EGERTON UNI

VERSI
TY

DEPARTMENTOFCROPS,
HORTI
CULTURE&SOI
LS

HORT.0242GENERALFRUI
TPRODUCTI
ON

(
L/P30/
30:CF3.
0)Y3S1AGED

Cr
edi
tFact
or:3.
0
Cour
seDescr
ipt
ion

 St
udentswil
lbei
ntr
oducedtogener
alpr
inci
plesoff
rui
tpr
oduct
ion.
 I
tisdesi
gnedtopr
ovideknowl
edgeandskil
l
snecessar
yfort
heenhancementoff
rui
t
pr
oducti
on.

Cour
seObj
ect
ive:

Toprov
idest
udent
swi
tht
hebasi
cknowl
edgeont
hegener
alpr
inci
plesoff
rui
t
pr
oducti
on

Lear
ningOutcome:
Thestudent
sshouldappr
eci
ateandappl
ytheknowl
edgeonpr
inci
plesandt
echni
ques
off
rui
tproduct
ion

Week Topic
1t
o4 I
nt r
oduct i
on(History,Fr
uitI
ndust
ryinKeny
a,
Classi
fi
cat i
on,Env i
ronmentandFrui
t
Production,OrchardEstabli
shment)
5 Citr
us
6 Banana
7 Passion
8 Pineapple
9 Mango
10 Avocado
11and12 Temper ateFruit
s

1
PRACTI
CALS:

1.I
dent
if
icat
ionandcl
assi
fi
cat
ionoff
rui
ts

2.Bi
oti
candAbi
oti
cst
ressesi
nfr
uitpr
oduct
ion

3.Fr
uitpr
opagat
iont
echni
ques

4.Cul
tur
alpr
act
icesi
nfr
uitpr
oduct
ion

5.Mat
uri
tyi
ndi
ces

6.Post
-har
vesthandl
i
ngoff
rui
ts

ASSESSMENT:

1.CAT1 Week5 10%

2.CAT2 Week10 10%

3.Pr
act
ical
&Assi
gnment
s 10%

5.Fi
nal
Exam 70%

Tot
al 100%

REFERENCES:

1.Tai
z,L.andE.Zeiger
.2006.PlantPhy
siol
ogy
,Four
thEdi
ti
on.Si
nauarAssoci
atesI
nc
Publ
isher
s.Vi
ctor
iaAust
ral
ia.

2.Har
tman,H. T.,D.
E.KesterandF. T.Dav
is.1994.Pl
antPr
opagat
ionPr
inci
plesand
Pr
actces.5thedi
i ti
on.NewDelhi
.India.

3.Jani
c,J.1994.Pr
inci
plesandPr
act
icesofHor
ti
cul
tur
e.JohnWi
leyandSons.NewYor
k.

4.Dav
is,
F.S.1976.TheNav
alOr
ange.Hor
ti
cul
tur
alRev
iews,
8:129-
180.

5.Seel
ig,
R.A.1969.Bananas.Washi
ngt
onPr
int
ers3rdedi
ti
on.

6.NakasoneandPaul
i
.1976.Tr
opi
calFr
uitGr
owi
ng.JohnWi
leyandSons.London4th
edi
ti
on.

7.HCDA.TheHorti
cult
uralcr
opDev elopmentAuthor
it
yBul
let
in.
www.hcda.
or.
ke/t
ech/contact
s.php.(4.
4.2013)
.

Cour
seI
nst
ruct
ors

2
Cour
seLect
urer
:Mr
.E.
O.Gogo

Seni
orTechnol
ogi
st: Ms.J.Ny
amar
i

3
TROPI
CALFRUI
TS

PI Ananascomosus)
NEAPPLES(

I
ntr
oduct
ion:

Thepi neapplebelongstot hefami l

yBromeli
aceaeandi soneofabout45gener aand2000
speciesint hi
sf ami
ly.Plantsinthef amil
yareoftr
opicalAmericanori
ginexceptf
oronespecies,
Pitcai
rniafeli
cana,anativeoft r
opicalWestAfr
ica.Theplantsareherbaceousorshrubbyand
areclassif
iedasepi phy
t i
cort err
estri
al.Somebromeliadsincl
udingpi
neapplearegrownfor
theirl
eaffibresandmanyot hersaregr ownasornamentals.Ananascomosusi stheonly
speciesthati scommer ci
allygrownf orit
sfr
uit
.

Or
igi
nanddi
str
ibut
ion:

Thepineappl
ewasf i
rstseenbyEuropeansduri
ngthesecondvoyageofColumbusandhi smen
i
nt heisl
andofGuadalupein1493.Theycall
edit‘
Pina’
becauseofit
sresemblancetothepi
ne
cone.Laterbot
ani
stsinSouthAmer i
caindi
catedt
heareaoforigi
ntobesoutheaster
nBrazi
l,
Paraguayandnort
hernArgenti
nabecauseoftheabundanceofwildspeci
es.

Pineappledi
str
ibutionfrom theAmericasi
sattri
butedt
oSpani shandPor
tugueseexpl
orer
sand
wasai dedbytheresistanceofcrownsandsl i
pstodesiccat
ion.Itwasi
ntr
oducedint
oAf r
icaat
t
h
anearlydateandr eachedIndiain1550.Beforetheendofthe16 centur
yithadbecome
establ
ishedinChina,Jav aandthePhili
ppi
nes.

Cur
rent
ly,
pineappl
esar
epr oducedwi
del
yinall
tropicalandsubtr
opi
calar
easoft
hewor
ldand
hav
ebecomeoneoft heleadingtr
opi
cal
frui
tsi
ninternati
onalcommerce.

Pi
neappl
eut
il
izat
ion:

Thebulkoft hefr
uitproducedgoesintothef r
eshmar ket
.Pi neapplesareeat enfreshasa
desertfr
uitwheretheypr ovi
deVit
aminsC&A, Ca,P,Fe,
Kandt hiamine.Theyar ealso
processedintocannedsl i
cesorsoli
dcubesorchunks.Theycanbecr ushedt oextractjui
ce
thati
sconcent r
atedorfrozen.Aby productofthecanneryfruitresi
due,pineapplebr an,i
sused
ascattl
efeed.Br omelain,aprot
eolyt
icenzymef oundinpineappl epl
ants,parti
cularl
yt hestem,
hasanumberofi ndustr
ialandmedicinalappl
icati
ons.Theleav esareut i
l
izedinfibreext r
acti
on
thati
sweav edintofabri
c( Pi
naclot
h).

Bot
any
:

Fami
l
y=Br
omel
i
aceae.

Pi
neappl
eisamonocar
picher
baceousper
enni
almonocott
hatgr
owst
oahei
ghtof90-
100cm.
4
Thest em ofamat ureplantis30-35cm longandcl ub-shaped;thethickestdi
amet erbeing6.5-
7.
5cm bel owt heapex.Itist hemainaxisthatsuppor tsotherstr
uctures:i
nfl
orescence, f
rui
t
cr
own, peduncle,
leaves,suckers,
hapas, andaxil
laryroots.Inter
nodesar eshort(1-10mm)and
arelongerinthemi ddleregionofthestem.Axi l
larybudsoccurateachnode; thesepr oduce
sl
ips,hapasorshoot sdependi ngontheirlocat
ional ongthestem.

Rootsofpineappleareshall
ow,fi
br ousandadvent
it
ious–arisef
rom pr
eformedr ootprimordi
a
i
nt hestem andtheyoccupythetop15cm oft hesoil
profi
l
e.Rootsofplantgr owni ndeep,
l
oose, f
erti
l
esoi l
freefr
om parasi
ti
cor ganismscangrowtoadepthofmor et han50cm and
extend1.83m beyondtheplantwithinayear’
sti
me.Ther ootsar
eseparatedinto‘soilroot
s
(devel
opatt hebaseofthestem tof or
mt heunder
groundrootsy
stem)and‘ axil
laryroots’
(for
m
abovethesoi l
surfacei
nleafaxil
s).

Axil
lar
yrootsabsorbforl
iarl
ytrappedorappl i
edwaterandnutr
ients.Themai
nabsorpti
vearea
oftherootistheunli
gni
fi
edwhi t
etissueattherootti
p.Rootswi t
houtwhi
tet
issueatt
heroot
ti
psarenotact i
vel
ygrowingandar ei nef
fi
cienti
nabsorbi
ngwat er.Somecul
ti
varsmayhave
marginalspi
nesont hei
rleaves.

Thereareanumberofstruct
uresint
hepineappl
epl
antandot
herbr
omel
i
adst
hatcont
ri
but
eto
thei
rst
rongresi
stancet
omoi st
urest
ress:

-
posi
ti
onandt
roughshapeoft
hel
eav
es–ai
dinef
fi
cientwat
eri
nter
cept
ion,

-
thepresenceofmul
ti
cel
l
ulart
ri
chomes–r
educeheatl
oadonl
eav
esandcuton
ev
apot
ranspi
rati
on,

-
locat
ionofst
omat
ainf
urr
owsbeneat
htr
ichomesont
heunder
sideofl
eav
es

-
tr
ichomeal
soai
dinabsor
pti
onofwat
erandnut
ri
ent
s.

-pr
esenceofacolourl
essandt
ransl
ucentwaterst
oraget
issueint
hel
eaf–thist
issue
can occupyupt o hal
ft he l
eafcr
oss-sect
ion. Itbecomes narr
oweras wat
erstress
i
ncreases.

-
theCAM sy st
em charact
eri
zedbylargedi
urnalf
luctuat
ionsinor
ganicaci
ds(mali
cand
ci
tri
cacids)and aninver
tedpatter
nofgasexchangei nwhichCO2 i
sf i
xedatni
ghtand
tr
anspi
rati
onissuspendedduring t hedayt
ime.Pineapplestomataarecl
osedduri
ngtheday
andopenatar ound2p.m.andthr
oughoutthe night
.

I
ttakesabout4mont hsfr
om t
heendoflastopenf
lowertof
rui
tmatur
it
yandthetot
alt
ime
fr
om fl
orali
nit
iat
iontoharv
esti
sbetween6and7mont hs.Temper
atur
esigni
fi
cant
ly
accel
erat
esordelaysdevel
opment
.

Cel
ldiv
isi
oninthefr
uiti
scomplet
edpri
ort
oant
hesis–allf
urt
herdevel
opmenti
sther
esul
tof
cel
lenl
argement.Fr
om fl
ower
ingtimet
omatur
ati
onfrui
tmassincr
eases20-
fol
d.

5
Themostmar kedchangesinfl
eshcomposit
ionoccurinthe3-7weekspr iortoandatt hehal
f-
yell
owshell
colourst
age.Titr
atabl
eaci
dit
ydecli
nesandTSSgr aduall
yincreases,wi
thamor e
rapi
dincr
easeinthelast6weeks,ast
hefrui
tapproachesthefullr
ipestage.Fr ui
tsugars
conti
nuetoincr
easethrought
osenescence,
unlessthefrui
tisharvested.

Br
eedi
ng:

Earl
ybreedi
ngandsel ectionobjecti
vesvariedwi t
ht helocali
ti
es,butalmostalwaysemphasized
di
seaseandinsectresistance.Recently,developmentofcul t
ivar
sforfreshfr
uitconsumpti
on
hasbeenthemajorfocus.Accompany i
ngbr eedingf ordiseaseandinsectresi
stanceare
att
emptstodevelopcul t
ivarssuit
ableforfresh-fr
uitexport.Asui t
abl
ecl oneshouldhaveahigh
yi
eld,hi
ghsugar
,agoodbal anceofsugar st oacids,highascor bi
cacidandanappeal i
ngfl
avour.

Cul
ti
var
s:

Fi
vemai
nhor
ti
cul
tur
algr
oupsofcul
ti
var
sar
erecogni
zed.

1. ‘
Cayene’ group–‘ Smoot hcay ene’ist hest andar df orpr ocessi ngandt hef reshf rui
t
tradebecauseofi tscy l
indrical shape, shal l
owey es, yel lowf leshcol our,mildaci d
tasteandhi ghy ields.‘ Smoot hcay ene’ ist hemostwi del ydistribut edcl oneal though
otherl ocal clonesi nt hegr oupal soexi st .Local sel ect i
onsar eknownbyt hei rar eas
ofor igin.Thecay ennegr oupofcul ti
v arsi ssuscept i
blet omeal y-bugwi l
tand
nemat odes.
2. ‘
Queen’ gr oup–Thi sgr oupgener all
ypr oducessmal lerpl antsandf ruitwithspi ny ,
shor terl eav est hant he‘ cay ene’ group.Thecul tivarse. g.‘Nat alqueen’ aregr owni n
Sout hAf rica, Aust raliaandI ndi afort hef resh-fr
uitmar ket .The‘ z-queen’ i
snat ural
tri
ploi dmut antoft he‘ Nat al queen’.
3. ‘
Spani sh’ group–Pl ant sint hisgroupar egener all
ysmal l-
medi um, spiny,vigor ous
andr esist antt ot hemeal y -
bugwi l
t,butsuscept iblet ogummosi s, causedbyt he
l
ar vaeoft heBat rachedr amot h.Thecul tivarsareaccept edf orf reshf r
uitmar ketbut
notf av our edf orcanni ngduet odeepey esandpoorf leshcol our .Themaj orcul tivars
i
st he‘ RedSpani sh’ int heCar ibbeanandt he‘ Si
ngapor eSpani sh’ and‘ NanasMer ah’
beingt hepr incipal canni ngpi neapplesi nMal ay
siabecauseoft heiradapt abi l
ityt o
thepeatsoi ls.Thef leshoft hesecul ti
v arshasabr i
ghty ell
owcol our .
4. ‘
Abacaxi ’ group–Thesear egr ownmost lyinLat i
nAmer i
caandt heCar ibbeanr egion.
Thef ruitisnotconsi der edsui tablef orcanni ngorf orf r eshf ruitexpor t,butt hej uicy,
sweetf lav ouroft hef ruitisf avouredi nt hel ocal mar ket s.
5. ‘
Mai pur e’ group–Thi sgr oupi scul t
ivat edi nCent ralandSout hAmer i
caasf reshf r
uit
forthel ocal mar ket s.Thecl onesmaybeofi nt
erestt obr eeder sint hewest ern
hemi spher east heyconst it
ut eagenepool ofadapt edf or msal mostunusedi n
breedi ngpr ogr ammes.

Cul
tur
alPr
act
ices:

Pl
ant
ingMat
eri
alsandPr
opagat
ion:

Commer
cial
l
ypi
neappl
esar
eveget
ivel
ypr
opagat
edusi
ngcr
owns,
sli
ps,
hapas,
shoot
sand

6
suckers.Iti
simport
antt
hateachoft hesematerial
sbeusedseparat
elysincet
heirgrowt hrat
es,
harvestti
meandothermanagementaspect sdif
fer.Thetimefr
om plant
ingtoharvestingalso
dependsont hemassofthepropagule;t
heheaviertheyaret
hefast
ertheymature.Cr owns
producefrui
tin18-
24months,sl
ips,shootsandhapasi n15-
20monthsandsucker sin14- 17
mont hs.

Planti
ngmaterial
saretreat
edwithaf
ungi
cideandarecuredbydry
ingthebut
tendtoprevent
rotsbefor
eplanti
ng.Producti
onofpr
opagulesont
heplantcanbeenhancedbyappl
icat
ionof
growthregul
ators(morphacti
ns)
,whi
chi
nducetheaxil
l
arybudgrowthaft
erbr
eaki
ngapical
dominancewithethephon.

Tissuecult
uremethodsarealsousedtoproduceplant
let
sandpr ot
ocorm-
li
kebodi
esfr
om
shootti
psandaxill
arybuds.About5000pl
antl
etscanbepr oducedf
rom asi
ngl
ecrownand
100000plantsf
rom asi
ngleshooti
n12mont
hs.

Ty
pesofpr
opagul
esandt
hei
rlocat
ionsont
hepl
ant
:

1. Crown–Ar isesattheapexoft hefruit

.
2. Sli
ps–Leaf ybranchesappear ingjustbelowthef ruit
.Theyar i
sefr
om axi
llar
ybuds
onthepeduncle.Theyr angei nnumberf rom 0–10perpl ant.
3. Hapas–Thesear ealsoleafybr anchesthatari
sef rom axil
larybudatthejuncti
on
betweenthepeduncleandt hest em.
4. Shoots–Thesecanber ef
erredt oas‘abovegr ound’sucker s.Theyar
eleaf y
branchespr
oducedf rom axil
larybudsi ntheleafaxilsjustabov et
heground.They
areabout0-3perplant.
5. Suckers–Thesear eshoot sthatar i
sefrom axil
larybudsont heunder
groundpor t
ion
ofthestem.Theyar eusually1- 5innumber .

Fi
eldEst
abl
ishment
:

Pl
ant
ingbedpr
epar
ati
on–Deeppl
oughi
ngatl
east60cm i
snecessar
yandshoul
dbef
oll
owed
byproperhar
rowingt
oremov estones,
root
set c.Oncommer cial
fiel
dsoilf
umigati
oni
sdonet
o
contr
olnematodes–plant
ingisnotdoneearl
i
ert han2weeksaf t
erfumigat
ion.Thi
sis
fol
lowedbymar ki
ngoutpl
anti
nglinesandl
ayingblackpol
ythenemul ch.

Pl
ant
ing–Usual
l
ydonei
ndoubl
erowsonpr
epar
edmul
chedbeds.Pl
ant
sar
eseti
nby
punchi
nghol
esthroughthepol
ythenewit
hatrowel.Thedepthofpl
anti
ngi
susual
l
y7-10cm.
Deeperpl
ant
ingmaycauserotti
ngduetopresenceofsoili
nthel
eafaxi
l
s.Shal
l
owplanti
ng
l
eadstoweakestabli
shmentofplant
sandlowev ent
ualy
iel
ds.

Spaci
ng–Doubl
erowspaci
ngi
spopul
aroncommer
cial
plant
ati
ons–i
tisconv
eni
entf
orf
iel
d
maintenance.Thebedsar e1.5m apartf
rom t
heircentr
esandthedoublerowsare0.5m apar
t
wit
hinbeds; pl
ant
sar eset30cm apartwit
hint
her ows.The30cm spaci
ngi ndoubl
erowsmay
bestaggered–t r
iangul
arplanti
ngorwhole–r ectangul
arl
ypl
anted.Theinsider
owsindouble
7
r
owsar
e90cm apar
t.

I
rr
igat
ion–Pi
neappl
escansur
viv
elongper
iodsofwat
erst
ressundernat
ural
condi
ti
onsbut
yi
eldsarelowwithpoorqual
ityfr
uitofunaccept
abl
esize.I
rr
igat
ioncanincreaseyiel
dsbyupt o
14-22tons/ha.Dri
pir
ri
gati
onhasl argel
yrepl
acedot
hermethodsofir
ri
gationwiththelayout
provi
dingonetubi
ngorif
iceforeverytwoplant
s.About50mm ofwatereveryfort
nighti
s
adequate.

Mul
chi
ng–Bl
ackpol
ythenegauge150i
sused.I
tincr
easesy
iel
dsandqual
i
tysi
gni
fi
cant
ly,
pr
obabl
ybyconserv
ingmoist
ure,
rai
singsoil
temper
atur
es,
reduci
ngl
eachi
ngandsuppr
essi
ng
weedgr
owth.Organicmul
chesarenotrecommended.

Fer
ti
li
zer
s–Pi
neappl
esshowsi
gni
fi
cantr
esponset
ofer
ti
li
zer
sandal
soext
rudel
arge
quanti
ti
esofnut
ri
ent
sfr
om t
hesoi
l
.Repor
tsonpi
neappl
enut
ri
ti
oni
ndi
cat
equant
it
iesas
fol
lows:

Ni
tr
ogen(
N) 225-
350kg/
ha

Pot
assi
um (
K) 225-
450kg/
ha

Thecrophaslowrequi
rementforphosphor
us(P)andrepor
tstendt
oomi tt
heamountappl
i
ed,
butgener
all
ytheamountsrequi
redrangefr
om 150to225kg/haasP2O5.

Weedi
ng–Necessar
yint
heunmul
chedspacebet
weendoubl
erowbeds.I
tisusual
l
ydone
manuall
yorchemi
cal
l
y.Her
bici
dessuchasDal
apon,
Par
aquatandBr
omaci
lhav
ebeenused
ef
fect
ivel
y.

Pr
uni
ng(
“St
ri
ppi
ng”
)–I
nvol
vest
her
emov
alofsucker
s,hapas,
sli
psandshoot
sjustbef
oreor
aft
erharvesti
ngtol
eaveoneshoottobearar
atooncrop.Mostsucker
sar
eet
iol
atedduet
o
heavyshadingandar
etheref
orenotrecommendedforarat
ooncrop.

Rat
ooncr
op–Onl
yoner
atooncr
opi
srecommendedaf
terwhi
chal
lpl
ant
sar
edugoutand
fr
eshplant
ingdone.Weed,
fer
ti
li
zerandot
hermai
ntenancepr
act
icesar
ethesameast
he‘
plant
crop’
.

For
cing–Theacci
dent
aldi
scov
eryi
ntheAzor
est
hatsmokef
rom bur
ningor
gani
cmat
eri
als
i
nducespr ematuref l
oweri
ngingr eenhouse- culturedpineappl
esl edtot hewidepr act
iceof
burningrubbishar oundtheperipher yoffiel
ds.Theact iv
eingredientint hesmokei sethy l
ene
gas.For cingplantsintofl
oweringal l
owssy nchronizati
onofhar vestandmakesi tpossi bl
eto
controlharvestdat estomeetant icipatedfr
esh- marketandcanner yneeds.Cur rently
, ethephon
(2-
chloroethylphosphonicaci
d)i st hemostwi delyusedchemical incommer ci
alpineappl e
production.Appl i
edconcentrationsr angefrom 500t o1500μg/ L.Atl east90%f l
ower ingis
evident40-60day saf t
erappl
icat i
on.

8
PestandDi
seaseManagement
:

Pest
s:

Pi
neappl
emeal
ybug(
Dysmi
coccusbr
evi
pes)-Aver
yser
iouspesti
nEastAf
ri
ca.At
tacked
plantswi
l
tduetosapsucti
on.Pl
ant
sbecomediscol
ouredtoabronze,
redorpink.Margi
ns
refl
exandtopscur
lbackwar
ds.Meal
ybugsar
ealsoassoci
atedwit
hthepineappl
ewil
tdisease.

Cont
rol–Di
ppi
ngpl
ant
ingmat
eri
alsi
ninsect
ici
dese.
g.di
azi
nonorf
eni
tr
othi
on.Spr
ayi
ngon
i
nsect
sassoonaswi
l
tisnot
iced.

Scal
es(
Diapsi
sspp.
)–Thesear
efoundsucki
ngf
rui
ts,
leav
esandot
herexposedpar
tsoft
he
pl
ant
.

Cont
rol–I
fat
tacki
ssev
erespr
ayi
ngdi
azi
noni
sef
fect
ive.

Nemat
odes(
Mel
oidogynespp.
)–Mai
nlyr
ootknotnemat
odes.Theycausegal
l
sandt
her
efor
e
di
sor
der
sinv
ascul
arbundl
esl
eadi
ngt
omaywi
l
t.

Cont
rol–Soi
lfumi
gat
ionwi
thNemagonandchl
oropi
cri
n.

Di
seases:

Pi
neappl
ewi
lt–Thi
sist
houghtt
obet
heef
fectofav
irust
ransmi
tt
edt
hrought
hesal
i
vaof
meal
ybugsort
het
oxi
nint
hesal
i
vai
tsel
f.Pl
ant
sdev
elopagener
alwi
l
t.

Cont
rol–Tr
eat
ingpl
ant
ingmat
eri
alswi
thi
nsect
ici
desbef
orepl
ant
ing.Al
sospr
ayi
ngwhen
wi
l
tingi
sobser
vedcanal
l
evi
atet
hepr
obl
em.

Leafspot–Br
ownspot
sabout2.
5-5cm l
ongonl
eav
esusual
l
yappear
ingunderov
ercast
weat
hercondi
ti
ons.Theyheal
whenweat
hercondi
ti
onsi
mpr
ove.

Har
vest
ing:

Maturityoccur s15-24monthsaf terest

abli
shmentdependi ngont hetypeandweightofpl anti
ng
materialsused.Ther at
ooncropmat ur
esear l
ier(14months).Fruit
sarereadyforharvesting
whenr ipe–att hi
stimetheyproduceadul lsoundwhenknockedandar eeasytodisl
odgef r
om
theplant.Col ourchangecanbeusedbutmaybemi sl
eadingincoolweatherwherefruitstake
l
ongert oinducecol ourchanges.Fr ui
tsharvestedforcanningarecompletel
ybrokenof ftheir
stal
kswhi lethosef orfr
eshmar ketexportareleftwit
habout3- 4cm ofthestal
k.Ami nimum
9
r
eadi
ngof12%TSSi
srequi
redf
orf
reshf
rui
tmar
ket
.Asugar
-t
o-aci
drat
ioof0.
9-1.
3is
r
ecommended.

Pineapplesforf
reshfrui
tmar ketar
eharvest
edbyhandandthefr
uiti
seitherpackedi nt
hefi
eld
ortakent oapackingshed.Somel imi
tedmechanizati
onmaybeusedwher epickerswalki
nthe
i
nterrowsandpl acethefr
uitonaconveyorbeltr
unningonaboom,whichtransfer
st hef
rui
ttoa
tr
uckf i
eldbin.

Yi
eldsandl
ongev
ity
:

Expectedyi
eldsf
rom thepl
antcr
opi
s65t on/
haormor e.Therat
ooncropyi
eldsabout50
ton/ha.Economi
cy i
eldsfr
om t
hepl
antcroptakeabout24monthsandonl
yoner at
ooncropis
recommendedwhi chcomesin14months.Theref
oretheappr
oximat
eeconomiclif
eofafiel
d
i
sabout38mont hs.

Pi
neappl
ePackHouseOper
ati
ons

Gr
adi
ngSt
andar
ds:

Aft
erharv
esti
ng,thefr
uit
saregradedaccordi
ngtosize,shape,
maturi
ty,
andfreedom
fr
om di
seasesandblemishes.Thecutsur
faceist
reatedwi t
hasui
tabl
ef ungi
cidet
o
cont
rolf
ungaldecay.

Si
ze Wei
ght

A 1500gandov
er

B 1100-1500g

C 800-1100g

D Lesst
han800g

Baby
Appr
ox.550g

Packagi
ng:

Forl
ocalmarkets,
frui
tsarepackedi
nbamboobasket sli
nedwithpaddy-
str
aw.Thefir
st
l
ayeroffr
uit
sisarrangedinsuchawayt hattheystandonthei
rstumps.Thesecond
l
ayeroffr
uit
sisarrangedonthecrownsoft hefi
rstlay
erfr
uit
s.Eachbasketwei
ghts20-
25kg.Fordi
stantmar ket
s,f
rui
tarewrappedindivi
duall
ywit
hpaddystrawandthen
10
packed.

