maturing variety. Its sugar content is 18-20%. Germination of this variety is very good and it is good for ratoon crop but it is susceptible to moisture stress condition. For getting higher yield water must be ensured and it should be kept free from insect and pests. It is susceptible to top and stem borer. Its average yield is 500q/ha. CoH 56: It is early maturing variety. Its sugar content is 18%. The cane is medium bold with wider and light green leaves. It is resistant to lodging and has good tillering capacity. It is susceptible to top and stem borer. CoH 92: It is early maturing variety. Its sugar content is 18-20%.Its germination is good but tillering is poor.The canes are bold, solid and tall growing. For getting good yields it is necessary to control root borer. Its average yield is 625q/ha. It is recommended for cultivation in whole Haryana. 76
Medium maturing varieties Co 7717: It is an medium early maturing variety which ripens by the end of November. Sucrose content about 17%. A good tillering variety with excellent stand, good ratooner, erect growing and non-lodging, responds well to heavy manuring, resistant to drought, cane yield and sugar content fairly high. It gives about 800 q of stripped cane per hectare. It is moderately resistant to smut, resistant to top borer, shoot borer and root borer but moderately susceptible to red rot. Suitable for cultivation in whole Haryana. CoH 99: It is a medium-early maturing variety which ripens in the 2 nd fortnight of November. Sucrose content about 17.5%. It is resistant to drought and waterlogging. It gives about 700 q of stripped cane per hectare. It is resistant to diseases and insects. Suitable for cultivation in whole Haryana. CoS 8436: It is medium maturing variety. Its canes are short, bold, solid, broad leaves and small internodes. Sucrose content is 16-18%. It is not recommended for late planting (after wheat harvesting). Its average yield is 700 q/ha. CoH 119: It is a medium-early maturing variety. Its canes are bold and solid. It is recommended for sowing in spring season. Its ratoon is good and non-lodging variety. It is resistant to red rot and recommended for cultivation in whole Haryana. It gives an average yield of 800 q/ha. Late maturing varieties Co 1148: It matures in the end of January. It is slow growing, high tillering, solid canes and high yielding variety. It is good for rationing. It can tolerate frost condition. It is sensitive to top borer, stem borer and red rot. Its average yield is 800 q/ha. Sucrose content is 17-19%. CoS 767: It matures in the month of December. It is high tillering, non lodging and high yielding variety. It is good for rationing. It can tolerate frost, drought and waterlogging condition. It is resistant to diseases and insects. Its average yield is 750 q/ha. Sucrose content is 16-18%. CoS 110: It is late maturing. It is fast growing, tall, solid canes and high yielding variety. It is good for rationing. It can tolerate frost condition. This variety is recommended for cultivation in low fertility and limited water conditions. It is fast growing hence recommended for cultivation in summer and spring seasons. It is resistant to red rot. Its average yield is 800 q/ha.
Fertilizer management Nutrient (kg/ha) Crop N P 2 O 5 K 2 O Time and method of application Plant crop (Basant / spring) 150 50 50 Drill all P, K 2 O and 1/3 N at sowing, 1/3 with second irrigation and 1/3 with fourth irrigation. Ratoon crop 225 50 50 Broadcast 1/3 N and full P 2 O 5 and K 2 O in Feb. with first interculture, 1/3 N each in April and June Autumn planting 150 50 50 For intercrop, apply the recommended dose of fertilizer. For sugarcane crop, apply full dose of K 2 O, P 2 O 5 and 50 kg N/ha at planting time, 50 kg N/ha after harvesting of intercrop and the final dose in the month second fortnight of June or with the start of monsoon. 77
If sugarcane is planted after harvest of wheat than apply full dose of P 2 O 5 and 75 kg N/ha at planting time and 75 kg N/ha in the end of June or with the start of monsoon. If sugarcane is sown in the sandy loam than it is necessary to apply 25 kg ZnSO 4 /ha at the time of planting.
Irrigation management First irrigation should be done after 5-6 weeks after sowing. Irrigate the crop at 10 days interval before monsoon and 25 days interval after monsoon. CoJ 64 requires limited irrigation. Co 1148 and CoS 767 can tolerate water stress condition upto some extent.
Weed management Most common weeds of sugarcane in India are: Sorghum halepense, Cyperus rotundus, Cynodon dactylon, Digitaria sanguinallis, Eleusine indica, Saccharum spontaneum, Trianthema monogyna, Euphorbia hirta, Eclipta alba, Commelina benghalensis, Digera arvensis, Phyllanthus nirui, etc. The most critical period for the weed competition in sugarcane is up to 4 months after sowing beyond which the crop smoothers the weed flora by itself. Blind hoeing followed by planking 7-10 days after sowing takes care of emerging weeds. Two hoeing 30 and 60 DAS followed by interculture with country plough between the rows at 90 DAS helps to eliminate crop weed competition in sugarcane. Trash mulching in ratoon crop checks the emergence of weeds in addition to moisture conservation. Pre-emergence (2-3 DAS) application of Simazine @ 4 kg/ha or Atrazine @ 2.5 kg/ha or Sencor @ 1.5-2.0 kg/ha by mixing in 625-700 L water can provide effective control of several grass and broad leaf weeds. For the control of Cyperus and Ipomoea spp., spray 1.0-1.25 kg/ha of 2,4-D ester or amine, Almix @ 20 g/ha or 2,4-D Sodium salt @ 2.5 kg/ha in 500-625 L water at 30 and 60 DAS.
Earthing up Hilling the clumps in stages is required to provide habitat to the shoot roots and sufficient height of the soil thus achieved suppress the formation of late shoots. The earthing up results in formation of furrows which helps in drainage of excess water during rains. Earthing up is done at maximum tillering stage. Light earthing in the month of May and heavy earthing in the end of June, prior to the break of monsoon, should be done. Propping up This should be carried out in the month of August and September, so as to prevent lodging of crop.
Disease management Red Rot (Colletotrichum falcatum): The initial symptoms appear as drying of the lower leaves at the tips and margin. In few days whole crown dries and cane shows red to purplish discoloration. Longitudinal splitting of the diseased cane shows the characteristic reddening 78
of internal tissues interrupted by white transverse patches. The affected tissues emit a characteristic alcoholic smell. Whip Smut (Ustilago scitaminea): This disease is recognized by the production of black whip like structure at the apex of the affected stalk which is initially covered by a white silvery membrane. As the whip matures, silvery membrane ruptures exposing millions of black spores. Smutted shoots do not produce millable canes. Wilt (Cephalosporium sacchari, Fusarium moniliforme): This disease is characterized by yellowing/withering of crown leaves late in the season followed by rapid drying of canes. The cane becomes light and hollow and on splitting shows reddening as a conical patch at each node. The affected canes emit a characteristic sour smell different from alcoholic smell as in case of red rot. Ratoon Stunting (Leifsonia xyli sub sp. xyli): Ratoon stunting disease does not show any specific external symptoms. The stalks become thin and internodes are shortened. Later on the foliage turns yellow and plant gives a stunted look. In mature canes discoloration of individual vascular bundles is prominent at the nodes. In young canes, the symptoms appear as pinkish discoloration of the tissues below the apical meristem. Grassy Shoot Disease (Phytoplasma): The appearance of premature and profuse tillers with narrow leaves are the symptoms of disease. Later on, side shoots develop from the bottom of the stalk and proceed towards the top. After some time softening of leaf texture takes place which gives grass like appearance to the clump. There is overall stunting of clump. The affected stubbles may not sprout. Sugarcane Mosaic (Sugarcane Mosaic Virus): The prominent symptom is the mottling of basal portion of younger leaves. Alternate chlorotic and green areas on the leaves contribute to mosaic appearance which can best be observed on leaves held against light source.The virus is transmitted through the diseased sugarcane setts. Secondary spread of the disease takes place with the help of aphids which transmit the virus in a non-persistent manner. Integrated Disease management 1. Use of resistant varieties Red Rot: CoS 767, CoH 119, CoH 110 Smut: CoH 99, CoH 92, CoH 56 Wilt: CoS 8436, CoH 99, Co 7717 GSD: CoH 99, CoS 8436 2. Cultural practices a) Select healthy seed as primary inoculum of major diseases of sugarcane is transmitted through diseased setts. b) Crop debris, trash and stubbles should be burnt after harvesting of crop. c) Rouging of smut and red rot affected stools during the early period of plant growth. It is helpful in checking the secondary spread of the disease. d) Avoid ratooning of crops having high incidence of smut, red rot and grassy shoot disease. 79
e) Follow at least three years crop rotation for eliminating the soil borne inoculums of red rot and wilt diseases, respectively. f) Early harvesting and effective drainage are useful in minimizing the losses due to red rot. 3. Chemical treatment a) Sett treatment with 0.25% Emisan for 6 minutes for controlling smut infection in setts. b) Application of suitable insecticide during post monsoon season for the control of root orer which will in turn reduce the wilt incidence under field conditions. 4. Heat therapy Moist hot air treatment (MHAT) at 54 o C for 2 hours at RH > 95% is most effective against GSD, RSD and external sett borne infection of smut and red rot pathogens.
