Upload
nicholas-jenkins
View
216
Download
3
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Introduction
• Plantation crops are mainly perennial crops grown in coastal areas and includes Coconut, Areca nut, Cocoa, Oil palm, Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Cashew nut, Tapioca etc.
• Areca nut palm is popularly known as betel nut or supari. It is consumed through pan-supari, pan-parag and other mouth fresheners or used in tanning industry.
• Cocoa is mainly used in making chocolates, cakes, beverages and other confectionaries. It is very nutritious milk additive.
Coconut
Coconut is important as a source of food, oil, beverage, natural fiber
and timber.
Mass Production of Coconut Seedling:
Seed nut s should be selected from mother palms which are:
• Vigorous, having 30-40 fully opened leaves with short and
strong petiole and wide leaf base firmly attached to the trunk.
• Regular fruit bearer, high yielding ( more than 100 nuts/year)
in 12 bunches of medium sized, oblong nuts with short and
stout stalks. Each nuts should contain at least 200 gm copra.
Mass Production of Coconut Seedling:
Collection and storage of Seed nuts:
• Matured nuts of 11-12 months are harvested manually between
December and May using ropes for fetching and lowering.
• Nuts should stored in shade till husk dries up. Then they should
be arranged in five layers in such a way that stalk end pointing
up and covered with 8 cm layer of river sand on each layer of
nuts.
• Small quantity of water should be sprinkled occasionally to
prevent nut water from drying in summer. This storage method
keep nuts viable for over 8 months.
Preparation of Nursery Site
• Site: Well drained, light textured
soil and adequate shade.
• Nursery Beds: 1.5 m width and
convenient length. Distance
between two beds: 75 cm. 0.5%
Chlorpyriphos is added to soil
infested with termites.
• Seed nuts are planted in June-
July in beginning of monsoon.
• Spacing: 30X30 cm and 4-5
rows of nuts are sown per bed.
Coconut Nursery
Nursery Management:
• Nursery is irrigated at 1-3 days interval in summers. Periodic
spray of 1% Bordeaux mixture or other copper fungicide prevents
fungal infections.
• Periodic weeding is necessary. Providing organic mulches on
beds would control weeds and also provide shade in summers.
• Seedling Selection: Early germinating, vigorous seedlings with 10
cm collar girth and 4 early splitting leaves at 9 months age or 6-8
leaves at 10-12 month age are selected.
• Uprooting: 10-12 month seedling are gently lifted after loosening
surrounding soil. Uprooted seedlings are kept in shade and
planted within 10 days. Roots are pruned if necessary.
Poly Bag Nursery
• Transplanting sprouted nuts to 40x40 cm size and 500 gauge
polybags helps to obtain a uniform seedling stand in the nursery.
• Poly bags should have sufficient number of drainage holes
pierced in the lower half as outlets to drain off excess water.
• Poly bags are filled two-thirds with soil mixed with sand and well
decomposed compost as medium for planting.
• Seedlings from such a nursery show faster growth and come to
flowering much earlier.
Areca nut
Mass Production of Areca nut Seedlings: Areca nut is seed
propagated perennial crop. Quality seed material is necessary for
production of quality planting material.
1. Seed Nut Selection: Nuts should be selected from early bearing,
regular and high fruit setting mother palms. Well matured and
heavy nuts floating vertically in water with their calyx end pointing
upwards are selected from a lot of tree ripe nuts.
2. Seed Sowing: Nuts are placed 5 cm apart on sand beds with stalk
ends facing upwards and are covered with river sand and watered
daily. Sprouting takes place in 50 to 90 days. The young seedling
with 2-3 leaves are transplanted into secondary nursery.
3. Secondary Nursery: Beds are prepared by mixing 25 kg FYM for
one guntha area. Seedlings are planted at 30X30 cm on raised
beds of 5 feet wide,15 cm high and of convenient length.
4. Nursery Management: Irrigation and drainage must be provided
as required. Mulching and weeding enhance seedling growth
and quality.
5. Selection of Seedlings for Planting: Seedlings of 12 to 18 months
age are transplanted into main field. Seedling with maximum
number of leaves and minimum height should be selected.
Production of Areca nut Seedlings:
Cocoa
Cocoa is propagated by seeds, cuttings and grafting.
Propagation by Seed: Cocoa is commercially grown from seeds.
• Mature ripe pods are harvested from selected mother plants and
seed are extracted. The seeds are rubbed with dry sand or
wood ash to remove mucilage substance.
• Seeds are sown with pointed end upwards in bamboo baskets,
polythene bags or on raised beds. If sown on beds, young
seedlings are transplanted into baskets, pots or poly bags after
two weeks after germination.
• Seedlings are ready for transplanting after 3-4 months.
Cocoa
Propagation by Grafting:
• Soft wood grafting using wedge or cleft method is adopted on
40-45 days old seedling raised in poly bags.
• The scion materials of similar thickness is pre-cured by
defoliation before removal from mother plant.
• The scion sprouts in about a month and all shoots emerging
from the root stock are to be removed periodically.