Forexpor
tpurposethepineappl
esarepackedintofi
breboardorwoodcont ainers.The
fr
uit
sareplacedvert
icall
yorhor
izont
allyi
ncontai
ner.Theinterspacebetweenthef r
uit
s
shoul
dbef i
ll
edwithstrawandfi
rml i
ningall
aroundthecontainer.Forl
ong-di
stance
tr
ansport
ati
on,fr
uit
sar ehel
dat7°Cfor10-20days.

St
orage:

Whenf rui
tsar etr
ansport
edforlongdi stancesortobest oredforsev eraldays,
refr
igerat
edt r
ansporti
srequir
edt oslowdownr i
peningpr ocess.I
nt ropicalareas,
parti
all
yripe,heal
thyandunbruisedpineappl ecouldbest oredforalmost20day swhen
refr
igerat
edat10- 13°CwithRH85- 90%.Fr uitsharvestedinearlystageofr ipeningare
storedat7-10°C.Exposureofpineapplest otemperatur esbelow7°Cr esul
tsinchill
i
ng
i
njury.Controll
edatmospherestorage( 3-5%O2and5- 8%CO2)del ay edsenescenceand
reducedrespirati
on.

CoolChai
n:

Coolchai
nisessenti
alduri
ngthetransportofexportqual
i
tycommodit
yallt
heway
fr
om thefar
mt othecustomer.Thishel
psi nmaintai
ningt
hetemper
atur
einsi
det
hebox
atthesamelowlevelasinthecoldstorage.

Thev
ari
ousst
agesoft
hecool
chai
nar
e:

 Coldstor
eatt hef arm.
 Refri
geratedtruckf rom far
mt otheairpor
t
 Coldstor
eatt heai rport
.
 Buil
dingupoft hepal l
etinacoldst
or eattheair
port
.
 Loadingt heaircr
af t
sdirect
lyfr
om thecoldstoreinashortt
ime.
 Cargoaircraftmai ntai
nscoldstor
et emperatur
einhold.
 Offloadingdirectintoacoldstoreinthereceiv
ingcount
ry.

BANANAPRODUCTI
ON

I
NTRODUCTI
ON

Bananasar
eamaj orfr
uitcropintheworl
d.I
tisani
mpor
tantcr
opi
nthehumi
dtr
opi
cal
l
owlandswit
hyearroundfruitpr
oducti
on.

Thecommer ci
albananaisagi
ant,
per
enni
al,
herbaceousmonocot
yledonbel
ongi
ngt
o
thefamil
yMusaceaeofthegenusMusa.ThegenusMusahasabout25species,
some
withnumeroussubspeci
es.
11
Edi
blebananasarederi
vedfr
om eiherMusaaccumi
t nata(
A-genome)orMusa
bal
bisi
ana(B-genome)oracombinati
onofbot
h(ABgenomes).

Bananacul t
ivar
sar eei t
herdipl
oidortri
ploi
dwithsomenewt et
rapl
oidsthathavebeen
developedbybr eeding.There’salsoconsider
ablesomati
cvari
ati
onthathasledtoa
greatrangeofcul t
ivars.Bananasar edescri
bedbythei
rnameandgenomi cmake-up
e.
g.
‘Pi
sangRaj a’=AAB
AABi ndi
catest hatiti
sahy bri
dwithtwogenomesofAandonegenomeofB.
Mostdesser tbananasar eAAorAAA.Thet ri
ploi
dAAAisthemostimpor t
antinthe
tr
ade.

ORI
GINANDDI
STRI
BUTI
ON

Thepri
maryauthorofor
igi
nist
houghtt
obeMal
aysi
aandt
hePhi
l
ippi
nes.Al
sosome
areasi
nBorneoandPapuaNewGuineaarei
mpl
i
cated.

Thet
ypi M.accumi
cal nat
ahasseededf
rui
t;butdesser
tcul
ti
varsweredevel
opedf
rom i
t
vi
apart
henocar
pyandster
il
it
yai
dedbysel
ectionandveget
ati
vepropagat
ion.

M.bal
bisi
anaal
sohaswi
l
dseededf
rui
tandwassi
mil
arl
ytakeni
ntocul
ti
vat
ionwi
tht
he
sel
ect
ionofnat
ural
dipl
oid,
tri
ploi
dandt
etr
apl
oidhy
bri
ds.

Bananasar
enowcult
ivat
edt
hroughoutt
het
ropi
cal
andi
nsel
ect
edar
easi
nthe
subt
ropi
calr
egi
ons.

UsesofBananas

Bananasi sausef ulsourceofv itaminsA, C,andB6.

Hasaboutt wicet heconcent rationofKcompar edwi thot herripef rui
ts.
Plant
ainbananasar east apl
ef oodandpr ovideener gyandpr otein.
Bananasar eusedi nspeci aldietswher eeaseofdi gest i
bil
ity,
lowf at,
nochol est
erol,
mineralsandv i
tami ncontentar erequired.
Thefruitdoesnotcausedi gest ivedisturbance; i
treadilyneutralizesfreeacidinthe
stomachanddoesnotgi veriset ouricacid.
Veryli
ttl
epr ocessi ngofbananai sdone.
Procedur esi nclude:-
Canni ngassl ices,Dryingassl i
cesorf lakes,Freezingofj uice,Fryi
ng,and
Ferment ation.
 Bananaessencei salsoext r
actedasacl earcol ourlessliquidusedindeser ts,
j
ui cesanddr i
nks.
 Dr i
edr i
pef rui
tcanbemadei ntof l
our.
 Abeeri sbr ewedf rom pl antainsandconsumedi nUgandaRwanda, Burundiand
Tanzani a.
12
 
Thecor
ms,
shoot
sandmal
ebudsar
eal
soeat
enasast
archsour
ceorv
eget
abl
e.

Themalebud,wit
ht heout
erfibr
ousbractsremovedisboi
l
edi
nsout
h-EastAsi
aand
eat
enasav eget
able.
Bananal
eavesareusedasf oodwrappersforst
eaming.

BOTANYANDPLANTDESCRI
PTI
ON

ThePl
ant

Thebananai
sa2- 9m per
ennialmonocarpi
cmonocott
hatpr
oducesbot
ha
pseudost
em andatr
ueundergroundstem (
rhi
zome)
.

Thetr
uestem i
smadeupofcondensedi nter
nodesandremai nsv eget
ati
veunt
il
fl
oweri
ngti
me.Thepseudostem (
tree)consi
stsofover
lappingleafsheathswi
thnew
l
eavesandfi
nal
lyt
hei
nfl
orescence,growingupthr
ought hecentre.

Leafl
aminaarel
arge1.
5–4m l
ongand0.
7–1m wi
dewi
thpr
onouncedmi
dri
bsand
paral
l
elv
eins.

Stomataoccuronbothsur
faces,
with3ti
mesmoreontheadaxi
calsur
face.Leav
es
take6-
8day st
ofull
yunrol
lfr
om theti
pandcanl
astupt
o50day sormore.

Leav
esemer
gingj
ustbef
oref
lower
ingcanl
i
veupt
o150day
sormor
e.

25–50leavesemer ge,
with10-15functi
onalleav
espr esentatonet
ime.Thi
spr
ovi
des
2
atot
alar
eaof25m ati nfl
orescenceemergence.
Thenumberofl
eavesatf l
ower i
ngisposit
ivel
ycorrel
atedwithbunchweight
.

Pol
li
nati
onandFrui
tSet
Thebananaf
rui
tdevel
opspar
thenocar
pical
l
y.Ovul
esshri
velear
lyandar
erecogni
zed
asbr
ownspecksinthematur
efrui
t-al
ongtheaxi
alpl
acenta.

Somet i
messeedsar efoundi nmat urefruit
sofedi bl
ecul t
ivars,especiallythosewit
ht he
B-genome.The“ Cavendish”grouphasabsol utefemalest eri
li
tywi thsomev iabl
epoll
en.
Thef l
oweringsti
mul usinbananai sunknown.Sof artemper ature, photoperi
odism,and
numberofl eavesdev el
opedhav ebeendi scountedasi ni
ti
ationf actors.
Frui
tMor phology
Thef r
uitofbananai saber r
y.
Theexocar pismadeupof :epidermiallayer,aer
enchy mal ayer
Thebananaf l
eshisthemesocar p
Theendocar pisat hi
nlini
ngnextt ot heov ar
iancav i
ty.
Theaxialplacentahasnumer ousairspacesandv entr
al v
ascul arbundl es.Eachnodeon
thebunchst al
khasadoubl erowoff l
ower sformingacl usteroff ruitt
hatis
13
commer
cial
l
ycal
l
eda“
hand”
.

Theindi
vi
dualfr
uiti
scall
eda“f
inger
”.“
Canendish’
bananascanhaveupto16hands
perbunchwit
hupt oabout30f
inger
sperhand.Bunchescanweighupto70kgs.

Harvestmatur
ityisacommercial
stage-(¾roundf
rui
t)
.
Fr
uitstil
lhassomeangularit
yandi sabout75% ofi
tspot
enti
almaxi
mum si
ze.Fr
uit
al
lowedt omatureonthet
reetotheroundst
agemayshowspli
tt
ing.

Fr
uitnumberandsi
zedecr
easef
rom t
hepr
oxi
mal
tot
hedi
stal
endoft
hebunch.

Breeding
Amaj ori
tyofbreedi
ngef f
ortshavebeendir
ectedattheAAAgr oupbecauseitist
he
gr
oupwi ththehighestexportpot
ential
.Howev er
,femalester
il
it
yandlownumber sof
vi
ablepollenmakeconv enti
onalbreedi
ngdi
ffi
cult
.Br eedi
ngismainlysuppor
tedbythe
I
nternati
onalNetworkfortheImprovementofBananasandPl antai
ns(INI
BAP).

Selecti
onandEv aluati
on
Somacl onalVar
iat
ionandmutati
onbreedi
ngef for
tsar
eunderwayandgearedt
owar
ds
control
li
ng:-Bl
arksigat
oka,
Fusar
ium wil
t,Bunchytopvi
rusandNematodes.

Ot
herfocusf ori
mprovementi ncl
ude:
-
 Resistancetotheweev i
lborer
,dwarfi
sm,tol
erancetocol
danddr oughtand
improv edbunchyi
eld,harv
estindex,f
rui
tquali
tyandstor
abi
li
ty.
 Somegenet i
cengineeri
ngpot enti
ali
scur r
entl
ybeingdevel
opedt otargetspeci
fi
c
problems.

ECOLOGYOFBANANA

Soi
ls

 Deepf r
iabl
eloamswi thnat ur
al drainageandnosoi lcompactionareprefer
red.
 Highorganicmat t
erandf erti
l
ityassur ehighyiel
ds.
 SoilpH4.5–7. 5–opt imum 5. 8-6.5.
 Bananacanwi t
hstandawi dev arietyofpHr anges.
 Mostexpor t
edbananasar eproducedonhi ghlyfer
ti
leall
uvi
alloam soi
ls.Soil
text
uresrangingfrom sandst oheav ycl
aysareusedf orbananaproducti
on.

Cl
imat
e

Bananai
saf
rui
toft
hehumi
dtr
opi
csandmi
l
dsubt
ropi
cs.

Temper
atur
e

14
 Ar angeof15- 380coccur sinmostproductionar eas;optimum temper at
ureis270c.
 Theopt i
mum f ordrymat teraccumulat
ionandf ruitrepi
ningisabout200candf orthe
appearanceofnewl eavesis300c.
 Gr owthinbananaceasesat100candcanl eadt o“ choke-thr
oat”disor
ders;
inf
lor
escenceemer gencei si
mpededandpoorf ruitdevelopmentoccur s.
0
 Temper at
uresless15 Ccanbewi t
hstoodf orshortperiod;butatlessthan60c
damageoccur s.
Frost–bananasar etenderandcannotwi thst
andanyf rost
.I tcausesrapiddeathofthe
pseudostem.

Temperat
ureshi
gherthan380cal
socausegr
owthcessat
ionandleafbur
n.Plant
s
growi
nginthesubt
ropicspr
oducefewerl
eav
esandtakelongert
oproduceanddevel
op
fr
uit
s.

Rainf
all
Bananasr equireregularwatersupplythatmat chesorsl i
ghtl
yexceedsthef r
eewater
evaporati
onr ate.Rainfal
l r
equi
rementv ari
esf rom 900-2000m peryeardependingon
thecul
t i
var.Irri
gati
oni sessenti
alforhighyiel
dsi frai
nfalli
slesst
hanev aporat
ion.
Areaswi t
hv eryhighrainfal
lsmaybet ooov ercastforoptimum photosynthesi
sand
havemor edi seaseproblems.

Li
ght
Ful
lsunli
ghti
srequir
edforbestgr
owth.Howev er,
frui
tsunbur
ncanoccur,
especi
all
yif
watersuppl
yislow.Shadedorovercastcondi
ti
onsextendthegr
owthcycl
ebyupt o3
monthsandalsoreducebunchsi
ze.

Photoperi
odi
sm
Thereisnoevi
denceofphotoper
iodi
cevent
sinbananas.I
ncreasi
ngthephotoper
iod
fr
om 10-14hrstendstoi
ncr
easetherat
eofnewleafappear
ance,probabl
ydueto
i
ncreasedphotosynt
hesi
s.

Cult
ivars
Cult
ivarsofbananasareclassi
fi
edbasedontheplantstatur
eorsi
zeoft
hemat ur
e
pseudosterm.Basedont hisabout200-
300cloneshavebeennamedinvar
ious
countri
es,manyhavingdi
fferentnamesindi
ff
erentl
ocations.

Dwar
fs(
1.2–2.
1.m hei
ght
)
 Chinesedwarf
 Dwar fconv
endi
sh
 Juba

Medi
um SI
ZE(
2.7–3.
6M)
 Mul
alu
 Mut
ahato
15
 Si
ali
anul
i

Gi
ant(
tal
l)cul
ti
var
s(3.
6+m)
 Ugandagr een
 Gruben
 Ugandared
 Kitar
asa
 Grossmitchel
 Valeny
 Lacatan
 GiantCavendish

Cul
ti
varscanalsobeclassi
fi
edbasedonuses:
-
 Dessertcul
tiv
ars(AA&AAAgenomes)
 Plantai
ncul
tivar
s(BB&BBB)
 Brewingcul
tivar
s

Cul
tur
alPr
act
ices

Propagat
ion
Sexual–
Seedsareonlyusedi
nbr
eedi
ngpr
ogr
ammes.Manyoft
hecommer
cial
cul
ti
var
sar
e
femalest
eri
le.

Asexual
Sev
eralvegetati
vepropagul
escanbeuseddependi
ngon:-
 Avai
labil
ity
 Thei
ry i
eldperfor
mance
 Economi cli
feoftheorchar
d/Per
sonal
/regi
onalpr
efer
ences

Ther
eare5t ypesofveget
ati
vepr
opagul
esthatcanbeuti
li
zed.
Gener
all
y,anysucker
susedmusthaveapieceoftherhi
zomeattachedandaf
unct
ional
api
calgr
owingpoint.

i
) Peeper
s–Thesear
ethemosti
deal
typeofpl
ant
ingmat
eri
alsbecauseoft
hei
r
superi
orest
ablishmentpotenti
al.Theyalsoest
abli
shorchardswit
hlong
economicli
ves.Thesear esuckersthatarej
ustemergi
ngfrom thegr
ound
(peepi
ng).Problem –theyaretheleastavai
l
able.

i
i
) Swor
dsucker
s–Thesear
esucker
sthatar
emuchmor
eadv
ancedi
ngr
owt
h.
Theyhaveswordshapedleaveswi
thabasediameterof15cm andareabout75
cm t
all
.Theyaremostnumer ousi
nastoolandarethemostut i
l
izedforpl
anti
ng.
Theyhaveafai
restabl
ishmentpot
ent
ial
andhav eaneconomicalli
feofabout10
yr
safterest
abl
i
shment .

16
i
i
i) Mai
densucker
s–Thesear
emucht
all
erandol
der(
5-8mont
hsol
d).
Theyhaveabasediameterof20-25cm.Theyar enotthebestpr
opagul
es
becauset
heyfl
owerearl
ybef oreproperstoolestabl
i
shment.Theyareusual
l
y
choppedtoaconv
enientheightbeforeplant
ing.

i
v) Wat
er/
aer
ialsheet
s–Thesear
esucker
sthatcomeupaf
terashowerofr
ain.
Theyar esuperf
icial
lyat
tachedtotherhizomeandrar
elyhav
erootsonthem.
Havev erybroadleavesandappearflushyandweak.Theyarenotpopul
aras
propagulesbecauseoft hei
rweaknessandpoorestabl
ishment
.Touset hem,
theymustbecutof fwit
habi gchunkoft hecor
n.

v
) Bul
lheads/
cor
ms–Thesear
etheunder
groundst
emsoft
hebananapl
ant
.They
canbeusedeffect
ivel
y,especi
all
ywher
edroughthasclear
edal
lbananas.They
aredugupandchoppedi ntopi
eceshav
ing‘
eyes’(buds)
.Befor
eusetheseneed
tobetr
eatedasfol
lows.

a) Al
lrootsmustbetri
mmedof ftoexcl
udeanyr esidentnemat odesorroot
weev i
leggs.
b)Theirbasesshoul
dbedippedinafungicide/nemat i
cidesuspension.
c)Theyshouldbe“pri
med”-acuringtr
eatmentt hatfaci
lit
ateswoundhealing
forabout3weeksandalsoall
owsnewr ootini
ti
ation.

Tissueculture
Bananascanal sobepr opagatedinvitr
otoall
owf orrapidclonalmul
ti
pli
cati
onof
select
edcul ti
vars.Thi salsofacil
it
atesproduct
ionofdi seasefreemat
eri
als.TC
plantl
etsalsohav e:-
 Hi ghfieldest ablishmentr ates
 Uni formityofhar vestti
ming
 Pr ecocityandhi ghpr oducti
on.
Somacl onalvariationi stheonlyproblem her
e–i tneedst obekeptatalowlevel
s(<3%)
.

Fi
eldest
abl
ishment
Hol
epr
epar
ati
on
 Hol
edimensi
onsdependonthepotenti
aloft
hear ea.
 I
nari
dareaslar
geholesar
eneeded:120xm x120cm x120cm.
 I
nmoderatel
ywetareassmal
lerhol
esmaysuf f
ice:60cm x60cm x60cm.

Hol
efi
ll
ing–
Hol
esshoul
dbefil
ledupto2/3full
.Thetop1/
3islef
ttocreat
eabasinforwater
col
l
ect
ionandwil
lbesubsequentl
yfil
l
edwit
hdebri
s.Apestici
detocur
tail
nematodes
maybeappli
eddur
inghol
ef i
l
li
ng.Insomecountr
iespl
ant
ingisdoneinfurr
ows.

Spaci
ng
Dependsont
hecul
ti
var
s,env
ironment
alcondi
ti
ons,wat
erandsoi
lfer
ti
li
ty.Dwar
f
17
cul
ti
var
sar
eusual
l
yspacedcl
osert
hangi
antones.

Recommendat ion:
Dwarf:2.7m x2.7m
Medium: 3.
0m x3.0m
Giant
:3.6m x3.6m

Usuall
y,pl
anti
ngdensi
ti
esof1000–3000plant
sperhect
arear
eused.Rectangul
ar
si
ngle–ordoubl er
owcroppi
ngcanbedone.Doubl
erowsspaced2m apar
twith3.5m
al
leysforaccessar
ecommon.

Ir
ri
gation
Canbedonebyf urr
oworov er
-headsprinkler
s.Usedmai nlyt
osupplementrai
nfal
land
shouldbecal cul
atedbasedonpanev aporati
on, soilwaterholdi
ngcapaci
ty,
bananaroot
depth,waterdepletionandt hecr opwat eruse.
Importantcharacteristi
csofbananasast heyr el
at etowat ermanagement.
i
) Highwat erlosspot enti
al,
associ at
edwi t
hitslargebroadl
eaves.
i
i) Shall
owr ootsy stem: -90%ofr ootsaret hetop300mm oft hesoi
lprofi
l
e.
i
ii
) Poorabi li
t ytoabsor bwaterfrom adr yingsoil
i
v) Rapi dphy siol
ogicalresponset owat erdefici
ts.

Ferti
li
zation
Tomai ntainoptimum pr
oducti
vi
ty,
regul
arfer
ti
liz
erpract
icesneedt
obefol
l
owed.
Usingmi neralanal
ysi
sofplant
s,r
angesofdefici
encyandadequacyhav
ebeen
suggested–l argeamountsofnutr
ient
sarerequir
ed.

Theamountr
emovedbyf
reshfr
uit
sofCav
endi
shbananas(
50t
ons/
ha/
year
):
N =189kg/ha,
P = 29kg/ha,K =778kg/ha,
Ca=101kg/ha

Thi
sisequi
val
entt
o

49%N oft
het
otal
stakenupbyt
hepl
ant
56%P
54%K
45%Ca

Ther ateoff
erti
l
izerapplicationdependsonthecli
mate,soi
lty
pe,v
ari
ety
,management
practi
cesandthey i
eldsobt ained.
Delayingfer
ti
li
zati
oncansi gnif
icant
lyr
educey i
elds(
by40-50%)ormor e;3months
delaymakesitdiff
icultf
orthepl antstor
ecover
.

Recommendat
ionsar
ebasedonsoi
l
sandt
issueanal
yses.

N -Appl
iedf
rom t
hebegi
nningduetohi
ghleachi
ngpot
enti
al.
- 100–125gofCAN/plantori
tsequi
val
entaft
erpl
antest
abl
i
shment
.
18
P -Suppli
edi niti
all
yinplant
ingholes
- 250g/ pl ant
- Subsequentaddi ti
onsgivendependingonti
ssueanal
ysis.
- Suf f
icientP -0. 3–0. 45%P2O5inti
ssue
- Suf f
icientP -20ppm i nsoil
- I fl
evelsar elowthensupplementat
ionwithDSPat200-250g/
plantori
ts
equivalenti sgiv
en.

K -Cr
iti
cali
nbananaproduct
ion
- Provi
desphysi
ologi
caladvantagesinpl
antse.g.i
ncreasi
ngbananadisease
tol
erance
- Improvi
ngthekeepi
ngquality
- Improvi
ngfl
avor
- 3.3–4%K20i nti
ssueanal
y si
sissuffi
cient
- Yearl
yappli
cati
onofmanur eofpotash(110g/plant
/)isrecommended.

OrganicManures
TheiruseiscommoninE.Afr
ica.InUgandagrower
ssolel
yusemanures.About30-
60
kg/stooli
sappli
edev
ery2years.
Manur esshoul
dbeanal
yzedtodeter
mineproperr
atesofappl
i
cat
ion.

Pr
uni
ng

Obj
ect
ivesofpr uningbananas
 Tocont rol
pestse. g.weevi
ls
 Toextendt helifespanoftheorchard
 Toimpr ovey i
eldperformance
 Tospreadt hetimet hebuncheswill
beobtained
 Todictatemar ketav ai
l
abil
it
yofthebunches.

Twobasi
ctechni
quesar
eused.

a) Set
ti
ngfoll
owers
- Techniqueinvolv
esselect
ingsucker
sonastool
todict
atewhi
chwill
comei
nto
bear
ingwhenandi nwhatorder.
- Usual l
y3-5suckerscanbechosenperst
ool
andt heor
dermai
ntai
ned.

i
) 5sucker sperstool–thestagesofsucker
swil
lbeasf
oll
ows:
 Fl
ower i
ngsucker
 Adolescentsucker–t ofl
owerin3-
4mont hsaf
tert
hef
ir
sthasbeen
harvest
ed.
 Granddaught ersucker
 Greatgranddaught er
 Bud/peeper
19
 i
i
) 4suckersperstool–her
ewehav
e
 Fl
ower i
ng/mother
 Daughter
 Granddaughter
 Bud/peeper

i
i
i) 3suckers
 Floweri
ng/mot
her
 Daughter
 Bud

Thedeci
siononthesystem dependson:-
 Marketdemand–f orlargebunchest he3suckeror4suckersystemsisempl
oyed.
 Ageoft hestool–f orol
dstoolsthe3suckersyst
em isadopted.
 Climate–underhi ghrai
nfal
lregi
mest he5suckerssystem canbe
advant
ageous.
 Soil f
ert
il
it
y–underhi ghfer
ti
li
tysoilst
he5suckersystem canbeideal
.

b) Removal
ofexcesssucker
sandstri
pping.
 Anyexcessandunwantedsuckersshouldber emovedfr
om t
hestool
.
 Suckersshoul
dberemov edinaci
rcularfashi
ontorest
ri
ctst
ool
spreadi
ng.
 Stri
ppi
ngistheremovalofdeadl
eav esandsheaths.

WeedManagement
 Weedsar eamaj orprobl
em duringstandestabl
i
shingbeforecanopycl
osureoccur
s.
 Cul
tivati
onneedst obecar eful
lydonet oav
oiddamaget othesurfacef
eederroot
s.
 Herbi
cidescanbeusedoncet hebananacanopyi ssuf
fici
entl
yhightoavoi
dcontact
wit
hthel eaves.
 Mulchingandi nter
croppi
ngcanbeuseddur ingearl
ystanddevelopment
.Fail
ureto
weedcanl eadt osevereyiel
ddecline.

Speci
aloper
ati
onsi
nbananapr
oduct
ion

1.Def
lower
ing
Thisisaprocedureperf
ormedwhenf rui
tsareaboutt
oreachmat uri
ty.
I
tinvolv
esremov alofdri
eduppisti
l
sst i
l
lcli
ngingtot
hebananafingers.I
fthesear
e
l
efttheycanbespor ul
ati
ongroundsforfungiduri
ngwetweather
.

2.Pr
oppi
ng
Iti
sanessenti
aloperat
ioningi
antandmedium heightcul
ti
varsthatpr
oducelarge
bunches.
Theoperati
oninv
olvesplaci
ngY-shapedpr
opsatthet hr
oatofthepseudostem to
supportt
heexcessweightcausedbythebunch.Ifnotdone,t
hest emslodge.

20
3.Ear
thi
ngup
Theoper ati
onistakencar
eofdur i
ngweeding.
I
tinvolv
espul l
i
ngsoi l
towardsthestool
.Ithel
pspr
ovi
desuppor
tandencour
ages
thegrowt hofvi
goroussuckers.