Insect management Termite: Immediately after planting the insect feed on the buds or after sprouting feed on the young tillers thereby causing drying of the tillers and reduce the plant population. Immediately after planting the setts ,spray 6.25 liter chloropyriphos 20 EC or 20 kg Canodane 6 G in 600 1000 liter water/ha. Pyrilla: Nymphs and adults both suck the cell-sap from the underside of the leaves. The damaged leaves turn yellow and shrivel later on. During heavy infestation drying of whole plant may occur. They excrete honey dew on which black mould develops and the leaves give sickly black appearance. Black bug: Both the nymphs and adults suck cell-sap from the central whorl. The damaged leaves turn yellow and the small holes of feeding can be seen. Sugarcane whitefly: Both the nymphs and adults suck cell-sap from the leaves. Yellow streaks appear on the damaged leaves and the crop gives palish green appearance. A black mould develops on honeydew extracted by the whiteflies. Spray 2 liter of malathion or 1.5 litre of rogor in 1000 liter of water. Sugarcane top borer: Young leave bore into the mid rib of a leaf, mining their way to the base. They enter the spindle, feed on the growing point and portion of the cane causing the bunchy top. Apply 20 kg/ha of Phorat 10 G (Thimat) Sugarcane shoot borer: The leaves reach the plant base, bore into the shoot and feed there. The attached plants produce dead hearts which emits alcoholic smell when pulled out. Stalk borer: The larvae feed on the leaf sheath or on mid rib for sometimes and then bore into stalk by making circular holes in the rind. Dead hearts are also produced in young plants. The larvae bore into one internode after another and move from one plant to another infesting upto 90% canes in the field. Lodged or waterlogged fields are more severely infested. Root borer: The young larvae bore into the stem below soil surface and cut right across the stem reaching the adjoining tillers. The central leaves of damaged plants dry up and form dead hearts before the cane forming stage. Apply 20 kg/ha of Quinalphos 5 G before irrigation. 80
Gurdaspur borer: Four to five hours after hatching the young larvae enter the top portion of the cane through a single hole just above a node. They feed gregariously by making spiral galleries which run upwards. After 7-10 days, when the cane had dried up, the larvae come out and the larvae enter the adjoining cane. Thus, the dried cane tops can be spotted in the field. Sugarcane mealy bug: Both nymphs and adults are found in the canes having tight fitted sheaths. They drain away large quantity of sap from the canes. A sooty mould develops on the secretions giving blackish appearance to the canes. Mottling diseases is also transmitted by these bugs. Tarai borer: During rainy season larva enters in the cane and feed in the form of tunnels and the feeding portion becomes red in colour. Irrigation and high nitrogen application increase the susceptibility. Release Tricoderma predator @50000/ha at 10 days interval from mid July to October. Tricoderma is available from Sonepat Sugar Mill.
Ratoon management Although sugarcane productivity has shown the increasing trend, a wide gap exists between potential and existing productivity levels. Ratooning constitutes around 50% of the total area under cane and ratoon productivity invariably falls below that of the plant cane, even though ratoon crops are expected to have higher productivity and early maturity than the plant crop. Several countries like Mauritius, Hawaii, USA, South America, etc., rise multiple rations, thereby saving on the cost of the seed material, labor involved in planting and attaining much higher profitability per unit area compared to India, where we generally do not grow beyond one or two ratoons. Following points should be followed for higher ratoon productivity: Selection of sugarcane varieties which can give fair or better ratoon yield The crop should be timely harvested close to the ground. The left over of plants viz. dry leaves or cane trashes should be partially removed and make stubble shaving at ground level. If the preceding crop is infected with severe pest, diseases and weeds then burn the field soon after harvesting. Burning evolves heat, which converts sucrose of stubbles into glucose for a quick sprouting of tillers during winter. After stubble removal and burning of trashes the field should be given irrigation and then inter cultivation by plough for providing better aeration to roots, for making soil loose and root pruning. This helps in a quick root production and sprouting of ratoons. This is termed as off-barring. The gaps in the ratoon crop should be attended. o With pre-germinated settling raised through polybag system o Taking the clumps from thickly populated area and filling the gaps o Removing the clumps from one side of the plots and the place vacated in the process may be replanted fresh. 81
When all the above-mentioned operations are over the field should be given irrigation according to the crop needs. Trash mulching helps to check the weeds, reduce water requirement and as organic manure for soil. The crop should be provided an efficient drainage for draining out excess water from the field. The weed control, earthing up, hoeing and plant protection measures should be followed as they are done in the planted crop.
Relative merits and demerits of ratooning Merits Cost of seed, seed bed preparation and planting is saved. Ratoon crop utilizes the residual fertility of the previous crop. Ratoon crop matures earlier and helps in running sugar mills earlier. Thus the field is vacated earlier for the next crop. The quality of the produce is superior to planted cane. Total cost of cultivation is less as compared to the planted one. The yield remains equal or higher than the planted crop if proper management is done. Demerits Ratoon crop is invariably attacked severely by insects, pests and diseases. Thus the yield is lower than planted crop. The soil becomes poor in fertility when ratooning is done for more than two years.
Quality Parameters Important sugarcane quality parameters for assessing cane maturity are the juice Brix, pol or sucrose percentage and purity. Juice Brix: Juice Brix refers to the total solids content present in the juice expressed in percentage. Brix includes sugars as well as non-sugars. Brix can be measured in the field itself in the standing cane crop using a Hand Refractometer. This is usually referred as a Hand Refractometer Brix or HR Brix. Juice Sucrose or Pol Per Cent: The juice sucrose per cent is the actual cane sugar present in the juice. It is determined by using a polarimeter, hence sucrose per cent is also referred to as pol per cent. For all practical purposes pol % and sucrose % are synonyms. Now a days an instrument called sucrolyser is also available for determining sucrose % in juice. Purity Coefficient: It refers to the percentage of sucrose present in the total solids content in the juice. A higher purity indicates the presence of higher sucrose content out of the total solids present in juice. The purity percentage along with sucrose percent aids in determining maturity time. 82
Purity Percentage = (Sucrose %/HR Brix)100 A cane crop is considered fit for harvesting if it has attained a minimum of 16% sucrose and 85% purity. Commercial Cane Sugar: The commercial cane sugar (CCS) refers to the total recoverable sugar percent in the cane. This could be calculated by the following formula:
CCS (tons/ha) = [Yield (tons/ha) x Sugar Recovery (%)] /100 Sugar Recovery (%) = [S - 0.4 (B - S)] x 0.73 Where, S= Sucrose % in juice and B= Corrected Brix (%) 83
84
TOBACCO
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) also known as Tambaku belongs to Solanaceae is one of the most economically significant agricultural crops in the world. It is a drought tolerant, hardy and short duration crop which can be grown on soils where other crops cannot be cultivated. The genus is named in honor of Jean Nicot, who in 1561 was the first to present tobacco to the French royal court. Tobacco is the only commercial non food crop that enters the world trade as a leaf. It is priced for aroma, taste and flavor. It is important commercial crop in view of revenue generation, export earning and employment potential. It is aptly called as the golden leaf of India. Most of the effects of nicotine on the central nervous system are due to the direct action on brain receptors. At very low doses, similar to those seen during cigarette smoking, the cardiovascular effects appear to be mediated by the central nervous system. The net result is an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. At higher doses, nicotine may act directly on the peripheral nervous system. At extremely high doses, nicotine produces hypotension and slowing of the heart rate. Tobacco has a long history of use by medical herbalists as a relaxant. Wet tobacco leaves are applied externally in the treatment of rheumatic swelling, skin diseases and stings, as the active ingredients can be absorbed through the skin. They are also a certain cure for painful piles. A homeopathic remedy made from the dried leaves is used in the treatment of nausea and travel sickness. Some other activities reported for Nicotiana tabacum are: Analgesic activity, anesthetic activity, angiogenesis inhibition, antibacterial activity, anti convulsant activities, anti estrogenic effect, antifungal activity, antiglaucomic activity, antioxidant activity, antistress effect, antiviral activity, carcinogenic activity. All parts of the plant contain nicotine, which can be extracted and used as an insecticide. The dried leaves can also be used; they remain effective for 6 months after drying. The juice of the leaves can be rubbed on the body as an insect repellent. The leaves can be dried and chewed as an intoxicant. The dried leaves are also used as snuff or are smoked. This is the main species that is used to make cigarettes, cigars, and other smokable tobacco preparations.