4.Removaloft
hemal
epar
ts
Themalepartofthefr
uitbunchusual
l
yhangsonasthebunchdevel
ops.Thi
s
shoul
dberemov edbeforematur
it
ytoavoi
dcreat
inganal
ter
nat
ivesi
nkfor
metabol
i
tes/nutri
ent
s.

5.Baggi
ng/
Bunchcover
ing
Polyethy lenebunchcov ers(30-40µm thick)areusedt ocov erthebunches–t hey
i
mpr ov ey i
eldandmai nt
ainhighquali
ty.Somecov ersareimpr egnatedwit
h
pesticidest oreducethri
pdamage.Thecov er
spr oduceami crocl
imatearoundthe
0
bunch( increasedtemperature0.5–1.5candhi ghr el
ati
vehumi dit
y).Theyalso
preventf i
ngersfrom bei
ngchaf edbyleav esandcov er
edindust .
Perforat edcov ersmaybeusedi nhotareast ofacil
itat
eaerat i
onandcooling.These
cover sar eappliedaft
erthebr act
shavef all
enandt heyshouldhangabout15cm
belowt hedi st
alhand.

Harvesti
ng
Duri
ngmat ur at
ioni ndi
vi
dualfi
nger slooseangul ar
it
yincross-secti
on.Frui
tforexpor
t
areharvestedgr eenatabout75%mat uri
tyi.
e.10-14weeksaf terfl
oweremergencein
thetr
opicsandupt o9mont hsint hecool subtr
opical
regions.
Moremat uref r
ui thaveashorterpost -
harvestli
feandaremor eliabl
etobesunbur nt
andsplit
.
Othercri
teriausedt ojudgemat urit
yinclude:-
 Dr yi
ngofl eav es
 Dr yi
ngofst ylarends
 Day sfrom bunchemer gence( 7-24weeks)dependi ngoncul t
ivat
ion,
season,crop
managementandenv ir
onment .
 Pul ptopeel ratioandskinfir
mness.

HarvestOper ati
on
Thebunchi sremovedf rom theplantbycutt
inganot chinthepseudostem while
suppor t
ingthebunchwi t
hapol eandslowlyloweringitont heshoul
derpadofa
harvester.
Thest em isthenful
lycutl eavi
ngabout30cm ofpeduncl e.Bunchesaretransport
edto
thepacki ngshedonpaddedt r
ail
ersoronanov erheadcablesy st
em.
De-handingcanbeper formedi nthefi
eldori
nt hepackingshed.Car eshouldbetaken
toavoidanymechani calinjur
ythatwouldreducef r
uitquali
ty.

Ri
pening
Dessertbananasar
eal
l
owedt
ori
penandar
emai
nlyeat
enr
awwhent
heyhav
eal
ow

21
starch,
highsugarandhi ghf lavor.Pl ant ainshav ehighst archcont entandar eeat en
whengr eenorr ipeaf tercooki ng–boi li
ng, f
ry i
ngorr oast i
ng.
Ther i
peningpr ocessf orexpor tdesser tbananasi scar r
iedoutbyspeci al
istsunder
control
ledcondi ti
onsj ustbef oredi stri
but ionandmar ketingtoconsumer s.Under
control
ledcondi ti
ons, ethylenei ssuppl iedf rom compr essedgascy l
inder
s, ethyl
ene
generator
soret hylenegener ati
ngchemi calse. g.ethephonandet hrel.Commer cial
ly
,
bananasar et reatedwi t
h100ppm ofet hylenef orabout24hour sundercont rol
led
temperature, humi dityandv entil
ationt opr ev entCO2bui l
dup.
0
19C -4day stor i
pen
0
14.5C -10day st oripen
Inlocalmar ketsf ruitsarer i
penedbycov er i
ngwi t
hat arpaul i
norcl othafterinsert
inga
packofcal cium car bi
det ogener ateacet yl
enewhi chisa100t i
mesl esseffecti
ve
analogueofet hy l
ene.Apr olifi
cet hylenepr oduci ngfruit,suchasav ocado,canal sobe
usedasanet hy l
enesour ce.Bananal eav esory oungl eav esoftreessuchasGl iri
cidi
a
sepium aregoodet hy l
enegener ators.

BananaPackHouseOper
ati
ons

Gr
adi
ng:

Thehandsaregradedbasedonthenumberandsizeoffi
nger
sineachhand.Over
ri
pe
andinj
uredf
rui
tsarediscar
dedatt
hisst
age.Bananaissentt
othelocal
marketas
bunches.

Packagi
ng:

Forpackingandt ransportati
ont hebunchi spaddedwi thbananal eaves.Af ungici
dal
pastepreparedbyt heCentralFoodTechnol ogicalResear chInsti
tute,Mysorei sappli
ed
tocutendst oprev entst
em endr ot.Af t
ert hepast edr i
es,thebunchesar eputi nto
polyt
henet ubes(175gauge, 55cm wi dewi th1. 8cm wi thholes10cm apar t )
.The
bunchesshoul dthenbest ackedv ert
icallyorhor izontall
yont hegr oundaddedwi th
wil
tedordr ybananal eavesincaset herei sdelayi ntransportati
on.Forexpor ts,bananas
areremov edfrom thestem andhandsandcl ustersoft hebananasar epackedi n
corr
ugatedboxeswi t
hperforatedpol yethylenel i
ners.Thecur vedsi deofthehandsi s
keptfaci
ngupwar dsmaki ngsur ethatt hecr ownoft heupperhandsdonotdamaget he
bananaunder neath.

St
orage:

Inthecoldstorage,bananasarestoredat13-14°Cwi
th90-95%rel
ativehumi dit
y.Under
controll
edatmosphericcondit
ions,2-5%oxygenand2-5%carbondioxideshouldbe
usedt osupplementtemperatureandhumi di
tymanagementduri
ngt r
anspor tand
storage.Maintai
ningethyl
eneconcent r
ati
onbelow1ppm canextendpost harvestl
if
eof
mat uregreenbananas.Mature-gr
eenbananascanbest or
edforupt o3weeksi n

22
et
hyl
ene-
fr
eeai
rorupt
o6weeksi
nacont
rol
l
edat
mospher
eat14°C.

CoolChai
n:

Coolchai
nisessenti
alduri
ngthetransportofexportqual
i
tycommodi tyal
ltheway
fr
om thefar
mt othecustomer.Thishel
psi nmaintai
ningt
het emperat
urei
nsidet
hebox
atthesamelowlevelasinthecoldstorage.Thevari
ousstagesofthecoolchai
nare:

 Coldstor
eatt hef arm.
 Refri
geratedtruckf rom far
mt otheairpor
t
 Coldstor
eatt heai rport
.
 Buil
dingupoft hepal l
etinacoldst
or eattheair
port
.
 Loadingt heaircr
af t
sdirect
lyfr
om thecoldstoreinashortt
ime.
 Cargoaircraftmai ntai
nscoldstor
et emperatur
einhold.
 Offloadingdirectintoacoldstoreinthereceiv
ingcount
ry.

Car
PAPAYAS( icapapaya)
I
ntr
oduct
ion
Thepapay abel
ongstothef amil
yCar i
caceae–asmal lfamil
yofdicot
y l
edonousplant
swith
fourgener Car
a: i
ca,Jari
l
la,Jacarat
ia(tr
opicalAmericanori n)andCy
gi licomorpha(Equat
ori
al
Afri
ca).30speciesofCari
caceaear enowi dent
if
iable,
wi t
hthefoll
owingdistr
ibut
i Car
on: i
ca,21
speci Cyl
es; i
comorpha,2species;Jacarat
ia,6species;andJari
ll
a,onespecies.

Papay C.papaya)i
a( sthemosti mport
anteconomi
cspeciesoft esofCar
he21speci ica.
Commonnamesi nclude:papay a,
papaworpawpaw( Engli
sh)
,papai
(Swahi
li
),papay
er( Fr
ench),
mugua(Chinese).Mostspeci esareher
baceoussi
ngl
est emmedanderectpl
ants.Carica
speci
esaredioecious,exceptfort
hemonoeciousC.monoicaandthepol
ygamousC.papay a.

Or
iginandDistri
buti
on
Al
lCari
caspeci
esarenat
ivet
otr
opi
cal
Amer
ica.Thegr
eat
estdi
ver
sit
yisf
oundi
ntheYucat
an-
sanIgnaci
o-Peter
-Ri
oMot aguaar eaofCentralAmerica.Wildpopulat
ionshaveagreater
div
ersi
tythandomesticatedpopul ati
ons.Intheeighteenthcent
urythecropspreadtothe
Cari
bbean,Indi
a,Phi
li
ppinesandt hesouthpacifi
cregion.Papayaisnowgr owninallt
ropi
cal
countr
iesandinmanysubt ropicalr
egionsoftheworld.Earlydi
str
ibuti
onwasenhancedbyt he
abundanceofseedsint hefr ui
tandtheirl
ongv i
abil
it
y .

Ut
il
izat
ionofpapay
a

Papay
asareconsumedf
reshasbreakf
astf
rui
tordessertori
nsal
ads.I
nAsi
athegr
eenf
rui
t
ar
eservedi
nsalads,
asv
egetabl
esormadeintopr
eserves.

Papayasarealsoprocessedint
ovar
iousproducts–dehydrat
edsli
ces,chunksandsl
i
cesf
or
tr
opical
frui
tsalads,orpr
ocessedi
ntopureesforjui
cesandnect
arbase.

Apr
oteol
yti
cenzy
me(
papai
n)i
sext
ract
edf
rom t
hesapandusedasameatt
ender
izer
,
23
di
gest
ivemedi
cinei
nthephar
maceut
ical
indust
ry,
inbr
ewi
ngandt
anni
nindust
ri
esandi
nthe
manuf
actur
eofchewinggum.

Asal
addr
essi
ngi
smadef
rom gr
oundpapay
a.Seeds.

Papay
acomposi
ti
on:

Amountper100gedi
blepor
ti
on

Wat
er 87g

Enegr
y 192kJ

Pr
otei
n 0.
39g

Li
pid 0.
06g

CHOs 12.
2g

Fi
bre 0.
58g

Ash 0.
57g

Mi
ner
als

Ca 30mg

Fe 0.
2mg

Mg 21mg

P 12mg

K 183mg

Na 4mg

Vi
tami
ns

Ascor
bicaci
d 84mg

Thi
ami
ne 0.
03mg

Ri
bof
lav
ine 0.
04mg

Ni
aci
n 0.
33mg

Vi
tA 1093mg

24
Botani
calCharact
eri
sti
cs
St
em -Thepapayai
salar
geher
baceouspl
ant
,wi
thasi
ngl
eer
ectst
em (
occasi
onal
l
ybr
anched)
,
whichcanatt
ainheightsofupto9m, ter
minati
ngi
nacr ownoflar
gel eaves.Anatural
prol
if
erat
ionofaxi
ll
arybranchesoccurswhenthet
reesare5–10y earsold.Thestem i
ssemi
-
woodyandhollow,withasmoot hgrey
ishbar
kbeari
nglarge,
prominentleafscar
s.At hi
nmil
ky
sapoozesoutofthest em wheniti
swounded.

Leaves-Thef
oli
ageoft
het
reei
smadeupofacl
ust
erofl
eav
esatt
heapexandal
ongt
he
upperpar
tofthest
em.Newleav
esar
econst
antl
yformedattheapexasol
dleav
essenesce
andfal
l.Plant
swil
lhav
eappr
oxi
mat
ely15matur
eleavesatanyonet
ime.

Fl
ower
s-Fl
ower
sofpapay
aar
ebor
neonmodi
fi
edi
nfl
orescences,
whi
chappeari
ntheaxi
l
sof
l
eaves.Theinf
lor
escencetypedependsonthesexoft
het r
ee.Tworacesofmalet
reesare
r
ecognized–onethatrar
elyproducesf
rui
tandanot
herthatfr
uit
sfr
om normal
hermaphrodi
ti
c
f
lowersduri
ngcoolmonths.

Femalet
reesproduceonl
yfemal
efl
ower
s(onshor
t4–6cm peduncl
es)wi
thaf
unct
ional
pist
il
devoi
dofstamens..

Theher maphrodi
ti
cf ormi sbet
weenthetwounisexualfl
owerty
pes–t hef
lower,onashor
t
peduncle,i
scharacteri
zedbyanelongat
edpi
sti
lwi t
hfivesti
gmati
cray
sandf i
vepetal
swhi
ch
arefusedtoform acoroll
atube.

Sexexpressi
oniscl
osel
yli
nkedtothegenot
ypexenv
ironment
ali
nter
act
ions,
whi
chhav
e
resul
tedinawidear
rayofmodif
iedfor
ms.

Inpapaya,st
amencar pel
loi
dyisexpressedundercool
t emperat
ur es,
withi
ncr
easingsever
it
yat
l
owert emperatur
esinthe40day sbeforeant
hesi
s.Femal est
eril
i
tyoccursatwarm
temperatur
es,againwit
hincreasi
ngseveri
tyathi
ghertemperaturesinthe40daysbefor
e
anthesi
s.

Pol
li
nat
ionandf
rui
tset–Nopol
l
inat
ionpr
obl
emsar
eexper
iencedi
nmi
xedpl
ant
ingsof
pisti
ll
ateandher maphrodi
ti
ct reesorinpur el
yhermaphroditi
cstands.However,
pr obl
ems
occurwhendi oeciouscult
ivarsareplantedwi t
haninadequat enumberofmaletrees.The
recommendedr ati
ooffemal etomal etreesis8:1.Howev er,onemaletr
eeper15–20f emal
e
treesprovi
desadequatewi ndpol l
inat
ion,ifmalesarel
ocat edappropr
iat
elywi
threspectto
prevail
ingwinds.

Frui
tsetisnotaprobl
em underopenpoll
i
nationi
nawell
-managedorchar
d.Annualfr
uitset
dependsont hel
engthofthefemal
e-st
eri
li
typeri
odi
nhotweatherandwit
honefrui
tperleafaxi
l
,
therangeis85–95%.

Fr
uit–Thef
rui
tsofpapay
asmaybespher
ical
,ov
alorel
ongat
edi
nshapeandt
hef
rui
tis
basi
cal
l
yaber
ry.Fr
uit
sfr
om f
emal
etr
eesar
espher
ical
andt
hosef
rom her
maphr
odi
ti
ctr
ees
25
canshowdiv
erseshapesdependi
nguponmodi
fyi
ngf
act
orsaf
fect
ingf
lowermor
phol
ogydur
ing
ont
ogeny.

-
Frui
tsi
zer
angesf
rom 255gt
o6.
8kgwi
thf
lesht
hicknessf
rom 1.
5to4cm.

-Fl
eshcol
ouriswhitei
nimmat
uref
rui
tandt
urnst
opal
eor
ange,
yel
l
ow,
pinkorr
ed,
dependi
ng
uponcult
ivar
,inr
ipefr
uit
.

-Totalfr
uitstarchdecli
nesfrom 0.4%to0.1%dur i
ngthefi
rst80daysoffr
uitdevel
opmentand
sugarsbegi ntoaccumul at
eat110day spostant
hesis(
duri
ngthelast28–42day soffrui
t
development ).Fleshtot
alsolubl
esol i
dscanbeasl owas5%upt o19%.Fruitdev
elopment
takes150–164day sundert r
opicalcondi
ti
onsandmayv aryfrom 190t
o270day sin
subtropicalr
egi ons.

-Gr
eenfr
uitcontai
nsmilkylat
exint
heperi
car
p,whi
chcont
ainst
heprot
easeenzy
me,papain.
Commercial
ly,
thefrui
tisscari
fi
edt
oinducel
atexf
low,
whi
chisall
owedtodr
ythencol
lect
edto
belat
erpr
ocessedintopapain.

Seeds–Theseedsar
edar
kgr
eyt
obl
ackwhenmat
ureandar
eencl
osedi
nasar
cot
est
a(t
he
shi
nymembr
ane)
.

Ecol
ogi
calRequi
rement
sofpapaya
Temper
atur
e–Opti
mum t
emper
atur
eforgr
owt
hofpapay
ai ween21and330C.Thepl
sbet ant
i
sext
remel
ysensi
ti
vetofrostand,
iftemper
atur
efal
l ow12–140Cf
sbel orsev
eral
hour
sat
ni
ght
,gr
owthandproduct
ionareseverel
yaf
fect
ed.

Dioeci
ousculti
varsaremoresuitedtolowtemperat
ures(<210C)
,asfemalet r
eesdonotexhibi
t
0
thesexchangesshownbyt hemoresensit
ivebi
sexualcul
tiv
ars.Athighertemperat
ures(>35C)
there’
satendencyofbisexualcul
ti
varstof
ormfuncti
onal malefl
owerswithpoorl
ydev el
oped
andnon-f
unctionalf
emalepar t
s.

Netphot osynthet
icr
atealsodeclinesr
apidlyattemperatur e300C.Temper
esabov atureal
so
i
nfluencesf r
uitgr
owthanddev elopmentfrom thenormal 120–150day s–thiseff
ectismore
pronouncedi nsubtr
opicalar
easwher etemperaturesarelowerandfr
uitdoesnotoccurin
winter.I
nt hesecondit
ionsfrui
tgrowthmaybeext endedbyupt o90days.Fruit
sdev el
oped
duringcoolerpart
softhey earal
sohav elowertotalsol
ublesoli
ds.

Sunl
ight–Di
rectsunl
i
ghti
spr
efer
redi
nthegr
owt
hofpapay
a,pr
omot
ingr
api
ddev
elopmenti
n
t
heear
lyst
agesofgr
owt
h.

Undershade,t
heplanti
sshort
er,
havi
ngasmal ll
eafar
ea,l
owerstomat
aldensi
ty,
increased
i
nternodeandpet
iolel
engt
h,andchl
orophy
llcont
ent–thusregar
dedasashadeav oi
ding
species.

Part
ial
stomatalclosureandopeningoccursr
api
dlywi
thcl
oud-r
elat
edchangesi
nirr
adiance,
ther
ebymaximizingplantwateruseeff
ici
ency
.Nophotoper
iodi
ceffect
shavebeenreport
edin
26
papay
a.

Rai
nfal
l–I
nar
easwi
thami
nimum pr
eci
pit
ati
onofappr
oxi
mat
ely100mm permont
h,papay
as
wi
llgrowandproducesubstantial
yiel
dswithoutsuppl
ementaryirr
igat
ion.However
,such
di
str
ibuti
onofrai
nfal
li
srarelyfoundintheproducti
onareas,
thusirri
gati
onbecomesnecessar
y
i
nareaswi t
hdefi
neddryandwetseasons.Dr oughtfr
equent
lyleadstotherapi
dsheddi
ngof
ol
derleavesandpoorfr
uitset.

Fl
oodingalsoleadstoabscissi
onofful
lyexposedleav
eswhichispr
ecededbychlor
osi
s.Thi
s
event
uall
yleadstoplantdeathduetorootrot
s.Recoveryf
rom non-
let
half
loodi
ngissl
owdue
possi
blytothelowrootgrowthrat
einfrui
ti
ngt r
ees.

Wi
nd–Papayat
reesar
edel
i
cat
eandt
hei
rrootsy
stemsar
equi
teshal
l
ow,
maki
ngt
hem t
obe
easilyuproot
edbyst rongwi nds(upt
o64Km/ h)
,especi
all
ywhenthesoi
lhasbeensoft
enedby
rain.Thusprotecti
onf rom strongwi
ndsisessenti
al.Thi
scanbeprovi
dedbyestabl
i
shinghi
gh
treeshelt
erbeltsinthedirecti
onofprev
ail
ingwinds.Careshoul
dbetakentoavoi
danyshadi
ng
ont hecropplants.

Soi
l
s–Papayascangr
owi
nav
ari
etyofsoi
lty
pes–t
hemostcr
it
ical
requi
rementi
sdr
ainage.
Poordr
ainagel
eadstot
hedevel
opmentofr
ootr
otproblems.Aporousloam orsandyl
oam soil
wit
hapHr angeof5.
0to7.
0(opti
mum i
s5.5–6.5)
,isthemostpr
eferr
edf orpapay
aproduct
ion.

Papay
ahasbeenr ankedfr
om ext
remelysensi
ti
vet
omoder at
elyt
oler
antt
osal
tst
ress,wi
th
ger
minat
ionandear
lyseedl
i
nggrowthbei
ngthemostsensi
ti
vest
ages.

Cul
ti
var
sofpapay
a
Awi dev ar i
abil
ityisshownbyt hepapay asgrowni nv ari
ouscount ri
es.Wi thafewexcept ions,
mostt ypescannotbecl assif
iedaspur ecul
ti
varssincet heyoriginatefrom heterogeneous
plantingsandt heseedsar eobt ainedfrom openpol l
inatedfrui
tsel ect
edf rom t
reeswi th
desirablechar acteri
sti
cs.St abil
izingcharact
erist
icsindi oeceouscul t
ivarsismadedi ffi
cultby
thefactt hatthegenot ypeoft hewi t
hrespecttofruitcharacteri
sticsisunknown.I n
hermaphr odit
icculti
vars,propersel ect
ionandself-poll
inati
oncanst abi
lizecharacteri
sti
csata
mor er apidr ate.Howev ersomecul ti
varshavebeendescr i
bedwi thdistinctcharacter
ist
ics.

Somepapayacul
ti
var
s(mostar
evar
iabl
eandmaynotqual
i
fyast
ruecul
ti
var
s).

Regi
on Count
ry Cul
ti
var Sext
ype Fl
eshcol
our

Af
ri
ca Sout
hAf
ri
ca Hor
tusGol
d Di
oeci
ous Yel
l
ow

Kaapmui
den - Yel
l
ow

HoneyGol
d Di
oeci
ous Yel
l
ow

Tanzani
a, Ki
ru,
sol
o, Her
maphr
odi
te Or
ange,
red
27
 Keny
a,Uganda

Cul
tur
alPract
icesinPapay
a
Pr
opagat
ion–Papayasar
epropagat
edbyseedsobt
ainedf
rom f
rui
tsofopenpol
l
inat
ed
hermaphr
odi
ti
ctr
eeswit
hdesi
rabl
echar
act
eri
sti
cs.Thesepr
oduceuni
for
m pr
ogeni
esi
fthey
arefr
om asi
ngl
ecul
ti
var
.

Freshseedsarenormal
l
ywashedandair
-dr
iedundershadebefor
egerminati
on.Seeds
germinat
eearli
erandwi
thahi
gherger
minationper
centagei
fthesar
cotestai
sremoveddur
ing
seedswashing.Seedsmaybestor
edat7–10Cand50%RHf orsev
eralyear
s.

Seedsofpapayamaybesowni ntr
ay sfi
l
ledwi
thformulat
edmedi aori
npeatpot sordir
ectlyi
n
thefi
eld.Germi
nati
onoccur
swithi
n12–20day sandtray-
rai
sedseedl
ingsareprickedoutinto
10cm plasti
cbagsatt
hetwo-l
eafstage.Cont
ainergr
ownseedl i
ngsar
er eadyfortr
ansplanti
ng
i
nt hefi
eld1.
5–2mont hsaft
ergerminati
onwhentheyhaveattai
nedheightsofabout20cm.

Indirectfi
eldpl
anti
ng,upt
o15seedsar esownineachhol
eandupongermi
nati
onseedl
i
ngs
arethinnedouttoleav
ethr
eetof i
veseedl
ingstogr
owtofl
oweri
ng.Atfl
ower
ing,av
igor
ous
plantofthedesir
edsexiskeptandtheothersr
emoved.

Clonal
propagat
ionofpapayasbygraf
ti
ng,
airl
ayer
ingorr
oot
ingofsi
deshoot
shasbeendone
butdoesnotsui
tcommer ci
alpl
anti
ng.

Ti
ssuecul
tur
eisf
easi
bleandv
eryv
aluabl
eint
hepr
oduct
ionofdi
seasef
reest
ock.

Tr
anspl
ant
ingandspaci
ng–I
nrai
n-f
edcr
opst
ranspl
ant
ingi
sdoneatt
hebegi
nni
ngoft
her
ainy
season,ift
hisisnotthecoolseason.Peatpotseedli
ngsareplanteddir
ectl
yandbur
iedwithout
removingthepotwhilepolybagshavetoberemov ed.Transpl
antedplant
smustbewat er
ed
soonaf t
erplant
ingtosett
lethesoilar
oundtherootsyst
em.

Plantspacingsforpapayaor chardsv ar
ywi delydependingont heculti
vart
ypes.Universal
ly,
si
nglerowspaci ngsrangingf r
om 1. 8to3m bet weenplantsand1. 8to3.6m bet
weenr owsar e
adopteddependingupont hedegr eeofmechani zati
on.Themostf r
equent
lyusedspacingi s2–
2.
5m wi t
hinr owX2.5m, givi
ngapl antpopulati
onof1600–2000/ ha.Adoublerowsy stem,
with2m bet weenasetofr owsand3. 5m betweendoubl er ows,i
salsoused.Poly et
hyl
ene
mulchov erthebedshelpspr eventmoi stur
el osesandgr eatl
yminimizesweedgr owthwi t
hin
beds.Or ganicmulchesmayal sobebenef i
cial.

Seedmanagement

Handweeding,
especi
allyaroundyoungseedlingsi
sbenef i
cial
.Mowingandmul chi
ngar eoft
en
pr
acti
cedonmat ur
etrees.Plasti
cmulchisv eryef
fect
iveagainstbr
oad-l
eavedweedsbut
i
neff
ecti
veonperenni
algrassesandsedges.Post -emergenceherbi
cidessuchasparaquatand
gl
yphosat
eareusedtogoodef f
ect.Cov
ercroppingcanalsobedonei npapaya.
28
I
rr
igat
ion–Lowsoi
lmoi
stur
eregi
mesi
npapay
ast
endt
oshi
ftt
hesext
ypet
omal
eresul
ti
ngi
n
l
owerf ruity
iel
ds,whil
ehighmoi sturel
evel
scanl eadtoexcessiveproduct
ionofmisshaped
carpel
odi cf
rui
twithrapi
dt r
eegr owth.Underrai
n-fedcondit
ions,aminimum of100mm per
mont hisneeded.Wher erainf
allfal
lsshor
t,i
rr
igati
oni sr
equiredtocurt
ail
thesexrever
sal
tendenciesoftheplant
.Goodpr oducti
onoccurswi t
h60–90L/ tr
ee/weekimmediatel
yaft
er
plant
ingorduringthewetseasonand120–240L/ tr
ee/weekduringthedryper
iod.

Wat ersupplymaybebyf loodingbetweentherowspacesbyf urr

owsrunningalongbothsi
des
ofther owsoft r
eesorviami cr
ospri
nkler
s,jet
s,ordri
p.Overheadspr
inkl
ersarenot
recommendedi npapayaast hecropiscrosspoll
inat
ed–spr i
nkl
ingr
educespol l
en
dissemi nat
ion.Ir
ri
gat
ioninterval
sof10–15day sareadequatetomaint
ainproducti
on.