Origin The Primary center of origin of Nicotiana tabacum is South America and that of Nicotiana rustica is Peru. Tobacco is said to have been introduced in India by the Portuguese in the early seventeenth century AD.
Area, Production and Productivity India occupies third place in area and production after China and Brazil, accounting for 10% of world's area and 9% of tobacco production. India is one of the leading exporters of tobacco, occupying fifth place in overall exports of tobacco after Brazil, USA, China and Malawi. The country accounts for about 6 % by volume and 0.7% by value of the world 85
tobacco import/export trade. In the case of FCV tobacco, its share is about 4.6% and burley tobacco exports account for 2.6%. The bulk of tobacco exports (70-85%) continue to be FCV only. The major importers of Indian FCV tobacco are UK, Germany, Belgium and the erstwhile USSR, accounting for more than 60% of our exports. In India, it is cultivated in an area of 0.40 million ha (0.27% of the net cultivated area) producing about 700 million kg of tobacco. The production of Flue-cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco is about 270 million kg from an area of 0.20 million ha. India produces almost all types of tobacco. FCV and burley tobacco are the main exportable types earning Rs 1,713 crores as foreign exchange and about Rs 9,100 crores as excise revenue to the country, besides providing employment to 36 million people including six million farmers. The major tobacco growing states in India are Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Bihar. Andhra Pradesh alone account for 50% production followed by 22% by Uttar Pradesh and 11% by Gujrat. The highest productivity 5863 kg/ha is in UP with all India average of 1592 kg/ha during 2008-09.
Classification The genus Nicotiana is represented by about 60 recognised species but Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana rustica are cultivated extensively. India grows both the species, but the largest area is under N. tabacum. Since N. rustica requires cooler climate, its cultivation is confined mainly to the northern and north-eastern areas of the country, i.e., U.P., West Bengal, Bihar and Assam.
Sr. no. Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana rustica 1. Known as desi types have tall plants with broad leaves and have usually pink flowers. Known as `vilayati' and `calcuttia' are characterised by short plants with round puckered leaf and yellow flowers. 2. Specific varieties in N. tabacum have been developed for cigarette, cigar and cheroot, bidi, hookah and snuff tobaccos. The varieties developed in N. rustica are used for only chewing, hookah and snuff tobaccos. 3. The average weight of the seed is 0.08 to 0.09 mg and there are 11,000 - 12,000 seeds per gram. The seed is larger and about three times heavier. 4. Sessile, ovate or oblong-lanceolate shaped leaves are most common. The leaves are usually petiolate and of regular ovate with a dark green surface. 5. Plant is semi-xerophytic to mesophytic. Plant is a mesophyte. 6. The nicotine content of the leaves ranges from 0.5 to 5.5 per cent. The nicotine content of the leaves varies from 3.5 to 8.0 per cent. 7. Leaf base can either be sessile or petiolate. Leaves are always petiolate, with 4 to 9 centimeter long leaf stalk. 8. The texture of leaves is finer. The texture of leaves is leathery and tough. 9. The leaf shape ranges from broad ovate to linear or lanceolate. The shape of leaf can be orbicular or ovate. 10. The flowers are usually pinkish. The flowers are greenish white or yellow.
86
Type of Tobacco With its rich agro-climatic diversity, India has the unique position of growing all types of tobacco which are broadly classified as: 1. FCV Tobacco Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka 2. Bidi Tobacco Gujarat and Nipani area of Karnataka 3. Cigar and Cheroot Tamil Nadu and West Bengal 4. Hookah Tobacco Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and UP 5. Chewing and Snuff Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and UP 6. Natu, Burley, Lanka Andhra Pradesh 7. Pikka Tobacco Orissa Climatic requirement Tobacco is tropical in origin, but it is grown successfully under tropical, sub-tropical and temperate climates. Normally it requires about 100 to 120 days, frost-free climate. In India, tobacco is grown under a very wide range of conditions from the coast-line to an altitude of 3,000 feet. In the South, the crop is raised in winter from October to March when the temperatures are moderate, but in Punjab it is grown as an early summer crop. In the eastern and western parts of the country it is grown between September and January. Conditions required for successful production of high quality leaf are liberal and well- distributed rainfall during active vegetative growth stage, long day lengths, a mean temperature of 26 o C during growing season and a high relative humidity of 70-80%.
Soil requirement Well drained and properly aerated soils are best for tobacco cultivation. The desirable soil pH is 5.0 to 6.0. But, in many parts cultivation is successful where the pH is 8 or more. In India, cigar, hookah, chewing and bidi tobaccos are grown on sandy loam to clay loams. A notable exception to the general rule regarding soil requirements is found in the case of cigarette tobacco. This tobacco is grown in India as a dry crop on heavy black soils which normally have poor drainage. In spite of unfavourable soil conditions it has been possible to raise cigarette tobacco. Very high clay contents in these soils are able to hold enough moisture to sustain a fair crop and the humidity during the curing period is quite high and this makes the handling of crop easy.
Crop rotation Growing tobacco in the same field repeatedly increase the reoccurrence of Orobanche infestation in the tobacco crop. Therefore to control this perennial weed it is advisable to follow a suitable crop rotation which differs from area to area. Important crop rotations are: Tobacco-Chilli, Onion-Tobacco, Tobacco-Jowar/Bajra/Ragi, Tobacco-Red gram, Cotton- Tobacco, Rice-Tobacco, Sorghum-Tobacco, Black gram-Tobacco, Green gram-Tobacco, Jute-Tobacco, Pearl millet-Tobacco, Sunhemp (Green Manuring)-Potato-Tobacco, Maize- Tobacco-Maize, Maize-Tobacco(Winter)-Potato/wheat-Tobacco (Summer), Maize-potato- Tobacco. 87
Field preparation A clean and well pulverized seed bed of good tilth is needed for transplanting of tobacco seedlings. Field should be well prepared first by deep ploughing with mould-board plough followed by 3 to 4 cross harrowing. Each harrowing should be followed by planking. Care should be taken to see that weeds, stubbles, etc. are well removed from field.
Sowing time of seed in nursery Sowing time State Type of Tobacco July-October April-May May-June April-May June-July September December Aug-September Andhra Pardesh Karnataka Gujrat Tamilnadu UP UP UP Bihar Cigarette, Cheroot, Bidi, Chewing and Sigar Cigarette, Cheroot, Bidi, Chewing and Sigar Bidi Snuff, Cheroot, Chewing, Wrapper Chewing Chewing Hookah Hookah & Chewing
Seed rate A seed-rate of 3 kg/ha for Nicotiana tabacum and 6 kg/ha for Nicotiana rustica is optimum.
Nursery management The emerging seedlings are tiny and delicate and therefore, the seeds are unsuitable for sowing directly in the field. Hence they are sown in small areas called nurseries or seed beds and tended carefully till the seedlings attain six leaves size before transplanting in the main field. Nursery on raised beds with intervening channels helps in quick drainage of rain water. The beds are 1.0 m to 1.22 m wide to facilitate hand-weeding and watering with rose cans. The beds can be of any convenient length along the slope but generally not more than 10 m. The channels are to be half metre wide and 10 cm deep. Mixing of sand at 100 to 200 tonnes/ha in the preparation of the beds, helps in improving the drainage in heavy soils. Application of FYM @ 25 tonnes/ha by mixing well in the top layers at least 20 days before sowing was found to be beneficial in obtaining more number of transplantable seedlings. Basal application of 50 kg of ammonium sulphate, 50 kg of potassium sulphate and 300 kg of superphosphate and 100 kg of dolomite per hectare bed is recommended. After germination of seed top dressing of ammonium sulphate twice at 4 days interval @ 25 kg/ha and thereafter thrice at 4 days interval @ 50 kg/ha and twice potassium sulphate @ 25 kg/ha is recommended. After each pulling top dressing with ammonium sulphate @ 100 kg/ha is to be given to boost the growth of the remaining seedlings. Mulches over seed 88
beds have been found very beneficial as they conserve moisture during germination and later protect the tender seedlings from strong sunlight and beating rains. Normally, the seedlings are ready for planting at the end of 7th week and in the first picking 30 to 40% of the total seedlings will be available.
Transplanting of seedlings When the seedlings attain their required age, i.e., 7 to 9 weeks in case of tabacum and 5 to 6 weeks in case of rustica, they become fit for transplanting. The nursery beds should be given light irrigation about 7 to 8 hours before uprooting the seedlings to reduce roots damage during uprooting. If possible, the transplanting should be done in the evening and the field should be given a light irrigation for quick establishment of seedlings. The field should be watered after every 3-4 days so that the seedlings do not desiccate in the sun. The gaps created because of death of seedlings or because of their non-establishment should be filled 8-10 days after transplanting by planting freshly uprooted seedlings.
Time of transplanting and spacing of tobacco seedlings for different types Types Time of Transplanting Spacing in cm Row to row Plant to plant Flue-cured Virginia and Natu of black soil (Andhra Pradesh) Mid. October 80 80 Flue-cured Virginia of light soils (A.P.) Mid. October 100 60 Cigars and cheroot in Tamil Nadu October (1st week) 75 50 Chewing in Tamil Nadu October (1st week) 75 75 Bidi in Gujarat October (1st Week) 75 75 Bidi in Kamataka Mid. October 105 45 Chewing in Bihar Sept. 3rd week 90 60 N. rustica in W. Bengal Sept. 3rd week 60 45 N. tabacum in W. Bengal October (1st week) 90 90 N. rustica Oct-Nov. for winter crop 45 45 N. tabacum Feb.-March for summer crop 50 45
Method of transplanting General method: After seedlings are uprooted from the nursery beds they become ready for transplanting. While planting, a shallow hole of 2.5 cm depth is made with finger at each planting position which is marked by a marker with desired spacing both ways after soil surface is completely levelled. One seedling is placed at each place and the soil is pressed all- round the seedling to provide a firm foot-hold for the plant. Gaps are filled within 10 days of planting. 89
Furrow method: This is resorted to when the weather remains dry during the normal season for transplanting. In this method the markings in the prepared field are made in only one direction at first and shallow furrows called Salia are opened at desired spacing with country plough. A wooden plough is then lightly moved over the furrows and the cross markings are made with the marker. Before planting, water is let in the furrow and a seedling is set out at every crossing along the side of the furrows. Flat ridge or Ghora method: In parts of Baroda district where tobacco is transplanted in heavier soils, this method is adopted. In this method furrows are made with three tined seed- drill or a wooden plough followed by planking. Cross marking is then carried out with a marker. The furrows are then irrigated and the seedlings are transplanted on alternate ridges on each crossing.
Varieties Improved Tobacco Varieties Recommended for Different Areas and their Salient Features Type of Tabacco Variety Area of adoption and salient features Cured leaf Yield(q/ha) Flue-Cured Virginia tobacco-1158 Gauthami Bhavya
Jayasri (MR)
Hema Swarna
Godavari special CTRI Special Dhanadayi Kanakprabha Black soils of Andhra Pradesh. It is resistant to tobacco mosaic virus. Black soils and southern light soils of Andhra Pradesh. In Karnataka light soils. It is resistant to black shank and tolerant to root knot nematode. Black soils and southern light soils of Andhra Pradesh. It is resistant to tobacco mosaic virus. Black soils of Andhra Pradesh. Karnataka light soils. It is resistant to powdery mildew. Black and southern light soils of Andhra Pradesh tobacco mosaic virus. Black soils of Andhra Pradesh Black soils of Andhra Pradesh Black soils of Andhra Pradesh 20
20 20
15
15.5 14.5
15
13.5 15 15 Bidi Tobacco GTH-1 GT-7 GT-5
GT-4 Anand-119 Anand-23 Anand-3 Anand-2 Gujarat, tolerant to root knot nematode. High yielding. Rainfed areas of Gujarat. It is drought tolerant. Gujarat. It is tolerant to root knot and contains high nicotine. Gujarat. It is drought tolerant. Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Gujarat. It is tolerant to leafburn disease. Gujarat. Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. 36 25 33
26 26 25 25 25.5 90
Fertilizer management In tobacco crop it is a well known fact that economic returns are largely dependent on the right combination of a yield and quality rather than on the yield alone. Heavy manuring with nitrogen increases the yield, but has an adverse effect on the quality. It is observed that in chewing, bidi and hookah tobaccos better quality is generally associated with higher yields that may be obtained with heavy manuring of nitrogen with other nutrients. But in flue-cured tobaccos for cigar, cigarette etc., better quality leaves are obtained from partially starved plants. Phosphorous requirement of tobacco is comparatively low. Potash is an important element, particularly for smoking tobacco. A liberal supply imparts a good burning capacity or combustibility to smoking tobaccos. Besides, potash also improves the physical qualities of the leaf e.g. elasticity, and low prominence of veins. Natu Tobacco Natu Special Vishwanath Prabhat Suitable for Cigaratte natu areas of Andhra Pradesh. Suitable for Cigaratte natu areas of Andhra Pradesh. Suitable for natu areas of Andhra Pradesh. It is resistant to tobacco mosaic virus. 16 24 15 Cherut Tobacco DR-1
Bhavani special Lanka Special Suitable for east Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. It has strong pungent and aromatic quality. Bhavani areas of Coimbator district of Tamil Nadu. East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. 26
28 27 Cigar Wrapper Tobacco Cigarfiller Tobacco
S-5
Krishna Banket A-1
Cigar-Wraper tobacco areas of West Bengal
Cigar filler areas of Tamil Nadu. East Godavari, Visakapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. It is resistant to tobacco mosaic virus. 14.5
22.5 18 Rustica Tobacco (Hookah and snuff) GCT-2 GC-1 Sonar Motihari DD-437 NP-70 DD-416 Rustica areas of middle Gujarat. Gujarat. Motihari areas of West Bengal. West Bengal. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Muzaffarpur and Durbhanga district of Bihar. 35 26 17 18 16 15 Chewing Tobacco Vaishali Special Meenakshi GT-6 Maragadham Bhagya laxmi Thangam Sona Bihar.
Sun cured area of Tamil Nadu. Gujarat. Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu. Bihar. 27
40 27 30 35 32 31 91
Types of Tobacco Manures ( Tons/ha) Fertilizers( kg/ha) N: P: K Flue cured (Black soils) 7.5 FYM 20-30 : 50 : 30-50 Flue cured (Light soils) 6-12 FYM 40 : 60 : 60 + 15 MgO, N and K in two splits Burly (Light soils) 10 FYM 60 : 40: 40, N in 3 splits and K in two splits Burly (Black soils) 15 FYM 40: 15-50 : 10-25 Natu (Rainfed) 40 kg N/ha as ground nut cake 40: 0:0 Cheroot Sheep pennings or 5-10 FYM 50: 50: 100, N in to 2 splits at 45 and 60 Days Cigar Filler 25 FYM 75: 50: 100, N in to 2 splits at 45 and 60 DAS Cigar Wrapper 15 FYM 125 : 112 :224 Chewing 45 FYM 112-168:0:0 Hookah and Chewing 20 FYM 112:112:0
Irrigation management It has been observed that tobacco can not tolerate water logging at any stage of growth but at the same time the plants may not withstand drought also. Therefore, a compromising situation would be to give light and frequent irrigations to the crop. However, the interval and number of irrigations depends upon soil type, weather, and type of tobacco to be grown. The field should be irrigated when the soil moisture falls about 20 per cent field capacity because higher soil moisture reduces the leaf quality. Usually hard water (saline) from wells is found to give better results but it must not have more than 50 ppm of chloride, otherwise the leaves get burnt while growing and they have poor burning quality. The flue-cured Virginia tobacco grown on black cotton soils is very rarely irrigated whereas the one grown on light soils is given 5 to 7 irrigations. The cigar, cheroot and chewing tobacco in Tamil Nadu and chewing tobacco in Bihar are normally irrigated and about 15 to 18 irrgations are given. The Bidi tobacco in Karnataka, Maharashtra and the hookah and chewing tobaccos of West Bengal are grown rainfed but under drought one or two irrigations are desirable for production of better crop. The hookah and chewing tobaccos grown in U.P. are irrigated and generally 12 to 15 irrigations are given.