Pr
unni
ng–Si
ncepapay
aisamonoaxi
alt
ree,
nor
mal
treepr
uni
ngi
snotpr
act
iced.

Si
deshootsar
enormal
lyr
emovedasearl
yspossi
blet
oleav
easi ngl
etr
unk.Ift
heapexi
s
damagedordest
roy
ed,
oneshootnear
estt
heter
minal
ismaint
ainedtor
e-est
abl
isht
hetr
ee.

Somelowerleavesandsenescentl
eavesareremovedtofaci
li
tateharv
esti
ng,i
mpr
ove
penet
rat
ionofsprays,pr
eventt
hepeti
oleofsenescentl
eavesfrom r
ubbingonmat
uri
ngf
rui
t
andgeneral
l
ytoincreasemarket
abl
ey i
elds.

Nosi
gnifi
cantdif
fer
enceshavebeenf
oundi
ntot
alsolubl
esoli
ds,f
ruitsi
ze,numberoffr
uit
sand
mar
ketabl
ey i
eldaft
erayearofl
eafpr
uni
ngwhenonly15ful
lyexpandedleavesar
eretai
nedon
t
heplant
.

Fer
ti
li
zat
ion–Fer
ti
li
zat
ionr
egi
mesf
orpapay
ashoul
dbebaseduponsoi
lanal
ysi
sand
pref
erabl
yfol
iaranal
yses.I
ngener
alpr
oducti
oninsandyl
oam soi
l
srequi
resaprepl
ant
appl
icati
onof0.5kgof5:7:
4compoundfer
ti
li
zerand0.
25kgofsuper
phosphat
eperplant
.

Postpl
antappl
icat
ionof100gperplantof10:
2:16f
ert
il
izercanal
sobegi
venat2-
3mont
h
i
nter
val
s.Inthesecondyearabout250g/pl
antcanbegiven.

Cr
it
ical
nut
ri
entl
evel
shav
ebeenest
abl
i
shedbasedont
issueanal
ysi
sasf
oll
ows:

N=1.
1-1.
4%; P=0.
15–0.
18%; K=2.
5–3.
5%.

Har
vest
ing

Onshor t
ert r
eesitinvolvessimpl epicki
ngoffruits.Astreesgrowharvesti
ngaidsmaybe
requi
rede.g.polesandl adders.Gr ower
susear ubbercuporchisel
-shapedmetalwithaV-
shapednot chattachedt olongpol es.Thisisplacedagainstthebot
tom ofthefrui
torpeduncl
e
andpushedupwar dst osnapt hefrui
tatthepeduncle.Thef al
li
ngfr
uitiscaughtbythepi
cker
withtheotherhandorr emov edf r
om thecup.

Fr
uit
sar
ecol
l
ect
edi
napi
cki
ngbagandempt
iedint
owoodenbi
nsorbi
gboxesonf
iel
droads.
29
Wi
thexper
ience,
onecanhar
vest360-
450kgoff
rui
tinaday(
8hr
s).

Somehydraul
i
cmechani
calhar
vester
sar
enowav
ail
abl
e.Theyhav
eapl
atf
ormf
ort
heoper
ator
andcanbedri
venf
rom t
hatpoi
nt.

Thedegr eeofmaturi
tyathar
vestdependsonthedist
ancetothemarket
s.Forlongdist
ance
mar ket
ingfrui
tsar
eharvest
edatthecolourbr
eaktoone-quar
terr
ipest
age.Standar
dsrequi
re
thatthefrui
thave11.
5%t ot
alsol
ublesoli
dsatthi
sstage.

Diseasemanagement
1.Phytopht
hor
arootr
ot

Thi
sisamaj orconcerninpapayapr oducti
onespecial
l
yi nareasrepeatedl
yusedf orthe
cr
op.Itcancauseseedl i
ngmor tal
it
yofupt o45%i nfi
eldsthathadapr evious
i
nfest
ati
on.Thuscont i
nuouspr oducti
onont hesamepi eceoflandshoul dbeav oi
ded,
wit
hatleasta3-yearbreakunderanal t
ernati
vecr
op.Pl anti
ngr esi
stantcult
ivar
s(e.g.
‘
Waimanalo’)canalsohelpal
leviat
elossesduetoPhy tophthorarootrot.

2.Seedl
ingdumpi
ngof
f

Seedli
ngdumpingoffi
mmedi at
elyaft
erger
mi nati
oniscausedbyacompl exof
organi
sms.Thiscanbecontrol
ledbyseedtreatmentwithsodi
um hypochlor
it
e
andthe useofsteri
l
izedgerminat
ionmedium withgoodaerat
ionand
moistur
econt
rol.

3.Fr
uitdi
seases

Theseusuall
yoccurposthar
v estbutt
heirinci
dencecanbemi ni
mizedwithgood
fi
eldsanit
ati
onandappli
cati
onofappropr i
atefungi
cideswhil
eother
scanbe
prevent
edwithcar
efulhandl
ingoffrui
tssincetheorganismsinf
ectt
hrough
wounds.
a)Ant
hracnose–pre-
har
vestinf
ecti
on.
b)Fr
uitsur
facer
otandst
em- endrot–posthar
vestr
ots.

4.Papayar
ingspotvi
rus(
PRSV)

Themostl
imi
ti
ngfact
orforcommerci
alproducti
oninmanyareas.Iti
sal
so
ref
err
edt
o ast hepapayamosai
cv i
rusordist
orti
onr
ingspotvi
rus.
Thedi
seasehasnocur
ebutcanbeav
oidedby
:

- Eradicati
onofv ect
ors(aphi
ds)andsanitati
onmet hods.
- I
sol at
ionofpapay agrowingfi
eldswithpapay a-
freebufferzonesfarenough
from diseasesources.Thismakest heaphidsnon- i
nfecti
vebythetimethey
reacht hecleanfi
elds;
thevi
rusisnon-persi
stent
.
- Gr owingpapay aundermeshcl othsizesthatkeepoutanyaphi dsandt he

30
 i
nt roductionofaphi dpredatorsi nthest r
uctures.–met hodusedinTaiwan.
- Cucur bitpl ants should nev erbe i nt
ercropped with papaya as they an
alternatehost soft hevir
us.
- Inoculation of pl ants wi t
h a mi l
der strain of the vir
us reduces the
est abl
ishmentr ateofthev i
rulentstrainandenabl estheproduct
ionofacr op
despi t
eheav yviruspressure.
- Genet icmodi f
icati
on-Tr ansfor mationofpapay awiththecoatprotei
ngene
oft hev i
rushasbeensuccessf ul;howevereachv i
russtrai
nhasitsowncoat
prot ei
ngenes,hencedi f
ferentcoatpr otei
ngenesar eneededi ndi f
fer
ent
areas.

5.Bunchyt
opdi
sease

Seri
ousdiseaseintheCari
bbean, Fl
oridaandsomeLat i
nAmer i
cancountr
ies.I
tis
causedbyabact er
ium andischaracteri
zedbystunti
ng,yell
owingandsti
ffeni
ngofthe
l
eaves–sy mptomscl osetoPRSV.Amaj ordi
ff
erent
iat
ingf act
ori
sthelackoflat
exin
theaff
ectedpart
sinthebunchyt op.Thebact eri
um i
sspr eadbyaleafhopper
(Empoascasp.).

I
nsectpest
s,mi
tesandnemat
odemanagement
Ther
earemanypest
sreport
edonpapay
a,butmostareuni
mportantandt
hedamagei
s
negl
i
gibl
eoreasi
l
ycont
rol
led.Somemaybeobnoxiousandneedtobedealtwi
th.

1.Fruitfl
ies
Var i
ousspeci esandt ypesoff r
uitfl
yinfestpapay
as.Thusf r
uitsneedtobe
disinfestedast heycanbeapr oblem i
nt heexpor
ttrade.Fruitfl
yeggsandlar
vae
areusual l
yfoundonmat ureyell
owf r
uit
sandshoul dber emov edbefor
e
attempt ingexport.
2.Aphi ds
Thesear eimportantasvector
sofPRSV.Twospeci es(Aphisgossypi
iandMyzus
persicae)giveposit
iver
esult
sforthevi
rus.

3.Leafhopper
s
Thesecancausesev
eredamageandal
soar
evect
orsoft
hebunchyt
opdi
sease
bacter
ia.
Cont
rol
:Mostoft
hesei
nsectpest
scanbecont
rol
l
edbygoodspr
aysofmal
athi
on.

Mi
tes:

Sever
almitesdamagepapaya.Themosti mport
antist
hebr oadmit
e(Hemi tar
sonemuslat
us).
Theseatt
acktheundersi
desofyoungleav
escausingstunt
inganddist
ort
ion.Theyar et
oo
smallt
oseewi t
hthenakedeyeanddamagei susual
lydonebyt het
imetheirpresencei
sknown.
Theymulti
plyr
apidl
yandarepreval
entdur
ingthecoolmonths.

Car
minemi
t Tet
es( ranychusci
anabar
inus)ar
efoundont
heunder
sidesofmat
urel
eav
es.

31
 Mit
esarecont
rol
ledusi
ngwett
ablesul
phur.Ther
ecommendedr
atei
s2.
7kgof95%W
sul
phur in380li
tr
esofwater
.

Nemat
odes:

Rootknot(Meloi
dogynesp.
)andreni
for
m nemat
ode(Rotyl
enchul
usreni
formi
s).Thesetwocan
causeprobl
emsifnotcont
rol
l
ed.Nematodescanbecontrol
l
edwi t
hapre-pl
ant
fumi
gationwit
hf ur
adan.

Posthar
vestt
reat
ment
s

Ov erseasmar ket
srequi r
esdisinf
est at
ionstreatmentst oremov efrui
tfl
yeggsandl arvaebefor
e
shippi ng.Todot hisfruitsar
esubj ectedt ot
hev apourheatmet hodinwhi chfr
uitareheatedat
great erthan93%r elat
ivehumi dit
yf orabout4hour s.Wi ththi
st reatmentthefrui
tcore
temper atur
ereaches47. 20C.Al t
ernativemet hodsincludeirr
adiationatl
owdoses( 250Gy )
whi chst eri
l
izesthefruitfl
yeggsandl arvae,
pr ev
entingthem from compl eti
ngtheirli
fecycl
e.

I
rr
adi
ati
oncoupl
edwi
thahotwat
erdi
p(490C)i
susedf
ordi
seasecont
rol
.

Frui
tsaregr
adedforsizeandcol
ourandpackedint
ocardboar
dcar
tonsofabout4.5-
6.0kg.
Thesearehel
dat10-120Ct odel
ayripeni
ngbef
oreshi
ppi
ng.Somepackerspre-
ri
penthefrui
tat
22-250Cbef
orecooli
ngandshipping.

Afungi
cide-
waxcoati
ngi
sappli
edbef or
epacki
ngt
or educest
oragedi
seases.Howev
er,afi
eld
spr
ayandpropercar
edur
ingharvest
ingtoavoi
dbr
uisesandwoundsonf r
uit
scanhel
preduce
di
seasesinstor
age.

Papay
aPackHouseOper
ati
ons

Gr
adi
ng:

Thefr
uit
sshoul
dbegradedaspert
hesi
zeandcol
ourwhi
l
edi
scar
dingt
hedamaged
anddi
seasedfr
uit
s.

Packagi
ng:

Forlocal
marketthef r
uit
sshoul dbestoredinasinglelayerofst r
awunt i
ltheybecome
soft
.Howev erfordist
anttransport
,theindiv
idualf
ruit
sar ewr appedin
newspaper/
tissuepapertoav oi
dbruisi
ngi nj
uri
esduringtransport.Thefruitsarethen
packedinsi
ngle-l
ayerfi
berboardcontainerswithpackingmat eri
alsbetweent hefr
uits.

Storageforlocalmarket
soptimum temper
atureof20°Cwasf oundbothforri
peni
ng
andsatisfactor
ystor
agef ort
woweeks.St or
agebelow10° Chasbeenknownt ocause
chil
l
inginjuri
esgreat
erinmature-gr
eenthanripepapayas.Chil
li
ngi
njurysymptoms
32
i
ncludepitti
ng,bl
otchycol oration,unev enripening, skinscal d,andincreased
suscepti
bil
itytodecay.Mor et hanhalfr i
pepapay as(atlest50%y ell
ow)canbest ored
at4-10°Cwi t
houtdevelopingsy mptomsofchi l
lingi nj
ur i
es.Exposur eofpapay ast o
temperaturesabove30° Cf ormor et han10day sr esultinheati nj
ury.Thesy mptoms
i
ncludeunev enri
pening,blot chyri
peni ng,poorcol or,abnormal soft
ening,surf
acepi tt
ing
andaccelerateddecay .Forexpor tsofpapay a,hotwat ertr
eat mentisgivenbydi pping
thefrui
tsfor30mi nutesat42° Cimmedi atelyfollowedbya49° Cdipfor20mi nutes.
Quickcoolingto13°Caf terheatt reatment smi nimi zesheati nj
ury.Controll
ed-
atmosphere( CA)stor
age( 2%O2and5- 10%CO2)at10° Chasbeenf oundbenef i
cialfor
delayedri
pening,f
irmnessr etenti
onandav oidchi ll
i
ngi njur
ies.

Tr
anspor
t:

Forlocal
market
sthefrui
tsaretr
ansportedint
ruckswhilefordi
stantmarket
sitshoul
dbe
pref
erabl
ysentt
hroughrai
lways.Transport
ati
onthroughrail
waysisfast
erandeconomical
.

AVOCADOS(
Per
seaamer
icana)

I
ntr
oduct
ion:

Theav ocado(perseaamer i
cana)bel ongst othefamilyLauraceaewhichcomprises47genera
wit
h2000- 2500speci es.Pl antsinthisfamilyaremost lyever
greentr
eesandshr ubs,
occasionall
yaromatic, andnativemost lytotropi
calandsubt ropi
calr
egions.ThegenusPersea
i
sthebestknownf ort hefruitcall
edav ocado.Thef ruitofmostPerseaspeciesaresmal
land
worthless.OnlyP.amer i
canaandP.schi edeanabearl argefr
uit,
thel
aterspeci
esbeingwatery
andfibrousbutpleasanti nflavourandeat enbypeopl einitsnati
vehabit
atinMexicoand
CentralAmer i
ca.

Or
igi
nanddi
str
ibut
ion:

I
tisgener
all
yagr
eedt
hatt
hecent
reofor
igi
noft
hePer
seai
sint
hehi
ghl
andsofcent
ral
and
33
eastcent r
alMexi coandt headjacenthighlandsofGuat emala.Carbondat i
nghasi ndi
cat edthat
Mexi canavocadoswer eusedasf oodasear l
yas9000-10000y ear
sago.Thecr opwas
i
nt roducedint
oJamai caandt herestoft heCar i
bbeanbytheSpani ardsinabout1650andwas
l
at erdist
ri
butedintoAf r
icaandt heAsiant ropicsduri
ngthe1700sand1800s.I mport
ationinto
theUSAwasf i
rstreportedin1833( i
nFl ori
da) .I
tisnowwi del
ydistri
butedthroughoutthe
tropicsandsubt r
opicswi ththeuseoft hef rui
tvaryi
ngindiff
erentareas.

Ty
pes/
RacesofAv
ocado:

Threehor
ti
cul
tur
alracesofav
ocadoarerecognized.Theserefl
ectgeogr
aphicalar
eaofor
igi
n,
basedonabundanceofeachracei
ncult
ivat
ion.Theyhav ebeennamedasf oll
ows:

1. WestI ndi
anr ace-thoughtt obenat i
vetothel owlandsofCent ralAmericaandnor t
hern
Sout hAmer i
ca.Itist r
opi cali
necol ogi
calrequirementsandi scharacter i
zedbysmal l
frui
twi thmedi um thin,leatheryskin,l
owoi lcontent,l
ooseseedandmat ur
ing160-240
day saf t
erflowering.
2. Guat emal anrace-post ulatedtohav eori
ginatedathi gherelevati
onsinGuat emalaand
adjacentar ea,basedonabundanceofwi l
dpopul ati
ons.Leav esofcultivatedtypesof
thisracear enotscent ed.
3. Mexi canr ace-Predomi nant l
yfoundi nhigherelevati
onsofMexi co.I
tsl eavesareanise-
scent edand60%oft heessent ialoil
scont entisthemonot erpeneestragol.

Theseracesarenotrecognizedassubspecies,henceP.ameri
canavar
.ameri
cana(WestI
ndi
an)
var
.dry
mi fol
ia(
Mexican)andv arguatemalensi
s( Guat
emalan)
.Duetotheout
breedi
ngnat
ure
ofthet
axat her
earemanyi nter-
raci
alhybr
ids,whichconst
it
utesomeofthepr
inci
pal
commer ci
alcul
ti
varsinproducti
ontoday.

Bot
anyofav
ocado

Theavocadotreei
sv ar
iabl
einshaperangi
ngfr
om t
all
uprightt
reestowidel
yspreadingforms
wit
hmul t
ipl
ebranches.Treescanatt
ainhei
ght
sof15-18m.Leav esaredarkgreenandspiral
ly
arr
angedwithvari
ablesi
zefrom 10t
o13cm wideby20t o25cm long.Theyareenti
re,el
li
pti
c
orovat
etolanceolat
einshape.

Newgrowthoccur
sinflushes,whicht
endtoalt
ernat
ewithr
ootgr
owt
hona30-
60daycy
cle.
Theper
iodbet
weenflushesv ar
ieswit
hlocat
ionandcul
ti
var
.

Rootgr
owt
hcont
inuest
hroughoutt
hey
eari
nsubt
ropi
cal
areas.

I
nfl
orescenceandf
lower
s-Thebasi
cinf
lor
escencei
nav
ocadoi
samul
ti
-br
anchedpani
cle
consisti
ngofsmall
,pal
egr eenoryel
lowi
shgreenf l
owers.Oneortwomill
ionar
eproducedi
na
singlefl
oweri
ngperi
od,al
thoughonlyabout200-300frui
tmatur
e.Fl
owershaveasingl
epist
il
withonecarpelandoneovule.Avocadocult
ivar
sar egroupedi
nto2cl
assesonthebasisof
theirfl
ower
ingbehavi
our.

Cl
assA:-f
lower
sopeninthemorni
ngfor2-
3hours,
funct
ioningasfemaleswi
thawhit
esti
gma
whi
let
hestamensremaincl
osed.Thefl
owerscl
oseatapproximat
elynoonandr
eopenthe
34
fol
lowi
ngdayduri
ngt heaft
ernoonhour
sfor3-
4hour
s,f
unct
ioni
ngt
henasmal
eswi
tht
he
sti
gmasnolongerfuncti
oni
ng.

Cl
assB:
-Fl
ower
sopeni
ntheaf
ter
noonasf
emal
es,
thest
amensr
emai
ningcl
osed.

Thesef
lower
scl
osei
ntheev
eni
ngandr
eopent
henextmor
ningasmal
es.

Thi
sphenomenoni edPr
scal
l otogyny,
diur
nal
lysynchr
onousdi
chogamy-commonwhenwar
m
weatherpr
evai
l
sduri
ngfl
ower
ing.

Fr
uits:
-Thef rui
tsofavocadoareoneseededberr
ies-mostl
ypearshapedandmaybegr een,
vi
oletorblack,smoothorwrinkl
ed.Thepulpneartheski
nisgr
eenwhilethei
nnerpul
pisy el
l
ow.
Fr
uitstake150- 250daystomature.

Seed:-Theseedsar
elar
geandconi
cal
tor
oundi
nshape.Theyhav
etwocot
yledonsanda
l
argeembryo.

Cult
ivar
s:-Int
ensi
veavocadobreedi
nghasbeenconductedov ermanyyear
sintheUSA,
Isr
ael
,
SouthAfri
caandothercount
ri
es.Howev er
,manyofthecult
ivarsi
nproduct
ioncameupas
chanceseedli
ngs.Thepopul
arculti
var
sincl
ude:

Fuer
te:

-
mostpopul
arf
orexpor
tmar
ket
s

-
ahy
bri
dbet
weenMexi
canxGuat
emal
anr
aces

-
hasasmal
lbot
tl
eneck-
shapewi
thar
oughski
n

-
hasagoodf
lav
our
.

Hass:

-
aGuat
emal
ant
ype

-
mostwi
del
ygr
owni
nUSAandI
srael
.

-
hasar
oundi
shf
rui
tthatt
urnspur
plewhenr
ipe.

Ot
her
sar
e:

-
Nabal
,Li
nda,
Puebl
a,

Ecol
ogi
calRequi
rement
s

35
Cli
mat e:
-Avocadoesarenotfr
ostresi
stantev
enthoughplant
softheMexicanracehav
ebeen
observedtogothroughtemperat
uresof-4to-50Cwit
houtseri
ousdamage.Thebestareasf
or
producti
onshouldhavewarmt ocoolcl
imate–between1800–2100m A. S.L.Warm
temperatur
esareessenti
alf
orfrui
tset.

Rai
nfall
:-Av
ocadoesdowel
linar
easwithr
ainf
all
averagesof1000-
1500mm perannum wel
l
di
str
ibutedt
hroughoutt
hey
ear.I
rri
gat
ioni
sessenti
alwhererai
nfal
li
snotsuf
fi
cient
.

Soi
ls:
-Avocadoescanbegr owninawi der
angeofsoil
sprovi
dedt hatt
hesoi
li
swelldrai
ned
andofatleast120cm dept
h.Thesoi l
shouldnotbesal
inesinceavocadodonott
oler
ateit
.
Thebestsoil
saremedium sandyloamswithpHof5.5–6. 5.

Wi nd:
-Theavocadot
reei
seasil
ydamagedbywindsduetoit
sbri
tt
lebr
anches.Moderat
ely
highwindscancausesev
eredamage.Shel
ter
belt
saroundor
char
dsinstr
ongwindareasare
essenti
al.

Cul
tur
alPr
act
ices

Pr
opagat
ion:

Rootstocks:Anycul
tivarcanbeusedasar oot
stockbutthemostpref
err
edis‘l
inda’andsome
l
ocal adaptabl
ecult
ivars.Seedsforr
ootst
ockraisi
ngshouldonl
ybeextr
actedfrom ful
l
ymat ur
e
andripefruit
s.Themot hert
reef
orseedshoul
dbeheal t
hy,fr
eeofsunbl
otchandwithv i
gor
ous
growth.

Seedscanbeger mi
natedinsanboxesorcont ai
nersofsawdustorothersui
tablemedia.The
medium shouldbefreefrom anydiseaseorgani
sms.Seedsaresownr andoml yorindi
sti
nct
rowsandcov eredwitha2.5cm layerofmedium.Theshar pendoftheseedshoul dbeplaced
faci
ngdownwar dst
oencouragef ast
ergerminat
ion.

Whennewshoot semergetheseedsar etr

ansplantedi
ntosuit
ablepoly
thenebags.
Recommendedmedi um f
orthebagscompr i
sestopsoil
,far
my ardmanure,andsandinther
ati
o
of3:3:
2.Protecti
onofyoungseedlingsisnecessaryunderalathhouseorpalmleaves.The
seedli
ngsarereadyforgr
afti
ngafter3-4mont hs.

Gr
aft
ing:

Scionselect
ion:
-Scionsar
ecoll
ectedfr
om oneyearol
dwoodofthedesi
redv
ari
ety.Sci
ons
shouldbe10-12cm longwit
hatleast5buds.Thebestt
imef
ortaki
ngsci
onsisafewdaysaft
er
thebeginni
ngofrain.Theyshouldbekeptmoist
.

Rootstocksel
ecti
on:-Therootstockshoul
dbeofthesamedi ameterasthescion(
penci
l
thi
ckness).I
tshouldbevigorouslygrowi
ngandf
reefrom pestsanddiseases.
36
Gr
aft
ingmet
hods:
-Twomet
hodsar
ecommonl
yused:

-
thewhi
pandt
onguemet
hodand

-
wedgegr
aft
ing

Theseedl
i
ngsshoul
dber
eadyf
ort
ranspl
ant
ingaf
ter4mont
hsf
rom gr
aft
ing.

Or
char
dEst
abl
ishmentandMai
ntenance

Si
tesel
ect
ion:
-Thesi t
eforpl
anti
ngavocadoesshoul
dbef
reef
rom ant
i-
hil
l
s,l
evel
orgent
le
sl
opedandwellshel
teredf
rom st
rongwinds.

Si
teprepar
ati
on:
-Landshouldbeproperl
yploughedandhar
rowedtoremoveall
perenni
al
weeds.Iti
sal
soadvisabl
etoplantmaizeorsunfl
oweroneyearbef
orepl
ant
ingtheavocadoes.

Spacing:
-Thesquareplant
ingpatt
erni
susual
lyused.Aspacingof10m x10m or10m x8m
(r
ectangul
ar)t
ogiveplantpopul
ati
onsof100and125treesperhect
are,
respect
ivel
y.

Pl
ant
ing:
-Pl
ant
inghol
esar
edugofsi
ze45cm x45cm x45cm.

Holesar ef
ill
edwi t
htopsoilmixedwi
thabout30kgofmanureand125gofDSP.Thet reesare
deli
ver edinpolythenebagsandcaref
ull
yremovedtocauseverylit
tl
edist
urbancetotheroots.
Thet reesar eusuall
yplant
edatahigherl
evelt
hantheywereinthenurser
yt oall
owforsettl
i
ng.
Afterpl ant
ingtheyarewateredandmulched.Thebestt
imetopl anti
swhent helongrai
nsar e
start
ing.

Pruni
ng:-Normall
ynopruningisr
equiredbesi
destheremovalofbr
okenanddiseasedbranches;
andtr
immi ngthoset
ouchingtheground.Suckergrowthi
scheckedtoremov
eshoot scoming
outoftherootst
ock.

Weeding:
-Theor char
dshoul dbeweedf ree.I
tisr
ecommendedtohavevegetablesgr
owi
ng
betweentherowsofy oungplantati
ons.Beanshaveshownbet
terr
esul
ts.Not hi
ngshoul
dbe
pl
antedclosert
han2m f rom thetr
ee.Highercr
opssuchasmaizeandsunfl
owershouldnotbe
i
ntercr
oppedwiththeav ocado.

Irr
igati
on:-I
nordertohavegoodproduct
ionofavocadoes,
irr
igat
ioni
snecessary,
especial
l
y
duringthedryperi
od.Thequanti
tyofwaterappl
i
eddependsont hemoist
urecharact
eri
sti
csof
thesoilandageoft het
rees.I
thowevervari
esfr
om 25-35li
trespert
reeperfor
tni
ght.