Weed management Broomrape (Orobanche): Orobanche cernua is a complete root parasite affecting the yield and quality of tobacco. The shoots emerge in clusters and their basal portion is attached to tobacco roots through which it draws nourishment and depletes the host resulting in yield loss of 24 to 52%. Affected plants become stunted, leaves turn pale and wilt. Initially leaf tips droop and as the attack intensifies, all the leaves wilt. High soil moisture due to irrigation or 92
rain after planting, low soil temperature during winter months encourage heavy incidence of Orobanche. Deep ploughing twice or thrice in summer buries Orobanche seed to deeper depth and there by helps in reducing the emergence of Orobanche. In Orobanche sick fields, growing tobacco for one or two seasons is to be skipped off. Avoiding growing of brinjal, tomato and bhindi crops in the sick fields. Periodical removal of Orobanche shoots before flowering and setting of seeds reduces the menace. The Orobanche shoots should be destroyed by burning. Growing trap crops such as jowar, blackgram and green gram in kharif facilitates Orobanche germination but will not allow it to grow. This reduces the Orobanche seed load in the soil. Cutting the Orobanche shoots within 3-4 days after emergence out of the soil, before flowering of Orobanche either upto the soil level or 2-3 cm below the soil level effectively controls Orobanche. For other weeds two interculture operations at 20 and 45 DAT gives good weed control in tobacco.
Toping: Topping consists in removal of the terminal bud with or without some of the small top leaves just before or after the emergence of flower head in case of tobacco. Desuckering: Removing of suckers or lateral branches by hand before they become large enough to retard the development of leaves in tobacco.
Disease management Damping off (Pythium Aphanidermatum): This is a fungal disease caused by the soil borne pathogen. It is the most common and serious disease in tobacco nurseries causing death of seedlings. Conspicuous symptom of this disease is the sudden collapse of young seedlings in patches leading to uneven stand. High humidity, high soil moisture, cloudiness, temperature below 24 o C, continuous wet weather, location of nursery in low lying areas are the favourable factors for high incidence of damping off disease. Deep ploughing in summer destroys the fungus. Bordeaux mixture @ 0.4% (40 gm of copper sulphate + 40 gm of lime in 10 litres of water) Blitox @ 0.2% (20 gm in 10 litres of water) is to be applied with rose can 2 weeks after sowing. Black shank and leaf blight (Phytophthora parasitica var. nicotianae): This is a soil borne disease. It frequently occurs during mid nursery period causing leaf blight and blackening of roots and stems leading to death of seedlings. Water soaked brown to black lesions appear on the leaf. These patches enlarge and coalesce leading to wet rot of leaf tissue and midribs. Cloudy weather, prolonged dampness and temperature below 22 o C are the favourable factors for sudden outbreak of this disease. Spraying Fytolan or Foltaf or Blitox @ 0.2% concentration when the seedlings are 50-60 days old controls leaf blight. Collar rot (Sclerotium rolfsii): Just like damping off, sudden death of seedlings in patches is noticed in seed beds. Blackening of the collar region, wilting and rotting of leaves are the symptoms. Spraying 0.4% Bordeaux mixture or 0.2% Ziram or 0.2% Blitox, 3 weeks after seed germination. This is to be sprayed twice or thrice at weekly intervals depending upon weather conditions. 93
Anthracnose (Colletotrichum tabacum): Small, light green to white water soaked lesions develop on young leaves. These lesions enlarge in wet weather to form oily, circular spots of 3 mm diameter. The spots dry up, become papery, thin, grey white surrounded by brown border. Affected leaves become wrinkled and distorted. Elongated, black or brown lesions on the midrib and petiole are seen in severe cases. Optimum temperature for the occurrence of this disease is 18 o C. High relative humidity, reduced light and overcast weather are favourable for the outbreak of this disease. Frog-eye spot (Cercospora nicotianae): Generally this disease is seen 4-5 weeks after germination. Brown, round spots resembling frog eye form appear on the lower leaves of the seedlings. In severe cases coalesce to become bigger spots leading to drying up of leaves. Frequent waterings and wet weather leading to high humidity and temperature around 27 o C are favourable for the development of the disease. Spraying with Carbendazim 50% (Bavistin, Dhanustin, Jekestin 50 W.P. etc.) 3 gm in 10 litres of water at 30 days and 40 days after germination controls this disease. Tobacco Mosaic Virus (Mormor tabaci): This is a contagious disease caused by virus. The infested leaves show characteristic mottling with light and dark green patches and seedlings are stunted. Diseased seedlings should be removed and destroyed.
Insect management Before sowing seed beds, Chloropyrifos 1.5% dust is mixed @ 40 gm per 10 sq. m. bed in the top soil to prevent damage to seeds and tiny seedlings from soil pests like ants, mole crickets etc. Caterpillars and cutworms: Spodoptera litura F. commonly known as tobacco caterpillar is the most important pest. The young caterpillars are light green with black head or black spots and mine on the leaf tissues. The well grown caterpillars are grey or dark brown with `V' shaped white mark on the front portion of the black head. They feed voraciously along the veins of leaves and also cut the stems of small and tender seedlings. Hence they are also known as cut worms. There will be about 80 to 100% loss due to this pest. Deep ploughing of nursery area during April-May will facilitate the exposure of pupae to high temperature and thus destroy them. Castor is sown around tobacco nursery 15 days before sowing of tobacco so that the castor puts up sufficient foliage by the time Spodoptera infestation builds up. The castor seedlings attract female moths of Spodoptera for egg laying. Chlorpyrifos 20% E.C. @ 0.25% or Acephate 75% S.P. @ 0.1% should be applied to control these insects. Stem borer: The stem borer is the larva of a tiny brown moth called Scrobipalpa (Gnorimoschema) heliopa Low. The tiny caterpillars bore inside the stem and midribs and feed on internal tissues. As a result swelling appears where the borer stays. It causes stunting and unusual branching of the seedlings. Stem borer affected seedlings should be removed and destroyed. In tobacco nurseries when stem borer is a serious problem, spraying of chlorpyrifos 20% E.C. at 0.05% at 30 and 40 days after germination is taken up. Final spray of one of these insecticides should be given before pulling seedlings. In planted crop above 94
insecticide is sprayed twice or thrice at 10 days interval starting from 15 days after planting. After completion of harvestings the stem borer affected plants are uprooted and burnt to prevent carry over of the pest to the next season. Grasshoppers: These are green or brown jumping insects. There are 3 species commonly noticed in tobacco nurseries viz., Acrida exultata Walker, Cyrtacanthacris tartarica Linn. and Atractomorpha crenulata F. They feed on leaves making circular holes. Cultural practices like keeping the nursery area clean, free of weeds and grass helps to keep away the `grass hoppers'. Spraying the surrounding vegetation with chlorpyrifos 20 E.C. at 0.05% or dusting the area with chlorpyrifos 1.5% dust @ 40 kg/ha. Whitefly: White flies are small fly like insects seen on the underside of leaves. They will fly immediately when the plant is disturbed. The adult fly sucks the sap from leaves and transmits the leaf curl virus disease from infected to healthy seedlings. Alternate weed hosts around nursery area are removed and destroyed. Yellow-sticky traps (20 cm x 15 cm size galvanized iron sheet painted with yellow colour coated with castor oil) are installed @ 12 per hectare. If the population of whitefly is 100 per each sticky trap, the following spray schedule of insecticides is given at weekly interval commencing from 4 weeks after germination: 1 st spray - Imidacloprid 200 S.L. @ 0.025 %, 2 nd spray - Chlorpyrifos 20% E.C. @ 0.25%, 3 rd spray - Thiamethoxam 25 WG @ 0.02% and 4 th spray - Acephate 75% S.P. @ 0.1%. Tobacco aphid: Aphids are louse like insects which are green or pinkish to brown in colour. In case of heavy infestation hundreds of them can be seen on the underside of leaves. By constantly sucking the sap from leaves they make the plant pale and retard the growth. They secrete sugary juice known as `honey dew' on the leaves due to which sooty mould develops rendering the leaves unfit for curing. In addition they also transmit virus diseases like rosette or bushy top. During early winter, for control of aphids when 2% of the plants are infected, any one of the following insecticides is sprayed once. Acephate 75 S.P. @ 0.1% or Imidacloprid 200 SL @ 0.025% or Thiamethoxam 25 WG @ 0.02%.
Harvesting The right stage for harvesting the crop is when the leaves are mature, i.e., when the normal green colour changes to yellowish-green or slightly yellowish and become thick, spotted and sticky to touch. If such leaves are bent under thumb a cracking sound is produced. There are two methods of harvesting tobacco: 1. Priming: In tobacco, generally lower leaves mature first followed by upper ones. Therefore, when it is essential for quality that all the leaves at harvest should be of correct maturity, harvesting is done by removing a few leaves as and when they mature. This method of harvesting is called priming. In this method, harvesting starts from bottom and each time two or three leaves are harvested at weekly intervals. The entire harvest is completed in about five to six primings. This method of harvest is followed in case of cigarette and wrapper tobaccos. Soon after harvesting, the leaves are stung on bamboo sticks at the rate of 100 leaves per stick and loaded in the barn for curing. 95
2. Stalk-cut method: Hooka, bidi, cigar, cheroot and chewing tobacco are harvested by this method. In this method, the entire plant is cut close to the ground with sickle and left overnight in the field for wilting. The bidi tobacco is ready for harvest when the majority of the top leaves develop red rusty spots known as spangles. The cigar and cheroot tobaccos are generally harvested when leaves turn yellowish-green, pucker (draw into small folds) and become brittle which break on folding. The chewing tobacco is harvested when leaves develop pronounced puckering. Hooka tobacco is harvested when there is indication of yellowish-brown spots of puckering on leaves.
Curing In the case of tobacco, unlike in other crop plants, the farmer cannot get any return by merely producing the crop of the right type in the field. This has to be followed by successful curing. Curing is the process by which the harvested tobacco leaf is made ready for the market. Curing is essentially a drying process whereby most of the moisture in the harvested leaf is removed. However, this process of drying is conducted in such a way as to produce certain well-defined and desirable qualities in different types of tobacco. A bad leaf produced on field cannot be improved by curing; but a good leaf can be spoiled by bad and defective curing. The process of curing has an intimate bearing on the quality of the final produce. During the prosess of curing, some important biochemical changes take place. The curing operations followed in India are dependent on several factors, such as tradition, convenience, market value of the crop, etc. Different curing methods are Air: Air-cured tobacco is hung in well-ventilated barns and allowed to dry over a period of four to eight weeks. Air-cured tobacco is low in sugar, which gives the tobacco smoke a light, sweet flavor and high nicotine content. Cigar and burley tobaccos are air cured. There are two stages of air curing. a.Yellowing of leaves, b. Development of brown colour. As such this method has very little value for curing a high grade tobacco as the leaves give up their moisture slowly and turn finally to a brown colour. There are three main methods for air-curing viz, i) Ground-curing, ii) Rack-curing, iii) Pit-curing and iv) Fire- curing. Fire is used as the source of energy in this method and the important leaf which is cured is Jaffna tobacco (a chewing type) in Ceylon and in Tamil Nadu. In this method the harvested leaves are wilted for few hours in the field, tied into bundles of 3 to 4 leaves and hung on racks in a smoke-hut. They are then smoked for 12 hours by burning coconut husk, leaf, stalks, etc. and stocked for 3 days and again smoked. During the smoking treatment the creosotic substances produced from the smoke are absorbed by the tobacco that imparts a particular taste and antiseptic properties in the leaves. The leaves are fermented into bulks for 3 to 4 weeks after smoke treatment and then treated with salt water from the lagoons or with jaggery for a special or peculiar taste of this type. Fire: Fire-cured tobacco is hung in large barns where fires of hardwoods are kept on continuous or intermittent low smoulder and takes between three days and ten weeks, 96
depending on the process and the tobacco. Fire curing produces a tobacco low in sugar and high in nicotine. Pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff are fire cured. Flue: Flue-cured tobacco was originally strung onto tobacco sticks, which were hung from tier-poles in curing barns (Aus: kilns, also traditionally called oasts). These barns have flues which run from externally fed fire boxes, heat-curing the tobacco without exposing it to smoke, slowly raising the temperature over the course of the curing. The process will generally take about a week. This method produces cigarette tobacco that is high in sugar and has medium to high levels of nicotine. The Smith Tobacco Barn is an example of traditional, flue-cured tobacco barn. Flue-curing is an improved method of curing. The curing consists of drying green leaves under artificial atmospheric conditions by adopting a process which does not allow the green leaf to come in direct contact with smoke or flames of the fuel and which permits the regulation of temperature and humidity. The main feature of flue curing is the drying of leaf under controlled conditions, where the starch gets converted into sugars and the green tobacco becomes bright, aromatic and fine textured.
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98
BERSEEM
Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) is rabi season leguminous fodder crop and also called king of the fodders. It is one of the most suitable fodder crops with irrigation facilities. It remains soft, nutritive, palatable and succulent at all stages of growth. Berseem is cultivated in an area of around 2 million hectares in India. The significance of this forage species lies in the development of milk industry. It appeared to behave as a most potent milk multiplier in the lactating cattle as compared to other forage crops alone or in combination. Of the two Egyptian biotypes of Berseem Mescavi and Fahli introduced in India during 1903, the former proved to be highly adaptable and productive as fodder crop for wide scale cultivation. Most of the present day cultivars are derivative of Mescavi. The merit of these cultivars lies in their multicut nature (4-8 cuts), long duration of fodder availability (November to April) and very high green fodder yield (85 t/ha), better quality, high digestibility and palatability. The phenomenal success of Berseem in India is also due to its high nitrogen fixing ability resulting in substantial improvement in soil fertility. T. alexandrinum, possesses moderate tolerance for salinity and can be used for the reclamation of saline soils. Berseem is a highly liked fodder by the animals. The fodder is rich in crude protein 20-24%, calcium 3%, phosphorus 0.4%, and digestible dry matter 65-70 percent. It can be mixed with wheat bran to increase its palatability and contents. Paddy-Berseem crop rotation is used in reclaiming saline soils. The last cut of the berseem is generally not taken as fodder, but is ploughed into the soil, which acts as green manure to the soil and adds approximately 224 kg of nitrogen to the soil. Berseem can be converted into good hay during March and April and is used after 2- 3 months when no other fodder is available for animals. Powdered berseem hay is mixed with concentrates and is used as feed to poultry birds. Berseem clover's greatest potential is probably as green-chopped forage or pasture.
Origin Berseem is believed to be indigenous to Egypt. It is being cultivated in Egypt, Israel, Syria, Persia, Cyprus, Italy, South Africa, South America, Australia, Pakistan and many other European countries. It was introduced into India from Egypt probably in 1904. It has now been established as one of the best rabi fodder crops in irrigated areas of Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of western and northern India.
Climatic requirement Berseem requires a dry and cool climate for its normal growth. It needs mild temperature for germination and establishment. The crop growth is very fast at 18-21 o C. Its growth is checked during intensely cold or frosty period. Frost period during winter makes the crop dormant and no regernation is recorded. Similarly when temperature goes around 32- 35 o C regrowth after cut may not be possible. It can not be grown in damp and heavy rainfall areas. 99
Soil requirement Berseem can grow on all types of soils except very light sandy soil. The soil should be well drained, rich in phosphorus, calcium and potash. It does not grow well on acid soils but grow successfully on alkaline soils having good water retaining capacity. The land should be well leveled. It does not tolerate water logging. It grows successfully in soil with pH 7 to 8.
Crop rotation Sometime berseem crop is grown with Chinese cabbage, oats, paddy or maize. The intercrops grow faster than berseem and add to the first cutting in quantity of fodder produced, subsequently berseem gives sufficient fodder to meet the requirements. Addition of other fodder crops can also improve the quality, nutritive value and palatability of the fodder. Berseem grows in rotation with many cereal and forage crops. The most common rotations are (1) Maize - Berseem - Cowpea, (2) Paddy Berseem - Cowpea, (3)Cotton - Berseem, (4) Bajra Berseem - Cowpea + Maize, (5) Sorghum - Berseem.
Field preparation Plough the land 3 to 4 times with desi plough followed by one soil inversion ploughing. One or two plankings should be done to break all the soil clods and prepare fine compact seed bed. Remove the grass, stubbles particularly doob grass root, as they cause difficulty later on and level the land uniformly. Small sized beds (1/10 or 1/20 of an acre) are finally prepared with bunds before sowing for easy irrigation.
Sowing time Sowing is to be done in the end of September to end of October by broadcasting. Care should be taken for proper sowing time as late sowing often hampers the fodder yield because the onset of severe and harsh winter interferes with the crop growth in early stages.
Seed rate Seed rate of 20 -25 kg/ha is recommended. Mix 1 kg of Japani sarson / Chinese cabbage or 25 kg of oat seed for harvesting higher quantity of fodder at first cut.
Seed treatment Berseem seeds are sometimes mixed with weed seed i.e. Kasani seed (Cichorium intybus). These have to be removed before sowing by putting the seeds in a bucket containing common salt 5% solution. This makes the light kasani seeds to float on the surface and can be removed by skimming. Farmers who grow this crop first time in their fields, which have never been cultivated by the barseem crop before. Such fields do not contain bacteria Rhizobium trifolli which live in nodules of berseem crop roots. To inoculate field with the bacteria any of the two methods described here can be adopted. 100
1. Soak the seed in water for 12 hours (overnight) and spread the seed on the floor to drain the excessive water. Meanwhile prepare the berseem-culture. This is done by mixing the culture to 10% sterilized juggery solution, at room temperature. Mixed the wet seed with berseem-culture-solution thoroughly and let it dry under shade for atleast one hour before sowing. 2. In case the berseem-culture is not available in the market the farmer can spread 50 kg of soil from the field in which barseem has been successfully cultivated during previous year, in his own field before sowing.