Si
nceav
ocadoesar
eint
oler
antt
osal
i
nit
y,t
hewat
erusedmustbef
reef
rom sal
ts.

Manur i
ngandf ert
il
izati
on:
-Inor dertoobtai
nmaximum gr owthandoptimum yi
elds,i
tis
i
mpor tanttosuppl
yt heavocadowi thnecessar
ynutr
ients.Itishoweverdanger
oust ogi
ve
excessiveamountsonanysi zeoft reesatoneti
measi tmaycauser ootdamage, l
eafburnand
defol
iati
on.Thet y
peoff ert
il
izertobeuseddependsonsoi lpH.

37
Intheplant
ingyear
,iti
sadvisabl
enott otopdr esstheor chardsincet
hismayr et
ardr
oot
devel
opmentdur i
ngthefir
st4-5mont hsafterpl ant
ing.Af terthi
sper
iod,
60gof26%Nf er
ti
li
zer
shouldbeappli
edafterver
y3mont hswhent hesoi lismoi st.Inaddi
ti
on,about25kgofwell
rot
tenmanur eshoul
dbespr eadaroundthet reesaf tereachy ear
.

Thef
oll
owi
ngar
erecommendat
ionsf
orN%Pf
ert
il
izer
stobeappl
i
edeachy
ear(
CANandSSP)
:

1sty
earaf
terpl
ant
ing 60gCAN+250gSSP

2ndy
ear 85gCAN+500gSSP

3rdy
ear 500gCAN+750gSSP

4thy
ear 750gCAN+750gSSP

5thy
ear 1kgCAN+750gSSP

6thy
ear 2kgCAN+1kgSSP

7thy
ear 3kgCAN+1.
5kgSSP

8thy
ear 4kgCAN+2kgSSP

9thy
ear 5kgCAN+2.
5kgSSP

10thy
ear 6kgCAN+3kgSSP

Theuseoff armyar
dmanureispart
icul
arl
ystr
onglyrecommendedbecausei
timpr
ovesthe
physical
conditi
onoft
hesoi
l andpr
omot est
headsor pt
ioni
nthesoi
landupt
akebytheplantof
micronutr
ient
s.Theabov
elistedNlevel
sshouldalsobeappli
edi
nspli
ts.

Av
ocadotr
eesalsohaveaveryhighr
equi
rementforpotassi
um,
magnesium andzi
nc.
Measur
esshoul
dtheref
orebetakent
osupplementthesewhentheyf
all
short.

Pest
sanddi
seases:

PESTS DAMAGE CONTROL

38
Nematodes Radophi
( l
lus At
tackroot
sandcausegr
owt
h Fumi
gati
onoft
hesoi
lbef
ore
si
mil
es) st
unti
ng pl
ant
ing

Fr
uitf
li
es(Cer
ati
ti
scapi
tat
a& At
tackt
her
ipeni
ngf
rui
t Spraywit
hmal
athi
onor
Pt
endarusr
osa) fenthi
on.

Thr
ips At
tackt
hey
oungl
eav
es Spraywit
hRogor40orany
othersy
stemi
cinsect
ici
de.

Ot
herpest
sincl
udemi
tes,
scal
esandaphi
ds.

DI
SEASES DAMAGE CONTROL

Sunbl
otch(
vir
us) Showsv erysl i
ghtsympt oms Usev i
rusfr
eebudwoods,cut
ofyell
owt obr ownar eason downinf
ectedt
reestopr
event
youngbr anches,leafpetiol
es spr eadofthedi
sease.
andleaves.I nsev er
ecases
therecanbedi ebackof
branches,reductionofgr owth,
groovesonst emsand
branches.Fr uit
sdev el
op
sunkenar easandl ater
becomebr own.

Phytophthora r
oot r
ot Thisi
sarootr
otdi
sease Sprayt reeswithcopper
(Phytophthor
aci
nnamoni
) whichi
scommonunderwet fungicides(copper
condi
ti
ons oxychlor i
de)anduseresi
stant
rootstocks.

Armi
ll
ari
arootr Ar
ot( mi
l
lar
ia Rootsr
otandthetr
eemaybe Spr
aycopperf
ungi
cides
spp) ki
ll
edundersev
erei
nfect
ion

Harvest
ing:-Thefir
styi
eldscanbeexpect
edi
nthethir
dy earaf
terpl
ant
ing.Theavocadofrui
ts
donotsoftenont hetr
eeswhenar ematur
eandther
eforeiti
snoteasytodeter
minetheti
meof
har
vestbyext er
nalappearanceandal
sothef
rui
tsdonotmat ur
eatthesamet i
me.

Maturi
tyi
sdeterminedbyhar vest
ingsomefrui
ts,whi
chareassumedtobematureandstor
ed
atroom t
emperature.Ift
heysof t
enwithi
namaxi mum per
iodof12dayswi
thoutshr
ivel
i
ngthey
areconsi
der
edreadyf orpicki
ng.Otherindi
cat
ionsofmaturi
tyar
e:

39
 a)Thel ossofagl ossysheennor mallyobservedinimmat urefr
uit
s.
b)Whent herei say ellowishtinttot heski nandst em. Thegr eenf r
uitbecomes
smoot her ,especial
lyatt heendoppositethest em andsmal lcorkyareasappearon
theskin.
c) Whent heseedi sexami nedintheripefr
uittheseedcoatappear sdarkbrownandi ts
ti
ssuei sv erythin.
Duringhar
vestingt hef rui
tmustbecl i
ppedwithsecateursfrom thetr
ees;ast al
kofabout1cm
shouldbeleftont hef ruit
.Nev erpullt
hef r
uit
sbecauset hi
sencour agesrott
ing.Iti
s
recommendedt hatcot tonglovesbeuseddur ingpicking,
gradingandpackingt oavoidbrui
sing.

Fr
uit
sshouldneverbedropped–theyshoul
dbeplacedgentl
yinbasket
sorboxesduri
ng
pi
cki
ng.Fruit
sshouldbedeli
ver
edtothegradi
ngandpackingstat
ionassoonaspossi
ble.

Yi
elds:

Yiel
dsincr
easewit
htheageofthetr
ee.Matur
etreespr
oduce2000-
3000f
rui
tspert
reeanda
hectar
ecanproduceupto30,
000tonspery
ear.

Mar
ket
ing:

Local

Expor
tmai
nlyt
oEur
ope.

40
Passi
onFr
uit
s

Scient
if
icnames:Passi
fl
oraedul
isSi
ms(purpl
epassi
onfrui
t)P.edul
; i
sf.f
lavi
car
paDeg.
(y
ellowpassi
onfr
uit)
;P.quadr
angul
ari
sL.(
giantgr
anadi
l
la).

 Family:Passi
fl
oraceae.
 Origi
n:Amer i
cantropi
cs
 Distr
ibuti
on:I
ntr
oducedandgr
owni
nmostt
ropi
cal
andsubt
ropi
cal
par
tsoft
hewor
ld,
passi
onf
rui
tispar
ti
cul
arl
yimpor
tantcommer
cial
l
yinAust
ral
i
a,Hawai
i
,Sout
hAf
ri
caand
Brazi
l
.

DESCRI
PTI
ON
Plant.-Vigor
ousperenni
alvi
ne.Thepurpl
eandy el
lowpassionfrui
thavetril
obedleav
es10-18
cm (4-7In.)l
ongwithfi
nel
y-
toot
hedmargins.Thegiantgranadi
l
lahasr ounded-obl
ongleav
es
10-20cm ( 4-
8in.
)longandit
sstem i
scharact
eri
sti
cal
lysquarei
ncr osssecti
on.

Fruit
.-Thepur plepassionf rui
tbear sdar k-
purpl
eornear lybl ack, roundedoregg-
shapedf rui
tabout5cm ( 2in.)long,wei ghi
ng30-45g( 1-1. 5oz. )Fr uitoftheyel
low
passionf r
uitisdeepy el
lowandsi milarinshapebutsl i
ght lylonger- -6cm (2.5in.
)--
thanthepur plepassi onf rui
t.Itweighs60- 90g( 2-3oz.)andav eragesabout75g( 2.5
oz.)underFloridacondi tions.Fr ui
tscont ai
nnumer oussmal l
,blackwedge- shaped
seedst hatarei ndivi
duallysurroundedbydeepor ange-col oredsacst hatcontai
nthe
j
uice,theedi bl
epar toft hefruit
.Thegi antgranadil
labear sirregul arlyroundedor
oblong-shapedf r
uit10-20cm ( 4-8in.)longandhasat hick, edibler indinadditi
onto
blackseedssur roundedbyj uicesacs.I tmaywei gh225- 450g( 8-16oz. )ormore.

Fl
ower s.-Flowersofthepurplepassionfruitarenormallysmall
er,approxi
matel
y4.5
cm (1.75in.)i
ndiameter,
thant hoseofthey ell
owf or
m, about6cm (2.5in.
)indi
ameter.
Bot
har edullwhi
tewit
hv erydeepbl uecenters.Flowersofthegiantgranadil
l
aarequit
e
di
ff
er ent;t
heydroopli
keold-fashionedlampshadesandt hei
rpetal
sar edeepmaroon
onthei nnersurf
ace.

Seasonofbear i
ng.-Thepur plepassionf ruitfl
owersi nFlori
dainearlyspr i
ngandi ts
fr
uitmat uressome60- 80day sl
ater
,sof ruitmaybeexpect edfrom lateMayunt il
earl
y
July.They el
lowpassionf ruitfl
owersfrom spr ingunt i
ll
atefall
-wit
habr eakinear l
y
summer -
sot hatmat ur
ef rui
tappearsati nter v
alsfr
om ear lysummeri ntowinter.The
giantgranadillabegi
nst of l
owerinspr i
ngandi tsfr
ui tmaturesinsummer .Itmay
continuef l
ower i
ngthroughoutt hesummerbutor dinaril
ysetsorproducesnonor mal
fr
uitatthatt i
mei nsouther nFlori
da,probabl ybecausehi ghtemper aturesinterf
erewith
normal fert
ili
zati
onaf t
erpol l
inati
on.Whent heweat hercools,t
hisgranadi l
laresumes
setti
ngf rui
t,whichmat uresatoddt imest hr oughtheseason.

41
CLI
MATEANDSOI
LS
Theyell
owpassionfr
uitandgiantgranadi
ll
aar etr
opicalplant
s, andthusrestri
ctedtoprot
ect
ed
si
tesinthesout
hernhalfofFl
orida.Thepur pl
epassionf r
uiti
sadapt edtosubt r
opical
condi
ti
onsandenduresaf ewdegr eesofwinterfr
ostwithoutinjury
,butwillnottol
erat
esever
e
fr
eezes.Itt
hri
vesint
heTampaBayar eaandi nprot
ectedspot sacrossthemi dpeninsul
a.

Passionv i
nespref
erasli
ghtl
yacidsoi
l
, butthey el
l
owpassionvi
newillt
oler
atealkal
i
ne
soil
sinsout her
nFlor
idai
fadequatemicronutri
entsar
eadded.Well
-dr
ainedsoil
is
essenti
al.Otherwi
se,r
ootpr
oblemsdev el
opt hatsoondest
royt
heseplants.

CULTI
VARS
Nowel l
-est
abl
ishedcul ti
varsareregularl
yav ailableinFlori
da,sopl antsar ecustomar i
lygrown
fr
om seedorcut ti
ngsofv inesselect
edf ordesi r
ablecharacter
istics.Af orm ofyell
owpassi on
fr
uitthatsetsfruitabundantlyinsouthernFl oridafrom self-
poll
inationisof t
engr ownf r
om
cutt
ingsorseeds.I t
sfrui
tisusuallysmal l
ert hant hatofother,cross-polli
natedy el
l
owpassi on
fr
uits.Seedsofl argefr
uitedselecti
onsofy ell
owpassi onf rui
twer ebr oughttoFloridafrom
Hawai isomeyear sagoandpl antsfr
om t hi
ssour cestil
laregrownher eoccasi onall
y.Locall
y
sel
ect edpurpl
epassi onf r
uitisvegetati
velypr opagatedf orcommer ci
al producti
on.

PROPAGATI
ON
All3passionfr
uitscanbepr opagatedfrom seed, whichshoul dbefresh(lessthanIyearol
d)
becauseseedsl oseviabil
it
yr api
dly.Seedsmaybesowni nflat
sorpot sofst er
il
esoi
landkept
i
namoi stplaceshadedf r
om di r
ectsunlight.Seedsor dinar
il
ygerminatein10- 20daysand
youngplantsgrowr apidl
y.Seedlingsshoul dbepot t
edi ndiv
iduall
yinsmal lcontai
ner
sassoon
aspracti
calaft
erger minati
on.Theycanbet ransf
erredt oapermanentl ocati
onwhent heyar
e
25-40cm (10-
16i n.
)tall.

Purplepassionfrui
tissomet i
mesgraft
edontoay el
lowpassionfrui
troot
stockto
al
leviat
enemat odeanddi seasepr
oblemsaffecti
ngtherootsyst
em ofpurplepassi
on
fr
uit.Seedl
ingsofbothstockandscionshouldbeabout45cm ( 18in.
)tal
landhav ea
stem diameteraboutthatofapencilwhengr
af t
ed.Sci
onsshouldbeabout8- 10cm (3-4
i
n.)longandcont ai
natleast2nodes.Thestockshouldbecutof f25-
30cm ( 10-
12in.)
abov ethesoil
li
ne.

Forgrafti
ng,along,slantingcutismadef rom 1si detot heothert hroughthebaseof
thescionforabouthal fitsl
ength,andasi milarcutismadet hrought hestem ofthe
stock.The2cutsur facesar ethenplacedt oget herwit
hcambi aal i
gnedandt hegrafti
s
ti
edf i
rmlywit
hbuddi ngt ape.Thegr af
ti sencl osedinasmal l plasti
cbagt iedshut
belowt hegr
aft,andpl acedinawar m, shadyl ocationfor10-14day sorunt il
theunion
takes.Thenthebagi sl oosenedtoadmi tairandi sremov edwhensci onbudsbegint o
grow.Thebuddi ngtapei sremov edbef oreitcanconst ructthegr owi ngstem.

Cut
ti
ngsfr
om passi
onfrui
tvi
nescanber oot
edunderint
ermit
tentmist,
buttheyshoul
d
besel
ect
edcaref
ull
yfr
om heal
thy
,producti
vepl
antstoavoidspreadi
ngvir
usdisease.
42
PLANTI
NGANDTRELLI
SING
I
deal
ly
, y
oungpassi
onvinesshoul
dbeseti
nthefi
eldear
lyi
nspri
ngaf
terdangeroff
rosti
spast.
I
nFlor
ida,passi
onv
inesarepl
anted3-
4.5m (
10-
15ft.
)apar
tinr
ows4.5-
6m (15-20ft.
)apar
t.

Horizontalt
rell
iseshav ecross-pi
ecesatthetopofeachpostwith2-4wi resstrung
hori
zontall
y60cm ( 2f t
.)apartal
ongthetopofeachcross-
piece.Vert
ical t
rell
i
ses
consistofheav ypost swithoutcr
oss-pi
eces,wi
th2or3wi r
esst r
ungal ongt herowli
ke
barbedwi r
ef encing,att
achedt othepostsfr
om thet
opdownati nt
erv
al sabout30-40
cm (12-16in.)apart.

Trel
liswi resshoul dbeNo.9or10gal vanizedsteel.Thepostsneedtobest outenough
towi t
hst andt heweightofthevinesthroughoutaseasont hatnormal
lyincl
udesthe
buffetingofst rongwinds.I
deallytheyshoul dbelongenought oprovi
deat rel
li
sheight
of1.5m ( 5ft.
),with45-75cm (18-30in.)i
nt heground.Trell
isrowsshouldbeorient
ed
north-sout hformaximum exposur etosunl ight
,andt hev
inesshouldbeal l
owedtogr ow
togetheral ongt hetr
ell
i
sest opromotecr oss-poll
i
nat i
on.

POLLI
NATI
ON
Polli
nati
onisessent i
al forf
ruitproduct iononpassionv i
nes.Flowersoft hepur pl
epassionv i
ne
normal l
ysetfruitwhensel f
-poll
inat ed,butmanyy ell
owpassi onv i
neswi ll
notsetf r
uitunl
ess
theirfl
owersaredust edwi t
hpol lenf rom adiff
erentvinethatisgeneticall
ycompat i
ble.Thus,2
plantsgrownf rom cutt
ingstakenf rom thesamev i
necannotpol l
inateeachot her.Moreover,
somev i
nesfrom agr oupofseedl ingscancr oss-
polli
nateandot herscannot .Thi
smustbe
l
ear nedbytri
al anderrorast hepl antsdev el
op.Ordinari
ly
,manyoppor tuni
tiesforcross-
poll
inati
onexisti nalargeseedlingpopul ati
on.

Themostef fecti
veinsectf orpol
li
natingpassionfruiti
sthecar penterbee( Api
dae,
subfamilyAnt hophoridae),alar
ge,solit
arybeesimi l
artothebumbl ebeei nappearance.
Thenat i
vebeepopul ationmayensur eadequat epoll
inati
oninar easwher ewi l
d
may popsf r
uitnaturall
y.Elsewhere,othermeansmustbesuppl ied.Carpenterbeescan
beencour agedbypl acinghol l
owlogsi nthefi
eldneart hevines.Honey beesareless
eff
ectivebecauseoft heirsmallsi
zeandbecauset heyprefertowor kot herfl
owersat
thetimePassi fl
oraisi nbloom.Theymaybesuccessf ulwit
ht her el
ati
velysmal l
-
fl
ower ed(andsel f
-compat ibl
e)purplepassionfrui
tundersomecondi t
ions,howev er
.

Thegiantgranadil
laalsoneedspoll
i
nationtoensurefr
uitset
.Itr
equir
esmi l
d
temperat
uresf ornor
mal fr
uit
ingandmaybl oom butsetnofrui
t(ormisshapenf
rui
t)
duri
ngthehot t
estpartofthesummer .Handpoll
inati
onmaybet heeasiestwayto
ensurefr
uitproducti
ononaf ewpassionv i
nesgrowinginthehomegar den.

FERTI
LIZATI
ON
Abal
ancedferti
li
zerthatsuppl
iesni
tr
ogen,phosphorusandpotassi
um inapproxi
matel
yequal
pr
oport
ions,
aswel lasessenti
almicr
onutr
ient
s(magnesium, manganese,copper
,zi
ncandir
on),
i
sadequateforpassionvinesonthesl
ight
lyaci
d,sandysoi
ls.Onalkal
ine,
rockysoil
s,
43
phosphorusisneededl
essthannitrogenandpot
ash,butmicr
onutr
ient
smustbeappliedf
or
normalgrowthandproduct
ion.Thesecanbeappli
ed4t i
mesay earinf
oli
arspr
ays.I
naddit
ion,
i
ronchelatescanbeappli
eddirect
lyinsol
uti
ontothesoil
neartheroot
s.

Fert
il
izershoul dbeappl iedinearlyspringbef oregr owthbegins.Lightapplicati
ons
shouldbegi ven4- t
o6- weeki nter
valsthroughJul yi nthenorthernpartofthiscr op's
cult
ural r
ange, andthroughOct oberinsout her nFlorida.Passionvinesareheav yf eeder
s,
butov er-
fert
il
izati
onwi l
ldamaget her oots,andpossi bl
ydestroytheplant.Theamount
toappl ydependsont hesi zeoftheplant,andcanbedet erminedbyexper ience.No
moret han110- 170g( 4-6oz.)oflow-analysis(6-6-6,5-7-
5,etc.)f
erti
li
zershoul dbe
appli
edatonet i
meunt i
lithasbeendet erminedt hatmor ecanbeappl i
edsaf el
y.It
shouldbeev enl yspreadi nacircl
eofabout45cm ( 18in.)r
adiusaboutt hest em, and
thenwat eredin.

PRUNI
NGANDTRAI
NING
Passionvinesinthei
rnati
vestat
eclamberupavail
abl
etreesorrocksandspreadouttocatch
theavail
ablesunli
ght.Theyel
lowpassionf
rui
thasnatur
ali
zedinthismannerinsomepartsof
southernFlor
ida.I
nculti
vat
ion,v
inesshoul
dbetrai
nedtocoverthewiresofthetr
ell
i
sorfence
onwhi chtheyaregrown.

Youngv i
nesaret r
ainedbyai mingagr owinguptowardt hetopofthet r
ell
i
sandonce
ther
e, al
lowingashoott ogrowal ongeachwi r
eineachdi r
ecti
on.A2- wir
etrel
li
s
provi
des4spr outsgrowi ngalongt hetrel
li
sawayf r
om thev i
ne'
strunk.Oncest arted,
thevineshouldbeal l
owedt ogr owwi thoutpruni
ngthroughouttheseason, si
ncet he
morev i
nethereis,themor ebear ingsurfacether
ewillbe.Withself
-i
ncompat i
blef orms
ofyell
owpassi onfrui
titisparti
cul ar
lydesir
ablet
oallow2di ff
erent,
cross-fer
ti
lev ines
togrowt hrougheachot herandi nter
twinesoast opromot eheavyfrui
tproduction.

Vinesshouldbepr unedinlatewinterwhent heyarenotacti

velygrowing.Al
ldeadand
weakwoodshoul dbecutoutandt hevineprunedbackt ovi
gorous,well-
buddedst
ems
sothatitcanresumeheal thy,act
ivegrowthinear l
yspr
ing.Disi
nfectpruni
ngshears
betweeneachpr uningtoav oi
dspreadingdiseasef r
om vi
netov i
ne.Agoodt imeto
maket hefir
stfert
il
izerappli
cati
onisafterpruning.

Thepassi
onv i
neisashor t-l
ivedperenni
al.Somey ell
owpassi onfrui
tvinesinsouther
n
Fl
ori
dahav epersi
stedinthefieldfor10years,butthi
sisexceptional.Amor ereal
i
stic
l
if
eexpectati
onis3-5y ears.Avinethatappearstohav eexcessivedeadwoodmayhav e
l
ostsomuchv i
gorthatitshouldber emovedandr epl
acedwi thay oung,heal
thyplant
.

PRODUCTI
ONANDHARVEST
Seedlingsseti nthespr
ingwi l
lspendmostoft hef i
rstseasoninthefi
eldinvi
gorousvegetati
ve
growth, al
thoughaf ewflowersandf ruitmayappearinlatesummeronv i
nesoftheyel
low
passionf r
uit.Vinesgr
ownf rom cutt
ingsf l
owermor eprofusel
yandsetmor efr
uitthef
irstyear
i
nt hef i
eldthandoseedl i
ngs,butcutting-
grownvinesaremor eexpensi
vet opr
oduceandof ten

44
l
essvigoroust
hanseedli
ngs.Furt
her
more,onemustexercisegr
eatcauti
ont
okeepthepl
ant
s
fr
om whichcutt
ingsar
etakenfreeofdi
sease,
ataskthatisnotnecessar
ywhenseedl
i
ngsar
e
used.

Appr oxi
mat ely3.5-
7kg( 7.
5-15lbs.)offrui
tperplantisli
kel
ytobethebestpr oduct
ion
thatcanbeexpect edofthey ell
owpassionf r
uiti
nFlor i
daunti
lmoreproducti
v ecul
ti
var
s
becomeav ail
able.Withtheselevelsofproducti
onandaspaci ngof3x4. 5m (10x15
ft.
),onemightopt i
mist
ical
lyexpectapr oducti
onof2. 5-5metr
ict
ons/ha(2,200-4,
400
l
b./acre)ofy ell
owpassionf r
uithere.Atbest,t
hepur plepassi
onfr
uitwouldli
kely
producey i
eldsonl y1/3asgr eat.
.

RI
PENI
NGANDSTORAGE
Theenti
recropofpurplepassi
oninfruitandtheear l
ycropoft heyel
l
owf orm maturesinlate
spri
ngandear l
ysummer .Thenthevinesgrowv egetati
velyandmostdonotf l
owerwhenday s
arel
ongest,f
rom aboutJune21t oJuly4.Yell
owpassi onf r
uitvi
nesbegintheseason'ssecond
fl
oweri
nginthelatt
erhalfofJul
y,usuall
ypeakingi nmid-Augustandcontinui
nguntilOctoberor
November.Frui
tsetfr
om thesecondf l
oweringripensfrom Septemberthroughearl
yFebr uar
y.

Developingpassi onfruitr
emai nsgr eenunt i
lfull
ymat ure,t
hencol orsrapidlywithina
fewday s.Bot hy ell
owandpur plefruitsdropt othegroundwhenr ipe.Thef rui
tshoul d
notbehar vestedunt i
litdrops,becausef rui
tpickedfrom thevinehasanunr i
pe" woody"
tast
e.Insomer egions,thesoi lbeneatht hevinesiskeptweedf r
eeandt henewl yf al
l
en
frui
tiscollectedonceort wiceaweekf ormar ket.InFlori
da,t
hef allcr
opi seasily
coll
ectedf rom thegr oundt wiceaweekwher er accoonsandot heranimal pestsarenot
abundant .Summerf r
uitisbettercollecteddailybecauseofhi ghertemper aturesandt he
dangerofsun- scaldi
ng.

Bot
hpur pl
eandyell
owpassionfr
uit
sbegint
olosemoist
ureassoonast heyfal
land
qui
cklybecomequit
ewr i
nkl
edifhel
dunderhot
,dr
ycondit
ions.Jui
ceinthesefr
uitsi
s
wholesome,butt
heyareunsi
ghtl
yandthusunmarket
abl
e.Cleanfr
uitcanbestoredi
n
pol
yethyl
enebagsat10°C(50°
F)forasl
ongas3weekswi thoutl
oss.

Exper
iment
ally,
wirenett
ingstr
ungoni
ncli
nedfr
amesbeneat
hpassi
onvineshasbeen
usedtocol
lectri
pefrui
twhichfal
l
sandrol
lsf
orwar
dtobegather
edeasi
l
yl i
keeggs
fr
om abatt
ery.

Fr
uitofthegiantgr
anadi
ll
aturnsdeepgol
denwhenf ul
lyri
peandmaybepickedfor
l
ocalconsumpt i
onatthi
sstage.Gi
antgr
anadil
l
af r
uitt
oshipmaybepi
ckedjustasthe
ar
eaimmedi atel
ysurr
oundi
ngt hef
rui
t'
sstem t
urnsyel
low.