Method of sowing Berseem seed can be sown in anyone of the two methods described below: 1. Seed is broadcasted uniformly over the field with good moisture content and is mixed with soil by pulling tinned bar-harrow over the field. Irrigation is applied only after proper germination has been observed. 2. Field is watered and seed is broadcasted in the standing puddled water. The soil particles suspended in water cover the seeds on settling. This method generally gives good germination and requires delayed irrigation. The broadcasting of FYM or ash after seeding also gives good germination.
Varieties Varieties released Area of adaptation GFY (t/ha) Mescavi Northern and Central India 80-90 Wardan All India 90-150 BL-1 Punjab and H.P. 100-120 BL-10 Punjab, Haryana and H.P. 110-115 BL-22 Temperate zone of India 90-100 JB-2 Northern and Central India 90-100 Bundel Berseem 2 (JHB 146) North West and Central zone 58-85 UPB-110 Southern zone 50-65 BL-2 Northern India 65-90 Bundel Berseem 3 (JHTB 96-4) North eastern Zone 60-70 UPB-103 Northern, Central and part of South India 100-115
Haryana 1. Mescavi: Tillering is fast and provides 5-6 cuttings. The leaves of this variety are medium in size and no cuts on the margins. Green fodder yield is 750 850 q/ha. The seeds of this variety are medium in size and having yellowish appearance and are shinning. It gives an additional seed yield of 4.5 5.5 q/ha. 101
2. Hisar Berseem 1: It is a new variety and recommended for cultivation in Haryana state. It is fast growing, have more number of leaves, better quality and remains 8-10 days more green than Mescavi. Green fodder yield is 700 750 q/ha. It is resistant to stem and root rot. 3. Hisar Berseem 2: It is recommended for cultivation in Haryana state. It is fast growing, have more number of leaves, better quality and remains 8-10 days more green than Hisar Berseem 1. Green fodder yield is 700 750 q/ha. It is resistant to stem and root rot.
Fertilizer management The crop must be fertilized with 20 kg N + 70 kg P 2 O 5 /ha before sowing of crop. If the crop is new to the field seed treatment be done with Rhizobium culture. If oat seed is mixed with berseem, then an additional dose of nitrogen @ 40 kg/ha should also be added.
Irrigation management The first irrigation is very crucial and it must be applied after 3-5 days of sowing in light soils whereas in heavy soils it can be delayed to 8-10 days. Later on irrigate the crop at 15-20 days interval depending upon the climatic conditions. During cold season it requires less irrigation, while in hot seasons it requires more irrigation. Irrigation after each cutting is also beneficial for regeneration.
Weed Management The crop is infested by a number of weeds like Asphodelus, Chenopodium, Convolvulus and Chichorium. The berseem crop is thickly populated crop so weeding is a very difficult process. The weeds also serve as fodder and do not make it necessary to pull them \out, but some weeds like Cichorium has low content of protein, silica and crude fibre. as per requirement. The crop usually matures in third week of April.
Diseases management Diseases Causal organism Symptom Control Stem rot Sclerectonia trifoliorum Collar region becomes necrotic with depressed lesions. Stems are girdled at the collar region Avoid excessive irrigation. Spray 0.1% solution of Bavistine twice during January and February at 15-20 days interval.Select disease resistant variety HB 1. Root rot Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium semitactatum Sudden complete wilting of plant within a day. The affected plant can easily be pulled out Crop sanitation Resistant varieties Seed treatment with Thiram, Bavistine and Carbofuran @ 2.5g/kg
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Insect management Pests Symptom Control Black ants They remove the germinating seeds Apply Methyl Parathian 2% dust White grass hopper It damages the crop in the month of April. During this time more than 90% insect comes from the other crops and damages the crop. Spray malathion @1 lt/ha in 750 lts of water. If the crop is sown for seed purpose than apply 2% Methyl Parathian dust @ 25 kg/ha.
Cutting management The crop can be harvested in 55-60 days after sowing and subsequent cuts can be taken after every 30 40 days. In all 4-6 cuts are taken with a production of about 750-825 q/ha.
Seed production For seed production the last cut is to taken in the first week of March in low moist areas whereas in moist areas in the last week of March. If weeds are present than remove these to avoid contamination specially the kasni weeds. Irrigate the field after 1 st cut and given irrigation at 15 days interval. Seeds will mature in the month of May and 4.5 5.5 q /ha seed can be harvested. Irrigation should be given to the crop as per requirement depending on soil and climatic conditions. The cutting schedule can also be adjusted in such a way so as to harvest green fodder everyday.
Toxicity A substance known as astrogenons' is present in berseem, the excess of which makes the animal sick and causes bloat disease. The bad effect of this substance is reduced if the fodder is sprayed with linseed or mustard oil. Mixing of dry fodder which contains more fiber like wheat straw also reduces the problem of bloating.
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LUCERNE
Lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), known as rijka in northern India, is a perennial leguminous crop which provide green fodder continuously for 3-4 years from the same sowing. It is generally raised in areas where water supply is inadequate for berseem. Being a deep rooted crop, it extracts water from the deeper zone of the soil. It can be raised both as rainfed or irrigated crop. Generally grown in areas where water supply is inadequate for berseem. Lucerne is relished by all kinds of livestock, because it yields nutritious and palatable green fodder. It is very much liked by the draft animals like horses, which possesses about 20% crude protein with 72% digestibilty and 25% fibre. Its green fodder contains 1.5% calcium, 0.2% phosphorous and a considerable amount of vitamin A, B and D. It can also be easily converted into silage and hay. Lucerne supplies green fodder for a longer period (November-June) in comparison to berseem (December-April). Excessive feeding causes bloat in cattle.
Origin Lucerne is one of the oldest cultivated fodder crops in the world. It was known to Greeks and Romans in about 470 BC. It is generally believed that lucerne originated in south- west Asia. It was first cultivated in Persia (Iran), the name alfalfa being an Arabic word. From Iran it was taken to Greece in about 500 BC and from there it spread to Italy. The Spainards introduced it to America. Lucerne was introduced in India from north-west sometime in 1900.
Area and production Lucerne is grown world-wide on 35 mha out of which 8.8 m ha is in USA alone. Besides USA, India, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy and Russia are other important countries producing Lucerne. In India, lucerne is cultivated in about 1 m ha mostly in irrigated areas of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Climatic requirement Lucerne is a widely adopted crop. It is cultivated in temperate to tropical regions of world. It thrives best under warm, dry and sunny conditions. High temperature with high humidity is not good for crop. Its plants can withstand fairly low temperature.
Soil requirement Lucerne can be raised on a wide range of soils. However, well drained fertile soils with neutral pH are ideal. It is very susceptible to acidic soil, therefore, it cannot be grown in soil with pH below 6.5 unless lime is applied
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Crop rotation It is usually raised after harvest of kharif crops, such as sorghum, paddy, soybean, maize, cowpea, clusterbean etc. It can be raised in rotation with almost every grain or forage crop. The most common crop rotations adopted in north India are: Maize lucerne, Pearlmillet lucerne, Paddy-lucerne, Soyabean-lucerne, Sorghum-lucerne, Cowpea+ maize (fodder)-lucerne, Sorghum (grain)-lucerne-maize (fodder). It can be intercropped with Napier grass also.
Field preparation Lucerne requires a fine seed bed. There should not be left over residue of the previous crop. The field must be ploughed 2-3 times with harrow before pre sowing irrigation. A leveled field is required.
Sowing time Best sowing time is last week of October to the first week of November.
Seed rate A seed rate of 10-12 kg/ha is required.
Method of sowing Seeding should be done in rows 30 cm apart at a depth of 4-5 cm in well moist soil. Because of their hard seed coat, seed should be soaked overnight in water before seeding. Like berseem, it must be inoculated with rhizobium culture (Rhizobium meliloti), if the seeding is going to done for the first time in any field.
Varieties Type-9: It is a quick growing variety attaining plant height of one meter at early flowering stage. It has green foliage, slender stalks and purple coloured flowers. It gives on an average 400-600 q green fodder/ha. It contains on an average 22% crude protein on dry weight basis. Once planted can provide green fodder for 4-5 years. The other varieties are: Anand 2, Anand 3, NDRI selection No.1, IGFRI-S-54, IGFRI- S-244 etc. recommended for different areas.