USES
Passionfr
uitj
uicei
sagoodsour ceofascorbicaci
d( vi
tami
nC)andcar ot
enoids(vi
taminA).It
i
srich-f
lav
oredandstrongl
y,butpl
easant
lyaromatic.Theundil
utedj
uicei
shighlyconcent
rated
butisanexcel
lentaddi
ti
vetootherfr
uitj
uices,ori
tmaybedr unkasanadei fwaterandsugar

45
areadded.Thej uicemakesanexcel lentjell
y,pi
efil
li
ngorcakef rosti
ng.Seedswiththe
surroundingjuicesacsar eoftenaddedt of r
uitsal
adsinAustrali
a.Fruitoft
hepurplepassi
on
fr
uit(sweet erandl essacidthanthey el
l
ow)maybeeat enbyitself
,seedsandall
.Juiceofthe
giantgranadill
ahasami lderfl
avorthanthatoft heothersandisusedi nconfect
ionsordri
nks.
It
smel onlike,ediblefl
eshalsocanbepul veri
zedandusedi npies.

PESTS
Fewpest satt
ackthefr
uitofthiscr
op.Ast
inkbugmaypunct
urey
oungpassi
onf
rui
t,butt
he
fr
uitusuall
ycont
inuestodevelopmoreorl
essnormal
l
y.

Nemat odesandf ungi t

hati nvadet her ootsaret hemostcommonpest sonPassi f
lora
speciesi nFlori
da.Thepur plepassi onf r
uit,i
nfact ,
isi
mpossi bl
etogrowinmostpar ts
ofsout heasternFl ori
daunl essgraftedont herootoft hey el
lowpassionfrui
toranother
resi
stantspeci es.Nemat odesand2f ungi,speciesofPhy tophthoraandFusarium,have
beenf oundont her ootsofdecl i
ningordr yi
ngv i
nes.They el
lowpassionvineismor e
resi
stantt oharmf ulsoilorganismst hant hepurple,butitisnotimmune.Vi nesmay
showcanker sorst em l
esi onsneart hesoi ll
i
ne, andslowlydeclineaft
ergrowingforas
l
ongas5- 7years.Whent hishappens, i
tisadv i
sabletost artnewv i
nes,pr
eferabl
yina
newsi te,forreplacement s.Roott roublesar elesscommononpassi onv i
nesincentral
Flor
idat hanf ar
thersout h.

Virusdiseasesaffectpassionfr
uitpr oducti
oninAust ralia.Theyhav ealsobeen
discoveredinHawai iandinanor nament alcult
ivargr owni nFlor
ida.Inviewoft he
tr
oublev ir
usescausepapay agr
ower sinFlori
da,allpr acticalmeansshoul dbeusedt o
protectpassionfrui
tplanti
ngsfrom possi blevi
ralinfect i
ons.Anyv i
neswhosel eaves
showmosai corvein-cl
eari
ngsympt omsshoul dber emov edanddest royed.Also,plants
shouldbepr opagatedf r
om seedwhenev erpossible.Av ineusedasasour ceofcut t
ings
shouldbekepti nsectfreei
nascr eenhouset opr otecti tfrom vi
ralinf
ections.

RELATEDSPECI
ES
Several or namental passionflowersareav ai
lableinFlorida,buttheyshoul dnotbeconf used
withthet hreefrui
tingv i
nesdi scussedhere.Ordinaril
y,theseor nament alvi
nesdonotbearf r
uit
.
Thesear et heRedPassi on-
fl
ower ,Passifl
oracoccineaAub1.and2hybr dsP.al
i at
o-caerul
ea
(somet imescal edP.pf
l ordti
i)andPassi fl
ora'I
ncense' (P.incarnat
aL.xP.ci ncinnataMast er
s).
The2hy br idsbearspect acul
arbl ueandmauv eflower s,respecti
vel
y .Thus,flowercolor
dist
ingui shest heseor nament alsfr
om thef r
uit
-bearingspeci eswitht hei
rdull whit
eordr ooping
mar oonf l
ower s.Awi l
dspeci esnat i
vefrom centralFlori
danor thtoPennsy lvaniaandwest ward
tosout her nIll
i
nois, Missouri
andKansasi sthemay pop, Passifl
oraincarnataL. ,whichbearsa
smal lbutedi blefruit
.

FRUI
TSOFTHEPASSI
FLORA(
PASSI
ONFLOWERS)

Thebest-
knownandmostpopularpassi
onfrui
tcomesfrom Passi
fl
oraeduli
s.Ther
ear e
aboutahundr
edvari
eti
es,
all
dif
feri
nginsizeand,i
nter
msoff rui
tcol
or,qual
it
y,yi
eld,

46
resi
stancetonemat odesandabi l
ityt oself-polli
nate.Amongt hemosti mportant
vari
etiesare‘CommonPur ple’ and‘ Servi
ckSel ecti
on’(bothgr owni nHawai i)
,“freder
ick’
(wit
hl argefr
ui t
),and‘Norfork’( withwhi t
ef lower sandr eddishpur plefruit
).These
cult
ivarscombi net hepropertiesoft hepur pleP.edul i
sf .edulisandy elowP.edul
l i
sf.
fl
avicarpainv aryi
ngdegr ees.I nr ecenty ear ssystemat i
cbr eedingpr ogramshav e
broughtaboutsomehi ghlyproduct i
vecul t
iv ar
swi theitherahi gherpulpcont ent(about
45%i nonesy nt het
icpopul at
ion, 48-59%i nanot her),
largefruit(withawei ghtofupt o
170g), orahighery iel
d(55-65t onsperhect are).

Passi
fl
oraedul
isf
.edul
i
s

I
nEur opet
hefr
uitofPassif
lor
aeduli
sf.edulisi
sthebestknownofthi
sspeci
es.Apar
t
fr
om SouthAmeri
ca,themosti mpor
tantareaswherecr
opsarerai
sedarei
nSouth
Afr
ica,I
ndi
a,Mal
aysia,Aust
ral
ia,NewZealandandHawaii.

Passi
fl
oraedul
i
sf.edul
i
sist
hemor
ecol
d-t
oler
antf
orm anddoesv
erywel
latel
evat
ions
of600- 2000m.I nKeny aitissuccessf ull
yculti
vatedatanal tit
udeof2500m.The
seedli
ngsar eplanted3- 4m apart.Thef ir
stcropcanbehar v estedi nthefollowi ngy ear
t
h th
andwi llbecomecont inuouslylargeruntilt
he5 and6 y ears.Att hispointt hey ieldwil
l
graduallydi minishandt heplantati
onmustber enewedf oreconomi creasons, though
theplant scanl i
vemuchl onger.Onav erage,suchapl antati
onhasal if
espanof7y ear
s.
Incompar isonwi thot herculti
vars,theannual yiel
dperhect arei srelat
ivelylowf or
typi
cal formaedul i
s: 10-15tons.Asar uletheglobulartoov oidf rui
treaches4- 5cm
diam,thesi zeofahen’ segg.Theav er
agewei ghtofthedar ky el
lowpul pisabout35%
ofthef ruitwei ght.Ithasasmoot hleatheryskinthatbeginst owr i
nkleaftersomeday s
ofstorage.Thewr i
nklesindicatet hati
thasgai neditsfullf
lav orandmat urity,but
neverthelessi tcanbest oredforaddi ti
onalweeksandr emai njuicy.Thet asteoft he
pulpandt hej uicepressedoutofi tissli
ghtlysour,wit
hat ouchofwi neflavorandan
exoti
capr icot-l
ikearoma.

Manypr eparedfoodsar emadewi ththisfr

uit,
includingmultiv
itami njuices,l
iqueur s,
tr
opicalpunches,yoghur t
s,icecreams, andconf ecti
oneri
es.Thev alueoft hej uiceand
pulpisdeter
mi nedbyt heircontentofascorbicaci d,
sugar,carotene,riboflavi
n, and
mineral
s.Thecol d-pressedseedsy i
eldapaley ellowoilwi
thami ld,pleasantt aste.
Thisoili
susedbot hint hekitchenandasar awmat eri
ali
nt hepaintandv arnish
i
ndustry.Thecompr essedr esi
duesar eusedasf odder.

Thefrui
tisal
sowel
lsuit
edforeat
ingraw.Tothi
senditi
scuti
ntohal
vesandthe
ref
reshi
ngpulpi
sspoonedoutoftheski
n.Thenumerousbl
acki
shseedscanbeeat
en
47
t
oo.Thef
reshpul
pisal
sousedt
oref
inef
rui
tsal
ads,
icecr
eams,
andot
hersweet
s.

Passi
fl
oraedul
isf
.fl
avi
car
pa

They el
low-frui
tedPassi f
lor
aedul i
sf .fl
av i
car
pai st heot hermai ncul t
ivat
edst ock.I tis
resi
stanttonemat odesaswel lastosev er
alfungal diseases, suchasFusar i
um wi lt.
Somet i
mescal ledmar acuya,formaf lavi
carpaispar t
icularlysuitedforwar merregi ons
andthusgr owsbestatel evat
ionsbel ow1000m.Thel argestpl antati
onsar einBr azil,
Colombi a,Austral
ia,HawaiiandPer u.Onehect arey i
eldsacr opofupt o50t onsoft hi
s
yell
ow, ovoidfr
ui t
.Althoughthef r
uitdoesnotmeasur eupt othelovelytasteofP.
eduli
sf .eduli
s,iti
ssignifi
cantlyl
arger ,
at7-12cm l ong, andt hereforetheyieldis
considerablyhigher.Theav eragewei ghtofthef ruitisar ound90g.I ncont r
asttof orma
eduli
s,formaf l
av i
carpahasbr ownishseeds.Amaj orpar tofthef rui
tisusedf orjuice
production.Passifl
oraedulisf.fl
avi
car paisself-steri
le.

Asar ul
e,i t
sflowersopenar oundnoonandcl osedur i
ngt hecourseofdusk.Nat ural
poll
inati
oni saccompl i
shedbycar pent
erbees,andwher ether
ear enobees,polli
nati
on
mustbedonebyhand.Fi el
d-workerscanpol l
inateabout600f lower
sperhourwi t
ha
successr ateofabout70%.Fr uitr
ipensin70-80day s.Studi
esinVenezuel
ahav eshown
thatthehi ghestyiel
dsareobt ai
nedwhenv inesar eplanted3m apart
.Theav erageli
fe
spanofapl antat
ionofPassi
floraeduli
sf.fl
avicarpais5-6years.

CI
TRUS

I
ntr
oduct
ion
Or
igi
n:Sout
heast
ernAsi
a.

Thecr
opwasspr
eadwestt
oAr
abi
anar
ease.
g.Oman,
Iran,
Pal
est
inel
ongbef
oreChr
ist
.

Themaj
oredi
blet
ypesofci
tr
usi
ncl
ude:

Ci
tr Ci
on( t
rusmedi
ca)–Sout
hChi
na,

48
 Souror C.aur
ange( ant
ium)-I
ndi
a,

Li C.aur
me( ant
if
oli
a)–eastI
ndi
a,

C.l
Lemon( i
mon)–Unknownor
igi
n,possi
blyahy
bri
dbet
weenci
tr
onandl
i
me,

Sweetor C.si
ange( nensi
s)–Sout
hChi
naandI
ndonesi
a,

Pummel
o(C.gr
andi
s)–Mal
aysi
aandI
ndi
a

Gr
apef
rui
t(C.par
adi
si)–Mut
ati
onorhy
bri
dofpumel
o

Mandar
in/
tanger
i C.r
ne( eti
cul
ata)–I
ndo-
Chi
naandSout
hChi
na

For
Kumquat( tunel
l
amar
gar
it
a)–Sout
hChi
na

Tr
if
oli
ateor Ponci
ange( rust
ri
fol
i
ata)–cent
ral
andnor
ther
nChi
na.

Usesofci
tr
usf
rui
ts:
Earl
yusesi
ncludedtheprev
enti
onofscur
vyduet
othei
rhi
ghv
itami
nCcont
ent
s.Thi
sist
he
basi
softheterm‘Li
my ’
forBri
ti
shsai
l
ors.

Fr
eshf
rui
torj
uices

Peel
oil
sar
eincor
por
atedi
ntoper
fumes

Pr
ocessedi
ntomar
mal
ades

Pr
eser
vedassweetpi
ckl
es

Pr
eser
vedascannedsect
ions

Jui
ceext
ract
ionby
-pr
oduct
s:

Oi
l
sandj
uicef
lav
our
susedi
nsof
tdr
inkf
lav
our
ing

Peel
ext
ract
s–usedi
npect
inpr
oduct
ion

Dr
iedpeel
spel
l
ets–usedi
ncat
tl
efeedpr
oduct
ion

Ci
tr
ust
axonomy
:
Fami
l
y=Rut
aceae

Rut
aceaeisfur
thersubdiv
idedint
o6subfamil
i
eswi t
hcit
rusbel
ongi
ngt
othesubf
ami
l
y
Aur
anti
oideae–character
izedbyhesper
idi
um ber
ri
es.

Def
ini
ti
onofhesper
idi
um
Si
ngl
eenl
argedov
arysur
roundedbyal
eat
her
ypeel
andcont
ainsj
uicev
esi
cles/
sacs.
49
Thegeneral
taxonomyofcitr
usissti
l
lcontr
over
sial
,complexandsomewhatconf
usingowi
ngt
o
theeasewit
hwhi chspeci
escanhybri
diz
eandthediff
icul
tyar
isi
ngfr
om pol
yembryony.

However
,moder
nchemot
axonomyandpl
antmor
phol
ogyst
udi
eshav
edef
ined3af
fi
nit
ygr
oups
wi
thi
ncit
rus.

1. C.medica,
C.aurant
if
oli
aandC.li
mon=TheMedicagroup.
2. C.r
eti
culat
a,C.si
nensi
s,C.par
adi
siC.aur
, ant
ium =Theret
icul
ategr
oup.
3. C.maxi
ma=Themaxi magroup.

Thus,
onlyci
tr C.medi
on( ca)
, C.maxi
Shaddock( ma)andmandar
i C.r
n( eti
cul
ata)ar
etr
ue
commercial
l
yimport
antspeci
es.

Theot hercommonci
tr
usf
rui
tsar
ehy
bri
dsbet
weent
hev
ari
oust
ypeswi
thi
nthel
argerci
tr
us
groups.

E.
g.

Sweetor C.si
ange( nensi
s)=C.r
eti
cul
atexC.maxi
ma

Gr
apef
rui
t(C.par
adi
si angexC.maxi
)=Sweetor ma.

C.l
Lemon( i
mon)=C.medi
caxC.maxi
ma

Li C.aur
me( ant
if
oli
a)=compl
exhy
brdofC.medi
i caxC.maxi
maandmi
croci
tr
us.

Despi
tetheaccuracyoft
hechemotaxonomi
csy st
ems,hort
icul
tur
ist
sst
il
lhav
eabiasfort
he
cl
assi
fi
cati
ondev el
opedbyHodgson(1967)
;thi
sclassi
fi
edcitr
usint
ofi
vecommer
cial
l
y
i
mportantspeci
es:

Mandar
i C.r
ns( eti
cul
ata)

Sweetor C.si
anges( nensi
s)

Gr
apef
rui
t C.par
s( adi
si)

C.l
Lemons( i
mon)
, Li C.aur
mes( ant
if
oli
a)

Sweetor
anges:

Ther
earefourgr
oupsofsweetor
angesbasedonf
rui
tmor
phol
ogy
,chemi
calconst
it
uent
sand
conv
eni
ence:

Commonr
oundor
anges

Nav
elor
anges
50
 Pi
gment
ed/
bloodor
anges

Aci
d-l
essor
anges

Ot
hermi
norcl
assi
fi
cat
ions:

Seasonofmat
uri
ty

Ear
ly=6-
9mont
hs

Mi
d=season=9-
12mont
hs

Lat
eseason=>12mont
hs

Seedi
ness

Seedl
ess(
0-8seeds/
frui
t)

Moder
atel
yseedy(
9-15seeds)

Ver
yseedy(
>15seeds)

Nav
elor
anges
Theyar echaracteri
zedbyasecondar y,
tert
iaryorquaternaryfrui
t(navel)atthest y
larendofthe
fr
uit
.Fr uit
sar emost l
yseedl
essduet ocompl etepol
lenandpar t
ialovul
est eri
li
ty.Theyare
generall
ylargerthanotherorangesandaregr ownprimar i
l
yf orfr
eshmar ket.Commoncul ti
vars
i
nclude‘Washi ngtonnavel
’-abudmut ati
onf r
om Brazil
.Atwood, Fisher,
Newhal l–f rom
Cali
fornia.

Pi
gment
ed/
Bloodor
anges
Thesear ecommer ci
all
yimportanti
ntheMedi
ter
raneancount
ri
es–I t
aly,
Spain,Mor
occo,
Algeri
a,andTunisi
a.Gr ownundertheMedi
ter
raneancli
mate–hotday sandcoolni
ght
s, t
he
fr
uitsdevelopdeepredf l
eshcolour
,whi
chmayalsoappearonthepeel
.Ther edcol
ourisdue
toanthocyaninpi
gment .

Nucel
larembr
yony
Thisi
sthedevelopmentofapomict
icembryos(nucell
arembryos)fr
om thenucel
l
arti
ssueof
theembryosac.Theygiveri
setonucel
larseedl
ingsongerminati
on.Thisphenomenonis
commoni nci
trusandmangoes;itl
eadstotheexpressionofpol
yembryony.

Theper centageofnucel
larseedl
ingsincit
rusr
angesf
rom zer
oinC.maximatoalmost100%i
n
mandar ins.Inmostcaseszy got
icseedl
ingsgi
veri
setoweakplant
s;obser
vat
ionshav
eshown
thatnucellarseedl
i
ngsaremor evigor
ous.

Ear
lydet
ect
ionofnucel
l
arembr
yonyut
il
izedv
isual
rat
ingsbuti
nsomei
nst
ancesi
tisdi
ff
icul
tto

51
detectwit
haccuracythedisti
ncti
onbetweensexualandnucel
larseedl
ingst
hrough
mor phol
ogical
geneti
cmar kers.Seedl
i
ngsf r
om nucel
larembryosareusual
l
yv i
rusf
ree
becausemostv ir
uses(vi
roids)ar
enottransl
ocat
edtot hedev
elopi
ngembr y
o.

Br
eedi
ngobj
ect
ivesf
orci
tr
us
Despi
tethedif
ficul
ti
esi nci
trusbreedi
ngseveralbreedi
ngprogrammescont
inuet
oendeav
our
tosol
veimportantproblemsl i
miti
ngcit
rusproductionwor
ldwide.Thepr
ogr
ammesare
separ
atedint
o:rootstockbreedingandscionbreeding.

Becausetheobjecti
vesf
oreacharediffer
entev
ent
houghsomecombi
neobj
ect
ivesf
orbot
h,
e.
g.freezehar
dinessorvi
rusresi
stance.

Sci
onbr
eedi
ngobj
ect
ives:

Fr
uitqual
i
tyi
mpr
ovement–hi
ghcol
our
,TSS,
seedl
essness

Ear
lymat
uri
tyorl
atemat
uri
ty–t
oexpandmar
ketseasons

I
mpr
ovementoff
rui
tst
ruct
ureandst
orabi
l
ity–t
oexpanddi
str
ibut
ion

Freezehar
diness–br
eedi
ngdeci
duoust
reest
oav
oidf
reezi
ngi
next
remecol
dint
he
subt
ropics.

Root
stockbr
eedi
ngobj
ect
ives:

I
mpr
ovedf
reezehar
diness

Tr
eesi
zecont
rol

Sal
i
nit
yanddr
oughtt
oler
ance

Resi
stancet
osoi
l
-bor
neor
gani
sms

Tol
eranceorr
esi
stancet
ovi
rusese.
g.t
heCTV

Hi
ghseedednesstof
aci
l
itat
eseedpr
opagat
ionandhi
ghnucel
l
arembr
yonyt
opr
ovi
de
uni
for
m seedl
ings.

Br
eedi
ngt
echni
ques
I
nvol
ve:

Tr
adi
ti
onal
/conv
ent
ional
-cr
ossi
ngsandsel
ect
ions

Bi
otechnol
ogy–usi
nggenet
ict
ransf
ormat
ion

Mut
ati
onandsel
ect
ion

52
 Nat
ural
mut
ati
ons

Inducedmut
ati
onse.
g.gammar adi
ati
onofseeds(LD50=0.1-
0.15Gy)andbuds
(
LD50=0.
05-
0.09Gy )
.E.
g.‘
Starr
uby
’grapef
rui
twasselect
edfrom mutat
ionbr
eedi
ng.

Chi
mer
as–mi
xtur
eoft
issuesofgenet
ical
l
ydi
ff
erentconst
it
uti
onsont
hesamepar
tof
t
hepl
ant.

Bot
anyofCi
tr
us
Cit
rusar
eagroupofplant
sthatgr
owintoei
therl
argebushesorsmallt
reesofupto10m x10m
andarehi
ghl
ybranched.Youngbr
anchesar
eangledandspinydependi
ngont hecul
ti
varand
speci
esandal
sotheage.

Thepositi
ononthet
reewher
eabr anchi
sgr owi
ngwi
l
lal
sodet
ermi
net
hespi
nedensi
ty;
branchesi
nthecent
eroft
hetreearespi
nier
.

Tr
eesrai
sedfrom seedl
i
ngsaremorev
igor
oust
hanbuddedt
rees;
nucel
l
arseedl
i
ngsar
eal
so
morev
igorousthanbuddedt
rees.

Root
s:Seedl
i
ngpl
ant
shav
eapr
omi
nentt
apr
oott
hatcangr
owupt
o4m deep.Howev
er,
the
rootsyst
em i
susuall
ydist
urbedduri
ngtr
ansplant
ingleadi
ngtoashal
lowext
ensi
vel
ater
alr
oot
system.Mostfeederroot
sarefoundonthetop50-60cm dept
hofthesoi
l
.

Leaves:Ovoi
dinshape.Theyar
esessi
l
ewheny
ounganddev
eloppedi
cel
sast
heymat
ure.I
n
somevar
iet
iespet
ioleshavewi
ngs.Leav
esr
emai
ngr
eent
hroughoutt
hei
rli
feandcankeepon
thet
reef
orupto3y ears.

Fl
ower
s:Fl
ower
sofci
tr
usar
ebor
necont
inuousl
yint
het
ropi
csasl
ongast
her
eissuf
fi
cient
water
.Flowersareborneonr acemesorsi
ngly.Thefl
owercolourisusual
lywhit
ebutother
col
oursalsoappeare.
g.pinkandpurpl
e.Flowershaveacharacteri
sti
csweetlemonscentdue
tot
heabundanceoff l
avanoidsandessent
ial
oils.Thecommonf l
avanoi
dsincl
ude:

Hesper
idi
n,neohesper
idi
n,l
i
moni
n,andt
anger
it
in.

I
nthesubt
ropi
cal
andmi
l
dtemper
atecl
i
mat
es,
plant
sfl
owerseasonal
l
y.

Fr
uit
s:Thef
rui
tsofci
tr
usar
ehesper
idi
ums.Theyhav
eal
eat
her
ypeel
consi
sti
ngofanout
er
colour
edexocar p(fl
avedo)andani nnerwhit
espongymesocar p(albedo).Theedibl
eport
ion
(endocarp)compr i
sestheinter
iorport
ionofthecarpel
s,whichexpandsintosegments
contai
ningjuicevesicl
es(sacs)emanat i
ngfr
om thecarpel
larymembr anes.Frui
tsvar
yincol
our
,
sizeandshapesdependi ngont hespeciesandcult
ivar
.
53
Seeds:Usual
l
ycr
eam col
our
ed.Theyconsi
stofaseedcoatsur
roundi
ngamuch-
reduced
nucell
usandendosper m(exalbuminous)
.Theseedcont ains2cotyl
edonsandf rom onetoas
manyassev enembr yos.Onlyoneembr yoisderi
vedfrom sexualf
usionofthesperm andegg
cell
s.Theadditionalembr yosori
ginat
efrom nucel
lart
issuewhichisgenet
icall
ythesameas
thedipl
oidmater nal
tissue.Theseedsgener al
lyhavel
owv i
abi
li
tyandneedt obeplanted
i
mmedi atel
yafterextracti
on.

Par
thenocar
py
Thedev
elopmentoffr
uit
swithoutfert
il
izati
onandinsomecaseswithoutpoll
i
nat
ion.I
tisa
commonphenomenoni nmanycitrusvariet
iese.
g.‘
Washingt
onnavel’
,‘
Satsumamandari
ns’
‘
marshseedl
ess’gr
apefr
uit
,‘
Eurecka’l
emonsand‘ li
sbon’
lemons.

Cropphysi
ology
Temper
atur
e:Minimum t
emper
atur
eforgr
owt
his130C.Lowert
emper
atur
esr
esul
tinsl
ow
gr
owt handmayleadtol
eaff
all.Frostcanbedamagi
ngtoci
tus.At30Cgr
r owt
hst
ops
al
togetherandf
rui
tsont
heplantgetinj
ury;
flower
sar
eshedaswel
lasleav
es.

Above130Cdev
elopmentalrat
esi
ncr
ease.Theopt
imum t
emperatur
eforci
tr
usproduct
ioni
s20
0 0
-
30C.Somear easrecei
ving40and50Chav eal
sorepor
tedgoodcit
ruspr
oduct
ion.

Forgoodrindcolourdevel
opmentnightt
emperat
uresshoul
dbelow( 130C)
10- .Theselownight
temperat
uresalsofaci
li
tat
etheaccumulati
onofsugar
sinthef
ruit
,hencegoodfr
uitqual
i
ty.

I
nthehumidtropicswher
ewehavetemperat
uresduri
ngthedayandni
ghtweendupwitht
he
dev
elopmentoflargef
rui
tswi
thhi
ghjui
cecontentbutwi
thlowsol
ubl
esoli
ds/sugar
s.

Nonetphot
osynthatesar
edeposi
tedi
nthefrui
t.Atthesehight
emper
atur
esnetr
espi
rat
ion
by
passesnetphotosynt
hesi
sduetohi
ghnighttemperatur
es.

Ski
ncondi
ti
oni
nthet
ropi
cs–Ri
ndsar
ecoar
seandpoor
lycol
our
ed.

I
nt hesubt r
opicsfal
landwintertemper at
uresarelowandveryli
tt
legrowthmayoccur.
Howev er,spri
ng/summert emper atur
esareadequat el
yhi
ghandar eaccompaniedbycool
ni
ghts.Thesecondi ti
onsfacil
it
atet hedevelopmentofgoodcolouronthefr
uitandthe
deposi
t i
onofhi ghsugarl
evel
sev enthought hef
ruit
saresmall
er.

Al
ti
tudehasanindi
rectef
fectonci
tr
usbymodifyi
ngtemperature.Abov
e1800m ASL
t
emperatur
eregi
mesbecomel imi
ti
ngbecauseofthepossi
bil
i
t yoffr
ost
.