Fertilizer requirement Basal dressing of 25 kg N and 100 kg P 2 O 5 /ha is required at sowing. The fertilizer must be drilled at a depth of 10 cm. Later on 125 kg P 2 O 5 /ha must be applied in the month of November in the succeeding years.
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Irrigation management First irrigation should be applied about a month after sowing. The subsequent irrigations may be given at an interval of 10-15 days during summer, 15-20 days during autumn and 20-25 days interval during winter season. During rainy season water should not be allowed to stagnate.
Weed management Lucerne takes a long time to establish itself and gives ample scope for weed infestation up to the first cutting. It is very difficult to control weeds in broadcast crop. If crop is sown in lines, weeding and hoeing become easier. First weeding should be done 20-25 days after sowing. Pendimethalin 1-2 kg /ha (pre-emergence) or diquat @ 6-10 kg/ha 5-10 days after sowing effectively controls Cuscuta. T 9 cultivar is found highly susceptible to this weed. Pre-sowing application of diuron @ 2.0 kg/ha or fluchloralin @ 1 kg/ha controls the weeds in lucerne crop.
Diseases management Downey mildew: It appears generally in the month of January. Leaves become light green with light brown growth of fungus on the lower side. Stem becomes short and rolling of leaves may take place. Continue cutting and it will be removed in the next cutting with the increase in temperature. Rust: The disease appears on small brown spots that are toothed at the outer margins with a black/brown colour at the centre. Rust pustules cause severe yield reduction. It is more prevalent in the 2 nd fortnight of March with the increase in temperature to 30 o C temperature. Small, round or oval shaped raised lesions which rupture with the touch give rise to brown powder. In severe conditions falling of leaves takes place. For control, spray Dithane M 45 @ 0.25% and repeat after 20 days if required. Leaf spot (Pseudopexia medicagenis): It is an air borne common disease of lucerne severe in north and central India. Diseased plant turns yellow and leaves drop off. Early cut can cure the crop to some extent. Dithane M-45 @ 0.2% or 0.1% Chlorothalonil is effective for its control.
Seed production Good quality seed can be obtained from 1-2 year old crop. If the crop is sown for taking seed than last cut must be taken in the Ist week of March. For seed, crop must be planted at 45-60 cm row spacing. The harvesting of seed crop is generally done in the end of May or early June. On an average 200-250 kg/ha seed can be harvested. The crop must be irrigated at the time of flowering.
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OAT
Oat (Avena sativa L.) which is also known as jai, is a most important cereal fodder crop of winter season. The green plant is good forage and makes good hay and silage. The straw is useful roughage. Grains are used as concentrate for poultry, cattle, sheep and other animals.The grain is an important livestock feed and the unhulled, crushed fruit is the usual form in which it is fed to ruminants and horses. Oat forage, hay, straw and grain are renowned horse fodder. Green fodder contains about 10-12% protein and 30-35% dry matter. It is fed to animals mixed with berseem or lucerne green fodder. Oats grain is used widely for human consumption. The oat grain contains 66% Carbohydrate, 11% dietary fiber, 7% fat and 17% protein. While oats are still widely used for breakfast cereals. Oats have numerous uses in food; most commonly, they are rolled or crushed into oatmeal, or ground into fine oat flour. Oatmeal is chiefly eaten as porridge, but may also be used in a variety of baked goods, such as oatcakes, oatmeal cookies, and oat bread. Oat straw is used as beeding material for cattles, due to its soft, relatively dust-free, and absorbent nature. Oat grass has been used traditionally for medicinal purposes, including to balance the menstrual cycle, treat dysmenorrhea and for osteoporosis and urinary tract infections. The cholesterol-lowering properties has led to wider appreciation of oats as human food.
Origin Oats are a crop of Mediterranean origin, the domestication dates back to ancient times. Oat seeds are reportedly found in 4000 year old remains in Egypt.
Area and Production Oats are presently grown in temperate parts of the world including USA, Canada, Europe etc. as spring-sown cultivars. In the tropical countries and higher altitude region it is grown as a winter annual. World oat production is generally concentrated between latitudes 35-65 o N and 20-46 o S. Oat rank around sixth in world cereal production statistics following wheat, maize, rice, barley and sorghum. In India it is grown in Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharastra and Bengal. Oats crop is a heavy yielder and the average yield varies from 45 to 55 ton of green fodder per hectare.
Climatic requirement Oat can be grown successfully for fodder purpose during rabi season under both irrigated and rainfed conditions. It requires a cool temperature during germination, tillering and booting. High temperature at blooming increases the proportion of empty spilkelets. The crop can be grown at temperatures varying between 5 0 to 30 0 C. However optimum temperature required is 25 0 C. Oats can be grown in areas where the annual rainfall ranges from 40-110 cm. Oats flourish in cool and moist climates. At low temperature its germination is delayed, while grain production is hampered by hot and dry weather, especially from heading to grain filling period. 107
Soil requirement Oats can be grown on variety of soils. Almost any reasonable fertile, well-drained soil is suited if temperature and moisture conditions are favorable. Oat has been shown to tolerate acid soils with a pH of 4.5 but soil pH up to 5.3-5.7 range for higher yields and is also fairly tolerant to salt conditions. It can be grown on all types of soils except the alkaline and water logged ones. Oats generally make their best growth on loam soils, but produce satisfactory yield on heavy or light soil.
Method of sowing, Seed rate and Time of sowing It is recommended to take 75 kg/ha seed for small seeded varieties, while for bold seeded varieties the seed rate is 100 kg/ha. It can be planted with kera or pora method depending upon the moisture availability. It is always better to sow the crop with seed cum fertilizer drill by maintaining row to row distance of 25 cm. The optimum sowing time is mid October to mid November.
Varieties Variety Optimum sowing time Time of harvest Recommendation and characteristics Forage yield (q/ha) Haryana Javi (HFO- 114) Multi cut- October Single cut- November Feb.-March It is suitable for all districts of Haryana. It is erect and tall growing. It has good regeneration and is specially suited for multi-cut. Its seed size is very bold. 550 OS-6 November Feb.-March It is suitable for all the oat growing regions of the country. It grows erect with more early vigour. Leaves are relatively broad and green in colour. Flag leaf remains erect at the time of emergence of panicle. 575 OS-7 November Feb.-March It is suitable for all districts of Haryana. It grows erect with more early vigour. Leaves are relatively broad and light green in colour. Flag leaf remains erect at the time of emergence of panicle. 590 Haryana Javi 8 Multi cut- Mid.October Single cut- November- Ist cut 60-65 DAS and IInd cut in Feb. March Recommended for whole Haryana. Regenerates fast after Ist cut. Its leaves are green and broad. Grains are medium bold. 650
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In addition to these the recommended varieties at national level are as follows.
Varieties released Area of adaptation GFY (t/ha) Kent Whole of India 45-50 OS-6 Whole of India 40-50 UPO-212 Whole of India 37-52 OL-125 Whole of India 35-48 UPO-94 Whole of India (Multicut) 45-50 OL-9 Northern and North-Western India 45-55 JHO-810 Kashmir valley 50-60 JHO-822 Central India (Multicut) 45-55 JHO-851 Whole of India (Multicut) 50-55 JHO 99-2 NE and NW India 50-55
Fertilizer requirement Seeds must be treated with azotobacter. Apply 40 kg N/ha at sowing and 40 kg N/ha at first irrigation. For multicut varieties 40 kg N/ha should also be applied after each cut.
Irrigation management In general 3-4 irrigations are required. Irrigation should be applied at one month interval. Irrigation is essential after each cutting in order to promote the regeneration of the plants.
Weed management The vigorous growth habit of oats smothers the most of weeds. A few tall broadleaf weeds, such as ragweed, goosegrass, wild mustard and buttonweed (velvetleaf) can occasionally be a problem, as they complicate harvest and reduce yields. These can be controlled with a modest application of a broadleaf herbicide, such as 2,4-D sodium salt @ 1 kg/ha spray in 500 liter water at 35 DAS.
Disease and pest management Diseases/ Insects pests Causal organism Symptoms Control Covered smut Ustilago kolleri Grains in ear of affected plants replaced by black mass of smut spores. Seed treatment with Emissan @ 2.5g/kg seed Loose smut Ustlago avenae Grains transformed into black powdery mass of smut sori. Seed treatment with Vitavex or bavistin @ 2g/kg seed Aphid Rhapalosiphum maidis Leaves, leaf sheath and inflorescence are covered with dark green aphid colonies with a slight white covering. Mottling and distortion of leaf may occur. Spray of plain water @ 400 l/ha Application of malathion or endosulfan @ 0.05% in the patches of aphid colony.