Str
ongdry,hotorcol
dwindscanbeapr obl
em incit
rusproduct
ion.Hotwindscauseexcessi
ve
evapot
ranspir
ati
onandl
owerfruitqual
i
ty.Col
dwi ndscausechil
li
nginj
uryonbothfr
uit
sand
younggrowingshoot
s–scorchinganddie-
back.

Moi
stur
eandr
elat
ivehumi
dit
y–I
nthet
ropi
cs,
moi
stur
edef
ici
tscanadv
ersel
yaf
fectci
tr
us
54
product
ion.Alsounderhi
ghmoi
stur
e/r
elat
ivehumi
dit
yandhi
ght
emper
atur
est
hei
nci
dences
offungaldi
seaseincr
ease.

Howev er,
suff
ici
entmoi st
urei
sneededthati
swel
ldi
str
ibut
ed.Amini
mum of900mm is
needed.Rainfal
lrequi
rementi
s1250-2000mm.A2-3mont hdr
yspel
li
sneededtoi
nit
iat
e
fl
owering.

Soi
ls–Cit
rusi
scosmopol
i
taninsoi
lrequi
rement
s.I
tsur
viv
esawi
der
angeofsoi
l
se.
g.–Heav
y
cl
ays,
coar
sesandyl
oams,andfi
nesands.

Ani mportantr
equi
rementinthesoi
lissuf
fi
cientaer
ati
onanddr ainageduet otheextensive
feederrooti
ngsyst
em ofcit
rus,whi
chrequi
reshighO2lev
els.SoilpHshoul dbe5- 6.pHl ower
than5maycausephy t
otoxi
cit
yduetothepresenceofmetalse.g.Al,FeandCu.Theset endto
solubi
li
zeunderlowpH.pHabov e6causenutri
entel
ementf i
xati
one. g.Zn,Fe,P2O5et
c.

Sal
ini
ty–Ci
tr
usi
ssensi
ti
vet
osal
i
nit
yint
hesoi
l
.Itcannott
oler
ateEcsof4mmohs.

CommonCi
tr
usCul
ti
var
s
1.Sweetor anges–Val enci
a,Hamli
n,Natal
,Pi
neappl
e,Washingtonnavel
2.Grapefruits–Duncan, Thompson,St
arruby
,Redblush,Marshseedl
ess,Fost
er,
Ruby
redetc.
3.Limes–Twogr oupsofli
mes
Tahi t
ity
pes–Per si
an,
Bearsetc,
And–WestI ndi
an,Mexicantypeset
c.

Lemons–3groupsofl
emonsexi
st:
(a)Fer
nimi
nel
l
ogr
oup,
(b)Ver
na(
Ber
na)
groupand(
c)Si
cil
i
angr
oup

Fer
nimi
nel
l
oandv
ernagr
oups–most
lypr
oducedi
nNor
thAf
ri
caandEur
ope.

Si
cil
i
angr
oup–Eur
eka,
Lisbon

4.Mandarins/Tangeri
nes–Clementi
nes(Chi
na)
,Sat
suma(Japan),
Dancy(Fl
ori
da)
,
Ponkan( I
ndi
a),Kar
a,Emperor,
Mineol
a.
5.Pumelos/Shaddock–3gr oupsofcul
ti
varsdi
vi
dedaccor
dingt
owheretheywere
devel
oped.
Thai,
Chinese,I
ndonesi
an.

Thai
–Chandl
er,
Kaopanna,
Kaophuang

Chi
nese–Gol
i
ath,
Mat
o,Shat
iny
u

I
ndonesi
an–Banpei
yu,
Djer
oekDel
eemaKopj
ar.

Hy
bri
dpumel
l
osal
soexi
st:

Mel
ogol
d
Pumel
l
oxGr
apef
rui
t
55
 Or
obl
anco

Thesehav
eint
ermedi
atechar
act
eri
sti
csbet
weent
het
wo.

Ci
tr
usPr
opagat
ion
Theestabli
shmentofarel
iabl
esour ceofpl
anti
ngmat er
iali
sessenti
altothesuccessofa
ci
tr
usindustry
.Thedisseminati
onanduseofdi seasedorgenet
ical
lyinf
eri
ortr
eescanbe
cat
astr
ophicontheproducti
vi
tyofthecitr
usindustr
yformanyyears.Consequently,
many
ci
tr
uspr oduci
ngcount
ri
eshav estr
ingentnur
seryregul
ati
ons.

Cit
rustreesar
enormall
ystart
edwit
hseedsel
ectedfr
om t
ruet
otypesourcetr
ees.These
seedsareusedtogrowrootst
ockst
hatwi
lll
aterbeusedf
orgr
aft
ing/buddi
ngselect
edsci
on
cul
tiv
ars.

Underl ar
gescalecommer ci
alpr
oducti
onv ali
datedt
ruetotypeseedispur
chasedfrom
reputableseedcompaniesornurser
iesORt heseedmaybeext ract
edbythegrowerfr
om
rootstockmothertr
ees.Seedshouldbeinspectedtoensur
ei ti
sverywel
ldevel
opedandaseed
l
otshoul dcontai
nunif
orm seed.

Commonr
oot
stockseedsar
efr
om:

Roughl
emon–mostcommoni
nKeny
a

Cl
eopat
ramandar
in

Souror
ange

Swi
ngl
eci
tr
unel
o.

Fr
uit
sforseedext
ract
ionar
ecol
l
ect
edwhenf
ull
ymat
ureandr
ipe.

Seedt
reat
ment
:Ext
ract
edseedhasamuci
l
agi
nouscoat
ing,
whi
chshoul
dber
emov
edby
washi
ngorusingenzymes.Duri
ngwashi
ngalloff
-typesorunderdevel
opedseedscanbe
r
emovedbyfloatat
ion.Af
terwashi
ng2fungi
cidal
treatmentsshouldbeappl
ied:

1.Ahotwat erdi
p(510Cfor10mi n)toremovePhytopht
hor
a.
2.Seedtr
eat mentfungi
cidet
ocont r
olotherf
ungi
.
Goodst
oragei
sessenti
altoensurepreser
vati
onofgerminati
onpot
ent
ial
.Seedsshoul
dbe

dr
iedt
hor
oughl
yandpl
acedi
nseal
edpl
ast
icbagst
hatper
mitgaseousexchangebutwhi
ch

l
i
mitdesi
ccat
ion.

Seedscanst
oreat4-50Cforupt
o6months(
Mexi
canl
i
me)or2y
ear
s(souror
ange)–wi
thout
seri
ousl
osesinger
mi nat
ionpot
ent
ial
.

Fr
eezi
ngwi
l
lki
l
lseeds–t
emper
atur ow–40Cshoul
ebel dbeav
oided.
56
Root
stockscanal
sober
aisedf
rom cut
ti
ngsorbyl
ayer
ing.

Forcommerci
alproduct
ionci
tr
ust
reesar
epr
opagat
edbybuddi
ngchoi
cesci
onson
recommendedrootst
ocks.

Rai
singRoot
stocks–Seedsofdesi
rabl
eroot
stocksar
epl
ant
edatt
hebegi
nni
ngoft
her
ainy
seasonoranyt i
mewithir
ri
gati
on.Presoaki
ngseedsinwaterresul
tsi
nmoreunifor
m
germinat
ion.Seedsarepl
antedabout0.5cm deepataspaci
ngof0.5-
1.0cm i
ntherow.
Spacingbetweenrowsis15-
30cm.

Optimum moist
urelevel
sshouldbemaintained–avoidi
ngov er
-water
ing.Ger
minat
ionoccurs
0
withi
n2-3weeksdependingonsoiltemperatur
eandmoi st
ure(opti
mum =25-30C).Seedli
ngs
shouldrecei
vefr
equentfer
ti
li
zati
onswit
hl owanal
ysisfert
il
iz
ers:N,P,K–shouldbeappl
iedin
therati
oof1:1:
1.

Di
seaseandpestcont
rol
shoul
dbecar
ri
edoutadequat
ely
.

Whent reesreachadiameterof4-8mm theyar

etransfer
redt
ot hefi
eldnurseryi
nreadi
nessfor
budding.Inthefiel
dnurser
ytheyarepl
antedouti
nr owsinaprocesscalled‘l
i
ningout’
.The
tr
eesatt hisst
agearecall
edli
ners.Li
nersarepl
aced15-6-cm apar
twi t
hintherowsand1-2cm
betweenr ows.

Budding–Mostci t rusarebuddedusingt
heT-orinver
tedT-budmethods.Budwoodf rom
scioncult
ivar
siscol lect
edwhenthebudsaredormant.Buddingcanbedonei mmediatelyaf
ter
scionwoodcol l
ectionort hebudwoodcanbestoredat4-50Cinmoistpeatmosscontainedi
n
plast
icbags.Buddingshoul dbedonewhentherootst
ocksareacti
velygr
owing.Thi
sensur es
thatther
eisactiv
ecambi alcel
ldi
vi
sionandthebarksl
ipseasil
y.
I
fthebar
kisnotsl
i
ppi
ngbuddi
ngshoul
dbedoneusi
ngt
hechi
pbuddi
ngmet
hod.
Commercial
propagat
orscanbud1000-
5000seedl
i
ngsperdaydependi
ngont
hecondi
ti
onof
thepl
ant
.
Thebuddi
nghei
ghtv
ari
esf
rom 5-
80cm abov
ethegr
oundl
evel
dependi
ngont
hegr
owi
ng
regi
on.
Budsgeneral
lytake2-
3weeksaf t
erbudding.Theposi
ti
onofthebudont
hebudstickaff
ects
percent
agetake.Budslocatedi
ntheapicalpor
ti
onoftheshoothav
eahi
gherper
centagetake
thanthosefr
om thebasalend.

Ot
hermet
hodsofpr
opagat
ingci
tr
usi
ncl
ude:
Seedpr
opagat
ion,
lay
eri
ngandcut
tage.
Managementofbuddedgr
owi
ngseedl
i
ngsi
nvol
ves:
Fer
ti
li
zat
ionusi
ngsol
ubl
efor
msofNPK(
20:
20:
20or8:
0:8or9:
3:6)
Ir
ri
gat
ion–suppl
yabout20mm ofwat
erperappl
i
cat
ionataf
requencyof1-
2ti
mesper
week.

57
 Di
seaseandpestcont
rol
–or
angedogmot
h,spi
dermi
tes,
meal
ybugs,
grasshopper
s,
andr
ootweevi
ls.
Ci
tr
usOr
char
dEst
abl
ishment
1.Si
teconsi
der
ati
ons–r
efert
othepr
inci
ples.
2.Si
tepr
epar
ati
ons–Shoul
dbedonei
ngoodt
ime–atl
eastamont
hbef
oref
iel
dpl
ant
ing.De-
st
umpi
ngandr
ootr
emov
alshoul
dbedonewel
landl
andt
il
li
ngbet
hor
ough.
3.Hol
ing–I
nsemi
ari
dar
easl
argehol
esshoul
dbepr
epar
ed(
90cm x90cm x90cm)
.Inhi
gh
pot
enti
alar
easwit
hdeepsoi
lshol
esizecanbe30cm x30cm 30cm.Hol
esshoul
dbef
il
led
wit
htopsoi
lmixedwi
thmanureand/orphosphat
icf
ert
il
izer
.
4.Tr
anspl
ant
ing–Thet
imeoft
ranspl
ant
ingi
scr
it
ical
underar
idorr
ainf
edcondi
ti
ons.I
t
shoul
dbedonetoensur
eaboutoratl
east2+monthsofcont i
nuousandregul
arrai
n.Plant
s
shoul
dbeplacedt
ohavethebuduni
onabout30cm from thegroundl
evel
.Mul chi
ngcanbe
donetoconsumemoist
urebuti
tsomet
imescauseslocal
izedfeederr
ootgrowth.
5.Spaci
ng–Spaci
ngdependsont
her
oot
stockaf
fectont
hesci
on,
thepr
eval
entmoi
stur
e
r
egi
mesandt
hesoi
lfer
ti
li
ty/char
act
eri
sti
csont
hesi
te.
6.I
rr
igat
ion–I
snecessar
ywher
erai
nfal
lfal
l
sshor
t.Mat
ureci
tr
ust
reesr
equi
reabout10l
i
tres
ofwaterperweek.Gener ali
rr
igati
onrecommendat i
onistosupplyabout100mm ofwat erper
month.Ami ni
mum per iodof4-6weeksdr oughtshoul
dbeprovidedunderir
ri
gatedcul
ture–to
encourageflowerini
ti
ation.Atfrui
ti
ngstageirri
gati
onshoul
dbecar ef
ull
ycontrol
ledt
oensure
quali
typreservat
ioni
nt hefrui
t.
7.Pr
uni
ng–Twof
ormsofpr
uni
ngar
eempl
oyedi
nci
tr
us.

a)Framef ormation–i nvol

vesstoppi
ngupwar dgrowthatsomepoi nttoencourage
l
ateralbranchspreading.Thi
sisstart
edonceaconv enienthei
ghtisat
tainedbythe
l
eadershooti nthefi
eldORinthenurseryonadvancetr
ees.
Shootsbelowt hebudunionandalsothosebelowtherequir
edskir
ti
nglevelareal
so

r
emov
ed.

b)Maint
enancepruning–Thisismeantt oencour
ageabalancebetweenr
eproduct
ive
growt
handv eget
ati
vegrowth. Overmatur
ewood,brokent wi
gsordiseasedand
deadbranchesareremoved.Mai nt
enancepruni
ngi
sbestdonewhent het r
eehas
j
ustcomeoutoft herepr
oduct
iveseason.

8.Fer
ti
li
zat
ion–Ther
ear
enor
ulesoft
humborbl
anketgui
del
i
nesonf
ert
il
izer
s.Appl
i
cat
ion
shoul
dbeguidedbysoi
l/t
issueanal
ysi
sresul
ts.Nut
ri
ti
onandf
ert
il
izat
ionpr
act
icesst
rongl
y
aff
ectqual
i
tyinci
tr
us.
N, PandKhav ethegreat
esti
nfl
uenceonfruitqual
it
yandy i
eld.Theiref
fectal
sovar
ieswi
th
speciesandcult
ivar
s.Sweetorangesshowgr eat
erresponsethanlemons.Minimum
requi
rementsofNPKr ecommendedinKeny aareasfoll
ows:
Ni
tr
ogen:
100gCAN/t
ree 1sty
ear

58
 Add150gt
otheabov
erat
epery
earf
rom Y2t
oY5.
Thereaf
ter1–2.5kg/year
/treeCANshouldbeappli
eddependi
ngontheyi
eld
perf
ormance,r
ainf
all
andsoil
condit
ions.Ti
ssueanal
ysi
ssaferangei
s2-3%N
Phosphor
us:
Appl
i
edear
lyi
ntheest
abl
i
shmentst
age:

250gSSPpert
reef
ort
hef
ir
st3y
ear
s.

Y4–Y5gi
ve500g/
tree/y
ear
.

Y6onwar
dsgi
ve1-1.
5kg/
tree/y
ear
.

Pot
assi
um:
Canbeaconcer
ninaci
dicsoi
l
swher
eiti
sfi
xed.Ext
raKmaybeneeded.

Y1gi
ve0.
5–0.
75kgK2O/
tree/
year
.

Mi
cronut
ri
ent
sshoul
dbesuppl
i
edbasedont
issueanal
ysi
s.Thesear
eappl
i
edasf
oli
arf
eeds.

9.Weedcont
rol–weedcompet
it
ioni
snotcr
it
icali
nmat
ureci
tr
us.Nev
ert
hel
ess,
sev
ereweed
pr
essur
emayr
educey
iel
dsandi
mpedehar
vest
ingoper
ati
ons.

Vinyweedsmayespeci
all
ybeabi
gprobl
em becausetheymaycoverthewhol
ecanopy.Weed
contr
oli
samajorexpenseint
het
ropi
cswherehightemperat
uresprevai
l
.Methodsofcont
rol
i
nclude:

Youngt
rees–cl
eanweedi
ngi
snecessar
y.

Mat
uret
rees–r
ingweedi
ngaccompani
edbyor
char
dsl
ashi
ngmaybesuf
fi
cient
.

Her
bici
deusei
sbecomi
ngacommonpr
act
icei
nthemaj
orci
tr
usgr
owi
ngr
egi
ons.

Pr
obl
emsi
nCi
tr
usPr
oduct
ion
1.Ci
tr
usGr
eeni
ng

Acommonpr oblem inKenyaandthesouthofAf ri

ca.Itgeneral
l
yreferstogreencolour
r
etent
iononthefruitandthefai
l
ureoft
hef ruitt
odev el
opnormally.Theconditi
onwasf i
rst
i
denti
fi
edin1929inS.Af r
icaandwasorigi
nal l
yref
erredtoascitr
usy el
lows.Sweetor angesar
e
t
hemostv ul
nerablespeci
eswhilel
emons, grapefr
uitandcit
ronsappeartobet ol
erant.

Thecausal organi
sm i
samy coplasma-
li
keor
ganism t
hatist
ransmit
tedthr
oughthesal
iv
aof
suckinginsectssuchaswhi
l
ef l
iesandmorefrequent
lyt
hecit
ruspsyll
i
d.Thisvect
orsur
viv
es
wellundercool cl
i
mates.

Sy
mpt
oms-

59
 Gener
alt
reeappear
ance–opengr
owt
h,shootdi
eback,
scant
yfol
i
ageont
rees,
stunt
ed
gr
owt
h,sev
ere f
rui
tdr
op,
andsect
ori
aly
ell
owi
ng.

Fr
uitsympt
oms–ver
ysmal
lunder
dev
elopedf
rui
ts,
lowj
uicecont
ent
,lowsol
ubl
esol
i
ds,
highaci
dit
y, r
idgingandl
opsidednessoffr
uit
s,abort
edseedsi
nseedpr
oduci
ngv
ari
eti
esand
theoozi
ngofgr
ay i
shexudatesonpr essi
ngt
hef r
uit
.

Leafsympt
oms–st
rongy
ell
owv
eini
ng,
upr
ightgr
owt
hor
ient
ati
on,
andZndef
ici
ency
sy
mpt
oms.

Management
:

3appr
oachesmaybeempl
oyed:

1.Uprootinganddest r
ucti
onofal laf
fect
edt r
eestostopfur
therspreadi
nlocal
i
zed
si
tuations.
2.Controlofv ect
orsusingproperpesti
cideschedul
es.
3.Useofcl eangr af
ti
ngmat eri
als.Usescionsandrootst
ocksthatarecer
ti
fi
edclean.
2.Phy
siol
ogi
calDi sorders:
a)FruitSpli
tt
ing–Acommonpr obl
em innaveloranges.Fruit
sstartspl
it
ti
ngopenf rom the
styl
arendandmaypr oceedaroundthefrui
t.Thecondi ti
onrender
st hefr
uit
sunmar ketable.
Thecondi t
ionisusual
lycausedbydiff
erenti
al(
irr
egular)growthbet
weent heinter
iorand
exter
iorti
ssuesofthefrui
t.Iti
sexaggeratedwhent here’
sCadef i
ciencyorexcessiv
eor
i
rregulari
rr
igati
onisdone.

Management–Or
gani
zedi
rr
igat
ionpr
ogr
ammest
oef
fectr
egul
art
issuegr
owt
h.

b)Granulati
on–Commoni noranges( gr
anul ati
on)andgr apefr
uits(r
ici
ng).Developmentof
enl
arged,hard,colourl
essandj ui
celessv esi
clesinfrui
ts.Ani ncreasedamountofpect i
c
substancesisobser v
edt hatcausesthickeningofv esi
clewal l
s.Increasedlev
elsofinsol
uble
al
cohol i
nter
medi ateswithdecreasedsugar s, or
ganicacidsandcar otenoi
ds.Thecondi t
ioni
s
causedbyhi ghtreevigour,l
atefrui
tpicking,highsoilmoistureandsomegenet i
cfactor
s.

c)Endoxerosi
s–Al socalledinternaldecl
i
neort i
pdeteri
oration.Acondi t
ionwher et
he
bl
ossom endoft hefr
uitdecay s.Itscommoni nlemons.I tisthoughtt
obecausedbywat er
str
ess.Sy mptomsincl
ude: format i
onofcavit
iesnearthev ascul
arbundles;exudati
onofa
col
ourlessgummysubst ance; l
ossofwat erandcoll
apseofj uicevesi
clesbeginningatt
hestyl
ar
end;andfrui
tdropwhent heef fecti
son1/ 3to½oft hefruit.

d)Creasi
ng–Commonpr oblem i
noranges.Mani festedbyrandom gr
oov esonthepeel
surf
ace.Thecreasedareasar esever
elydepressedsucht hatt
heybreakintothemesocarp.
Frui
tsbecomefragi
let
ohandl eandareunatt
ractiv
e.Thepr oblem moreamplifi
edl
ateint
he
season.Ther
eisnoestabl i
shedcausef ort
hepr oblem.

Pest
sandDi
seases:

60
Pest
s
Aphi
ds(
Aphi
s)–appearascl
ust
ersofbl
ackorgr
eent
inyi
nsect
sar
oundt
enderpar
tsoft
wigs.
Theysucksapf
rom t
heseti
ssuesandmayt r
ansmi
tvi
raldi
seases.Theyar
enotapr
obl
em
duri
ngwetweat
herastheyusual
lywashedofft
hepl
antbyrai
n.

Contr
ol–Frequentspr
ayswit
hmalat
hion,di
azi
non,
ordi
met
hoat
eeasi
l
ycont
rol
thei
nsect
.
Deter
gentspr
ayscanalsobeusedef
fecti
vel
y.

Ci
tr
usPsyl
li
d()–Foundont
heunder
sideofl
eav
es.Theny
mphscausedamagenot
iveabl
eas
pi
mplesontheupperl
eafsur
faces.Thel
eavesappeardi
stort
edandphot
osynt
het
issur
face
maybereducedtoal
most50%.I nmanycasesl
eavestur
ny el
lowl
eadi
ngtopoory
iel
ds.

Cont
rol
–Asi
naphi
dsbutspr
aysshoul
dbeai
medt
othel
owerl
eafsur
faces.

Syst
atesweevi
l()–Abeet
let
hati
ssev
erei
nthenur
ser
yst
age.Theyar
edef
oli
ator
sandcan
al
sor
ingbar
ktheseedl
i
ngsi
nthenur
ser
y.

Cont
rol
–Spr
ayswi
thendosul
fanandf
eni
tr
othi
onar
eef
fect
ivechemi
cal
cont
rol
s.

Scal
es()–Themostcommonscal
esf
oundonci
tr
usar
ether
edscal
es,
sof
tgr
eenscal
es,
sof
t
brownscalesandthemuscl escale.Theycausedamagebysucki ngf
rui
ts,l
eavesandt wi
gs.
Severeatt
acksleadtoheav yhoneydewdeposit
iononfruit
s-agoodmedi um f
ormoul dgr
owth,
whichlowersfr
uitquali
ty.Severel
yatt
ackedbranchesdispl
ayaroset
teshape(int
ernodesdon’
t
el
ongatesuffi
cient
ly)
.

Cont
rol
–Spr
ayswi
thdi
azi
non,
feni
tr
othi
on,
mal
athi
onordi
met
hoat
emi
xedwi
thwhi
teoi
l
.

Fal
secoddl
ingmot
h()–Thecat
erpi
l
larpar
asi
ti
zest
hef
rui
ts.Adul
tsl
ayeggsonl
eafandf
rui
t
sur
faces.Thecater
pil
l
arsent
ert
hepeelt
hroughmi
nuteholes.Theinsecti
snotnot
iceabl
e
unt
ilt
hefrui
tsshowprematur
eri
peni
ngandfall
–hencethenamef al
secodli
ngmoth.

Contr
ol–Pest
ici
despr
aysdescr
ibedabovecankil
lthelar
vaeort
headul
tmot
h.Al
li
nfest
ed
fr
uit
sshoul
dbeburi
edatl
east15cm belowsoil
level.

Rustmi
te()–Aser
iouspestt
hati
fnotcar
eful
l
ycont
rol
l
edcanl
eadt
otot
alcr
opqual
i
tyl
oss.
Iti
salsoveri
nconspi
cuous.Themitefeedsonbothfr
uitandl
eaves.Fr
uit
sbecomesmall
and
sever
elydi
sol
oured(br
ownr ust
yappearanceandhar
d).Theyal
sobecomesweetert
han
normal.

Cont
rol
–Spr
aywi
thacar
ici
dese.
g.di
cof
ol.

Ot
herpest
s:

Fr
uitf
li
es,
orangedogmot
h

Di
seases:

61
Tr
ist
ezavi
rus(
Qui
ckdecl
i
ne)–Oneoft
heear
li
estobser
vedci
tr
usv
iral
diseases.The
sympt
omsincl
udenecr
oti
cspot
sandswel
l
ingoft
her
oot
stock.Thedi
seasei
str
ansmi
tt
edand
spr
eadbyi
nsect
s.

Contr
ol–Caref
ulvectorcont
rol
(aphi
ds,
mit
eset
c).Useofcl
eanbuddi
ngmat
eri
als–bot
h
sci
onsandroot
stocks.

Psor
osi
s()–Al
soav
iral
diseasemani
fest
ingasl
eafchl
orosi
sandbar
kbecomi
ngscal
yand
peel
ingof
f.Iti
scommoninSout
hAmericabutr
epor
tedt
obespr
eadi
ngi
nvar
iouspr
oduci
ng
regi
ons.I
tisal
sotr
ansmi
tt
edthr
oughbudorsci
onwood.

Cont
rol
–Pr
operquar
ant
inemeasur
esdur
ingnur
ser
ypr
act
iceswi
l
lkeepoutt
hedi
sease.

St
ubbor
ndi
sease–Avi
ral
disease.Makest
reesappeart
ail
-l
ike(
branchesdon’
tspr
eadout
).
Al
sot
ransmi
tt
edt
hroughbudwood.

Cont
rol
–quar
ant
inemeasur
es.

Ot
herdi
seases:

Bact
eri
alcanker
,phy
topht
hor
arootr
ot,
excor
ti
svi
rus.

Ci
tr
usHar
vest
ing
Mat
uri
tydet
ermi
nat
ion–donebycol
our
,si
ze,
jui
cecont
ent
,tast
e(aci
d/sugarr
ati
o),
t
ender
nessandci
ti
caci
dlev
el(
tar
tness)
.

Cit
rusfrui
tsar
ehar v
estedanyti
meaf t
er7monthsoffloweri
ng.Treescanbei nfr
uit
thr
oughouttheyearaslongastherei
ssuff
ici
entwaterint
hesoil
.Forexpor tt
radefr
uit
sare
harvest
edindi
vi
duallyandsel
ecti
vel
ybyhand.Fortheprocessi
ngmar ketmachineharv
est
ing
canbedonewi t
ht heaidoftr
eeshaker
saft
ertheappli
cati
onofabscissionhor
mones.

Yi
elds–Dependi
ngonmanagementav
eragey
iel
dsr
angef
rom 13–26t
ons/
ha/
yeari
nKeny
a.
El
sewher
eupt
o63t
ons/
ha/
yearhav
ebeenr
ecor
ded.

Longevi
ty–Theeconomi
cli
feofanor
char
ddependsont
hespeci
es,
cul
ti
var
sand
managementpr
act
ices.Howeveri
nt het
ropi
cs,
longev
ityof30-
40y
ear
siscommon.I
not
her
count
ri
esupto70yearscanbeatt
ained.

Ci
tr
usPackHouseOper
ati
ons

Gr
adi
ng:

Thefrui
tarei
nspectedandunr
ipe,i
mmat ur
e,under
sized,
damagedordecay edf
rui
tsare
di
scarded.Forlocalmar
ket
s,theci
trusfrui
tsaregradedasperthesi
zeintosmall
,
medium andlar
gegrades.Thedif
ferencesbetweencategor
ieswil
ldependonthetype
off
ruit.
62
Packagi
ng:

Cit
rusfruit
sarepackedinsacks,bags,bamboobasket sandwoodenboxesf orsendi
ng
tolocalmarkets.Forur
banmar ket
s,ci
trusfrui
tsarepackedintel
escopi
ccardboard
boxes.Corrugatedtr
aysareequall
yeffect
iveaspackagingmateri
alwhil
etr
ansporti
ng
thefrui
ts.Useofsuchtray
siscostef f
ecti
veduet oit
sreusabil
i
ty.

Forexpor tofNagpurmandar in,usuall

y2piece, t
elescopi
c,corrugatedfi
breboardboxes
oft hreeplyorfiveplyshouldbeused.Thesi zeoftheboxmayv ar
yaccordingtothe
requi r
ementoft heimpor t
ingcount r
y.Normal l
yaboxsi zeof49. 5x29.5x17. 5cm
hav ing10kgcapaci tyisrecommended.Theboxesmusthav e5%ar eapunchedas
holesf orventi
lat
ion.Toimmobi l
izethemov ementoff rui
tsinsi
det hebox,threepl
ywax
treateddivider
shav i
ngv enti
lati
onhol esar
eused.

St
orage:

Aft
erthefrui
tsar
eharv ested,t
heyshoul
dbetreatedwithwaxtoreduceposthar v
est
damage.Treatmentoffruitswit
hBavist
in(
1000ppm)canr educepostharvestlosses
andextendtheshel
fli
fet o25-26daysevenatroom temper
atur
e.Shelfl
i
feofNagpur
mandarincanbeextendedbyt hreeweeksonwr appi
ngthefr
uit
swi t
hheatshrinkable
pol
ytheneandCryovatefil
m( D955andBDF2001) .

Thei
dealst
oragetemper
atur
esforNagpurmandar
ini 70Cat85-
s6- 90%rel
ati
ve
0
humi
dit
ywhileli
me&lemonar est
oredat10-
12Cwi t
h90-95%rel
ativ
ehumidit
y.

Tr
anspor
t:

Ci
tr
usfr
uit
saretranspor
tedbyrai
lorroadasordi
narycar
goandwi thoutr
efr
iger
ati
on,
whi
choft
enleadstoheavylossduetodecayandfungali
nfect
ions.

CoolChai
n:

Coolchai
nisessenti
alduri
ngthetransportofexportqual
i
tycommodit
yallt
heway
fr
om thefar
mt othecustomer.Thishel
psi nmaintai
ningt
hetemper
atur
einsi
det
hebox
atthesamelowlevelasinthecoldstorage.

Thev
ari
ousst
agesoft
hecool
chai
nar
e:

 Col
dstor
eatt
hefar
m.
 Ref
ri
gerat
edt
ruckf
rom f
armt
otheai
rpor
t
 Col
dstor
eatt
heair
por
t.
63
  Buil
dingupoft hepall
etinacoldst
or eattheair
port
.
 Loadingtheaircr
aftsdi
rect
lyfr
om thecoldstoreinashortt
ime.
 Cargoair
craftmaintai
nscoldstor
et emperatur
einhold.
 Offloadi
ngdirectint
oacoldstoreinthereceiv
ingcount
ry.

MANGO(
Mangi
fer
aindi
ca)Fami
l
yAnacar
diaceae

Or
igi
nanddi
str
ibut
ion:

TheIndoBurmacent r
eoforiginaroundS.E.Asi
a.Ithasbeenculti
vat
edi
nIndi
aforov
er
4000year
s.Thef r
uiti
sint
imat el
yassociat
edwit
ht heHindur
eli
gionandt
herear
enumerous
anci
entSanskr
itpoemspraisingtheblossomsofthefrui
t.

I
twasi ntr
oducedintoMal aysiaandot hereastAsiancountri
esbytradersandBudhistpr
iest
s
t
h t
h
duri
ngthe4 and5 cent uryBCandi ntothePhili
ppinesaroundAD1400- 1450.ThePort
uguese
i
ntroducedthefr
uitint
oEastAf ri
caandBr azil
.Itwast akenbytheSpanishfr
om Phili
ppi
nesto
thewestcoastofMexi cobef oretheEnglishint
roduceditint
oHawai ibet
ween1800and1820.
Themangoi snowf oundinal ltropi
cal ar
easaswel lasmanysubt r
opicalr
egionsoftheworl
d.

I
mpor
tanceanduses:

Ri
pef
rui
tsar
eusedasdesert–thefr
uiti
s60-
75%f
lesh.I
tisanexcel
l
entsour
ceof
v
itami
nAand f
airsour
ceofvi
taminC.

Fr
uit
sar
eal
sopr
ocessedi
ntoj
ams,
jui
ce,
mar
mal
ades,
pul
p,chut
ney
,pi
ckl
eset
c.

Taxonomy
:

ThegenusMangi
ferabelongstot
heorderSapi
ndal
esi
nthef
ami
l
yAnacar
diaceaet
hati
sa
fami
lyofmai
nlyt
ropical
specieswi
th73genera.

Apar
tfr
om edi
blef
rui
tAnacar
diaceousspeci
esal
soy
iel
dot
herv
aluabl
epr
oduct
sli
kewood,
64
gumsandr esins,
waxandv arni
shesandtanni
ngmater
ials.Iti
sal
soafamil
ywellknownfort
he
dermali
rr
it
ationproducedbysomeofi t
smembers,i
ncludingsomeMangi
feraspp.whose
resi
noussapmayi nduceall
ergi
creact
ion.

Bot
ani
caldescr
ipt
ion
Tr
eeshapes,
branchi
ngandl
ongev
ity

Mangot r
ees,grownfrom seedsar eknownas" seedli
ngs"havealongst rai
ghtbole.Graft
ed
tr
eesont heotherhandaredwar fwi t
hspreadingbr anches.Howev er,t
heshapeoft hecanopy
al
sodependsont hespaceav ail
ablefori
tsdev elopment.Isol
atedtrees,get
tingsuff
ici
ent
spaceforthei
rgrowthmaydi fferintreeshapewi ththesamev ari
etygrowni ntheorchar
d.On
shall
owsoilsthegrowthisstunted.SomeCul tiv
ar s(
LatraandCreeping)arespreadingi
n
growthhabitt
huscanbet rai
nedascr eepers.

Seedl
ingtreesli
vemuchmor ethan100yearswhereasgraftedonesliv
eonl y80y ear
sorless.
Oneoft helar
gesttr
eesknowni sinChandigar
h(I
ndia),wit
hat runkof3.5m indiameter
,li
mbs
2
of75cm diameter,t
hecrownspr eadi
ngover2250m wi thanannual producti
onofabout16,000
fr
uit
sinpeaky earsatt
heagemor ethan100yearsold.Seedlingtr
eesmeasur ingaspreadof
125ft.andagirt
hof25f t.havebeenrepor
tedtoexisti
nBr azi
l

Tr
ee
Treeismedi um t olarge(10-40m inheight)
,evergreenwi thsymmet rical,
roundedcanopy
rangingfrom lowanddenset oupri
ghtandopen.Thebar kisusual l
ydar kgray-
brownt oblack,
rathersmoot h,super f
ici
all
ycrackedorinconspicuouslyfissured,peelingoffini
rregular
,rat
her
thi
ckpi eces.Termi nalbudsaresmal l
,envel
opedbysmal l,lanceolat
eacut ebudscal es.Twigs
arenotv erythick,smoot h,api
call
yangular,
glabrous,glossyanddar kgreen.

Root
Thetreef or
msal ongunbranchedt aproot(
upto6-8m andmor e)plusadensemassof
superfi
cialf
eederroots.Feederrootsdevel
opatthebaseoft hetrunkorsl
ightl
ydeeper;t
hese
produceanchorroot s,
andsomet i
mesacol l
ecti
onoff eederrootsdev el
opsabovet hewater
tabl
e.Thef ibr
ousr ootsy
stem extendsawayfrom t
hedr ipli
ne.Ef fect
iver
ootsystem ofan18-
yearoldmangot reemaygr owto1. 2m depthwit
hlateralspreadasf aras7.5m..

Leaf
Theleavesar esimple,esti
pulat
e, al
ter
nat el
yarranged,and15- 45cm inlength.Thepet iol
e
vari
esinlengthfrom 1t o12cm, andisalway sswol l
enatt hebase.Theuppersur faceisshini
ng
anddarkgr eenwhi l
etheloweri sglabrouslightgreen.Thel eavesappearinf l
ushes.Theyar e
fl
accidandpendul ouswheny oung.Thecol ourofyoungleav esgeneral
lyvariesformv ari
etyt
o
vari
ety,
gener al
l
ybei ngtan-r
ed,pink,yell
ow- br
owni ncolour .Astheleafgrows, i
tscolour
changesfrom tan-redtogreen,passingt hroughmanydi fferentshadesandbecomi ngdark
greenatmat uri
ty.

65
I
nfl
orescence
Thei nfl
orescencei
spseudo-terminal,or
igi
nati
ngfrom abud, t
ogetherwit
hthenewl eafysprout;
ther
ear ecultiv
arswit
hlater
alinfl
orescences.Theinfl
orescenceisanarrowlytobroadlyconical
panicleupt oa45cm longdependi nguponculti
varandenv i
ronmentalcondit
ionsduri
ngits
development .Thepani
clebear500- 6000fl
owersofwhich1- 70%arebisexual
, r
emainderare
maledependi ngontheculti
varandt emperatur
edur i
ngit
sdev elopment.

Fl
ower
s

Hermaphrodi
teandmalefl
owersareproducedinthesamepanicl
e,usual
l
ywit
hal
argernumber
oft
helater.Thesi
zeofbothmaleandhermaphr odi
tefl
owersv
ari
esf r
om 6t
o8mm in
di
ameter.Theyaresub-
sessi
l
e,rar
elypedicel
l
ate,andhaveasweetsmell
.

Fr
uit

Thef rui
tisamor eorl esscompr essed, fl
eshydr upe.I tvariesconsi derabl
yinsi ze,shape,
colour,presenceoffibre,fl
av our ,tasteandsev eralotherchar acters.Themostchar acteristi
c
featureofthemangof ruitisthef ormat ionofasmal lconicalpr ojectiondevel opinglaterall
yat
theproximal endofthef ruit,knownast hebeak.I tmaybequi t
epr ominentinsome, l
esssoi n
others,whileinsomev ar
ietiesi tisrepr esentedmer el
ybyadot .Theshapeoft hefrui
tv aries
from roundedt oovate-oblongorl ongi sh,wi t
ht helengthv aryingf rom 2. 5to30cm i ndifferent
vari
eties.Thebasemaybedepr essedorel evatedormaybei nter mediate.Theski nisgl and-
dottedandatmat uri
tyitscol ourexhi bi t
sdi ff
erentmi xturesofgr een, yell
ow, andr edshades.I t
maybesmoot horrough.Thepeel (exocar p)isthickandt hef l
esh( mesocar p)ofr i
pef ruitis
yell
oworor ange-
yell
owandj uicy.Theper i
car pcanbesepar atedi ntexocar p, mesocar pand
endocar pjust14daysaf terant hesi s.

Aper i
odof9-14weeksaft
erfrui
tsetwhengrowthdecr
easesexist
s;thi
sisassociat
edwit
hthe
hardeni
ngoftheendocar
pandaccumul at
ionofstar
chandsugars.Theendocarpishar
d,wit
h
fi
bresthatmayextendi
ntothefl
esh.Theperi
odbetweenfr
uitsetandmaturi
tyrangesf
rom 10-
28weeksdependingontheculti
var.

Cul
ti
var
sanddev
elopment
:

Br eedinginmangosi sdiffi
cultbecauseoft hesmal lnumberofseedsobt ained, thecomplex
nat ureofthepani cleandf l
ower s,excessivefrui
tdr op,l
ongl ifecycl
eandhet er
ogenesi t
yofthe
crop.Thegener al objectivesinbr eedingaretodev elopr egularbeari
ng,dwar ftreesize,
ext endedcr oppingseason, goodcr oppinginwett ropics,attracti
vefr
uitofgoodsi ze(300-
500g),
freedom f rom internal breakdownandgoodkeepi ngandeat ingquali
ty,withoutf ibre.Manyof
thesehav ebeendev elopedt hroughi ntr
oductionandsel ectionbycooper ationbet ween
resear chers,gr
ower s, nurserymenandhobby i
sts.Commoncommer cialcultivarsinKeny a
i
ncl udeVandy ke, Kent ,Haden, Appl e,Ngowe, Sabine,Sensat ion,
Bori
bo, Bat awi andDodo.
Ot herunnamedl ocVaalnD
vary
i
ekt
ie
esalsoexi st.So
wme
e commer cialmana den
goculti
varsgr owni nKenya

Tabl
e:I
mpor
tantmangocul
ti
var
sinmaj
orpr
oduci
ngcount
ri
es.
66
Count
ry Cul
ti
var
s

Aust
ral
i
a '
Kensi
ngtonPri
de'
,'
Banana'
,'
Early
gol
d'
,'
Glenn'
,
'
Haden'
,'
Irwi
n'
,'
Kei
tt'
,'
Kent'
,'
Zil
l
'

Rwanda Li
keKeny
a?Fi
ndout

I
srael '
Haden'
,'
TommyAt
kins'
,
'Kei
tt
',
'May
a',
'Ni
mrod'
,
'
Kent
','
Pal
mer'

Keny
a '
Bori
bo',
'Ngowe','
Bat
awi'
,‘Dodo’
,‘
Kent’
,‘
Haden’
,
‘
Apple’
,‘
Sabine’
,‘
Sensat
ion’,
‘Vandyke’

Ecol
ogi
calr
equi
rement
s:

Temper
atur
e:Mangoscanbegr
ownf
rom 0–1200m a.
s.l
.i
nthet
ropi
csev
ent
hought
hebest
producti
onisexperiencedbel
ow800m a. s.
l.Coldtemper at
uresli
mitgrowthandmayi nf
luence
0
fl
oweringandr i
pening.Theminimum t ol
erableis1-2C.Fr ostcanseverel
ydamagey oung
0
tr
ees,witholderonesbeingabl
et oendur e-4Cf oraf ewhours.Theopt i
mum rangeis24-300C,
butthetreecanendur eupto480Cduringf r
uitdevelopmentifsuff
ici
entir
ri
gati
onisavail
able.
0 0
Poll
env i
abil
i
tydecli
nesi fi
tdev
elopsatt emper at
ureshigherthan35Corbel ow15C.

Floweri
ngisstronglymediatedbytemper at
ureinmangos.Foreachdegr eeofl
ati
tudenor
thor
southofthetropicsfl
oweringisdelayedby4day s.Int
hesubtropi
cs,col
dcondit
ionswit
h
temperatur
esbelow150Cmayadv ancefl
owering.Panicl
egrowthoccur 50C,
sat12. whenno
vegetat
iveshootsareproduced;butlowtemper atur
ecanleadtofl
owerdeformati
onandlossof
poll
enviabi
li
ty.

Rai
nfal
l:Mangoesar
ever
ydr
aughtt
oler
antandcanwi
thst
andoccasi
onal
floodi
ng.Good
rai
nfal
ldist
ri
buti
onratherthant ot
alrainf
alli
scr uci
alf
orproducti
on.Adr yspell
,orevenmore
eff
ecti
ve,acoolperi
odpr ecedingfl
ower i
ngisnecessaryforrel
iableproducti
on.Flowersar
e
suscepti
bletoant
hracnoseundermoi stconditi
ons–lowr ai
nfall
ispreferr
edduri
ngf l
oweri
ng.
Underlongdryperi
ods,ir
rigat
ionisrequired,especi
all
yingraft
edtrees.

Soi
l
s:Mangoesar
enotexact
ingi
nthei
rsoi
lrequi
rement
s,al
thoughf
latal
l
uvi
alsoi
l
swhi
char
e
l
i
ghtt
omedi
um t
ext
ured,
wel
ldr
ained,
wit
hapHof5.
5-7andadept
hof1m.

Li
ght
:Ful
lsunl
i
ghtexposur
eiscr
uci
al.Shadi
ngcanpr
eventf
lowerbudf
ormat
ion.

Phot
oper
iod:Fl
ower
ingi
nmangoesoccur
satal
lphot
oper
iodsasl
ongasi
nduct
ive
t
emper
atur 180/
es( 100C)pr
evai
l
.

67
Wi
nd:St
rongwi
ndswi
l
lreducey
iel
dsi
ftheyoccurdur
ingf
lower
ingandear
lyf
rui
ti
ng.

Cul
tur
alPr
act
ices:
Pr
opagat
ion:

Mangoesar er aisedf rom seedorpr opagatedv egetati

vely.Propagat ionf rom seed,
thougheasyandcheap, isunabl et oper petuatechar acter
soft hepar entt r
eebecause
mostcommer cialvarieti
esar ecr oss- poll
inatedandmonoembr yonic.Seedl i
ngplants
alsotakemor et imet obearf ruit.Accor dingly,severalmethodsofv eget ative
propagat i
onhav ebeent riedwi thv aryingdegr eeofsuccess.Howev er ,itisessenti
al t
o
raiseseedl i
ngst obeusedasr ootstocks.Fort hispurpose,st
ones( seeds)shoul dbe
sowni nbedsmi xedwi thwel l
-decomposedf armyardmanur eatt her ateof8- 10tonnes
perhect are.Al ternati
v ely
, 25kgni t r
ogen( N)perhamaybeappl iedint hef or
m ofur ea,
CANoranyot herav ail
ablei norgani csour ceint wosplitdosesataboutt womont hs
i
nt er
val aft
ert heleav eshav ebecomegr een.Whent heseedli
ngsat t
ai nt heageof2- 3
mont hs, t
heyshoul dbet r
anspl antedwel linpreparedbedsorpot s.Pr opercar eshould
beexer cisedini rr
igatingt hey oungt ransplantedseedl i
ngs.Theseedl ingsshoul dalso
bepr otectedf rom frostbyput tingt hepot sunderbi gtreesorthat chingt hey oung
seedlingsint hef i
eld.
Plantsaregener al
lypropagatedusi ngrandom seedli
ngrootst
ocks.Thepolyembry
oni
c
rootstocks,however,haveshownapr omisei
npr oduci
ngplantsofunif
orm si
zeand
vigour.Mor eover,
theserootst ockshav ei
ndi
catedpossibil
i
tyofinduci
ngdwarfi
ngand
earli
erbearingandar eundert est.Variousmethodsempl oyedinveget
ati
ve
propagationofmangoar edescr ibedbelow:
a)I
nar
chi
ng:
Themet hodofi narchingorappr oachgr aftingi squitecumber someandt i
meconsumi ng,butit
i
sst i
l
ltheleadingmet hodforcommer cial propagat i
onofmangopl ants.Themet hodconsi sts
ofuni t
ingt heselectedshoot( sci
on)ofadesi r
edpar enttr
ee(mot herpl ant)wi
ththepot t
edor
transplantedseedl i
ng( r
ootstock)byappr oachgr af t
ing.Forthispur pose,aboutone- year-
old
seedl i
ngsar emostsui t
abl
ewhent heyat tainahei ghtofabout30- 45cm andt hicknessr anging
from 0.75t o1.5cm.Theseseedl ingsar eei thergrowni npotsorundert hemot herplantfrom
whi chthegr af
tsar etobepr epared, dependi ngupont heavai
labili
tyofsui t
ablebranches.
Gener all
y,aone- year-
oldtwigoft hesci ont reeabout60cm i nl engthandnear lyoft hesame
thicknessast hatoft hestocki schosenf orgr aft
ing.Youngandnon- beari
ngtreesshoul dnot
besel ectedasmot herplants.

I
narchi
ngshouldbedoneduringthegr
owi
ngperi
odwhenthet
reei
sinact
ivesapfl
owcondi
ti
on
t
ermedasactivegr
owthperiod.Ahotandver
ydryper
iod,
aswel
lasheav
yrainf
all
dur
ingt
he
i
narchi
ngperi
odisnotsui
table.

68
Athinsli
ceofbarkandwood, about5cm i nlength,7.
5mm wi dt
hand2mm deep, i
sr emoved
bymeansofashar pgraf
tingkni f
efrom t hest em ofthestockaswel lasfrom t
hescionbranch.
Thedimensionscanbepr opor ti
onatelyincr easedordecreasedaccor dingt ot
hethi
cknessof
thestockandsci
on.Thecut sthusmadeshoul dbeabsol utel
yfl
at,clean,boatshaped,even
andsmoot h.Theendsoft hesecutsshoul dber oundandnotangul ar.Thecutsur facesofboth,
i
.e.,
stockandscionaremadet ocoincidef acingeachothersot hatther er
emainsnohol l
ow
spacebetweenthet wo.Thesear ethent ightlyti
edbypoly t
hene/al kathenestri
psofabout1.5
cm inwidthandprefer
ablyof200gauget hi ckness,whi
chhaspr ovedt obeagoodt yi
ng
material
.

Aft
eraboutonemont hofoperat
ion,t
hesci
onbelowthegraf
tuni
onandstockabov
et hegraf
t
uni
onshoul dbegiv
enli
ght‘V’
shapecutsatweeklyi
nter
val
ssuchthatgr
aft
scanfi
nall
ybe
detachedwhil
egivi
ngthefour
thcut.I
nthel
aststage,
thetopoft
hestockabov
egraftuni
on
shouldalsoberemovedcomplet
ely.

b)Veneergr
aft
ing:

Thismet hodofpropagat i
onpossessespr omi sef ormassscal ecommer cialpropagat i
on.The
met hodissimpleandcanbeadopt edwi t
hsuccess.Ther ootstocksasment ioned,forinar ching
aresui t
abl
eforthismet hodal so.Forconduct i
ngt hisgr aft
ingoper at
ion, adownwar dand
i
nwar d30-40mm l ongcuti smadei nthesmoot har eaoft hestockatahei ghtofabout20cm.
Atthebaseofcut ,asmal l shortercutisgivent ointer sectthefirstsoast oremov ethepi eceof
woodandbar k.Thesci onst i
cki sgivenal ongsl antingcutononesi deandasmal l
shor tcuton
theothersoast omat cht hecut soft hestock.Thesci onisinser t
edi nthest ocksot hatthe
cambi um l
ayerscomeont helongersi de.Thegr af tunioni sthent i
edwi thpol ythenest r
ipas
recommendedf orinar
ching.Af terthesciont akesandr emainsgr eenf ormor et han10day st he
rootstockshouldbeclippedi nst ages.

Thescionwoodtobeusedf orv
eneergr
aft
ingrequi
resproperprepar
ati
on.Thedesi
redshoot
s
shoul
dbedefol
iat
edatleastoneweekpri
ortograft
ingsothatthedormantbudsint
heaxisof
l
eavesbecomeswoll
en.Thebestt i
meforthi
smet hodisthesamef ordi
ff
erentr
egi
onsasfor
i
narchi
ng.

c)Buddi
ng:

Alt
houghsuccessofbuddi
nginmangowasrepor
tedint
hebegi
nningoft
hiscent
ury,
buddi
ng
sti
l
lconti
nuestoremai
ninexper
iment
alst
ageasfarascommerci
almangopropagat
ioni
s
concer
ned.
d)St
oneEpi
cot
ylgr
aft
ing

Mangoi sgener
allypropagatedbyinar
chi
gandveneergraft
ing.Thesemethodsar eti
me
consuming.Stoneepi cot
ylgraf
ti
ngisanewtechniqueofmangopr opagat
ion.Thismethodis
si
mpl e,
cheapandqui ck.Freshmangostonesaresowni nthenur
serybeds.Af t
ergerminat
ion,
seedl
ingswithtenderstemshav i
ngcopperyl
eavesarel
ift
edwithstonessti
llat
tached.The

69
rootsandst onesar edi ppedin0.1percentBav i
sti
nsol utionf or5minutesafterwashi ngt hesoi
l.
Theseedl ingst emsar eheadedbackl eavi
ng6-
8cm l ongst em.A4- 6cm longitudinalcuti s
mader unningdownt hroughthemi ddleofthestem.Awedgeshapedcutst ar ti
ngonbot hsides
i
smadeont hel owerpar tofscionstick.Thescionstickshoul dbe4-6mont hsol dand10- 15
cm longcont ai
ni ngplumpyt erminalbuds.Thescionst i
cki stheninser
tedint hecleftoft he
seedli
ngsandt i
edwi thpol yt
henest r
ips.Thegraftsaret henpl ant
edinpolyethylenebags
containingpot ti
ngmi xture.Thebagsar et
henkeptint heshadepr ot
ecti
ngfrom heav yrain.
Whent hesci onspr outsandt heleavesbecomegr een, thegr aft
edplant
sshoul dbepl ant edin
nurserybeds.Jul yi
st hemostsui tablemonthforstonegr afti
ng.
e)Sof
t-
woodgr
aft
ing:

Thetechniqueofsoft-
woodgr aft
ingissimil
artothatofcleftorwedgegrafti
ng.I
nthiscase,
graf
ti
ngisdoneonnewl yemergedf l
ushhav i
ngbronz ecolouredl
eavesandstem.Thismet hod
i
susefulinin-
situgr
afti
ng.Thesci onwoodt obeusedshoul dbedefol
iated10dayspri
ortothe
graf
ti
ngandhav i
ngsamet hi
cknessast hatofter
mi nalshoot.Thegraftshoul
dbesecured
fi
rmlyusi
ng1. 5cm wideand4. 5cm long,200gaugepol yt
henestri
p.JulyandAugustarethe
bestmonthsf orsof
t-
woodgr afti
ng.

f
)Ai
rlay
eri
ng:

Airlayer
ingcanbedonesuccessful
l
yinmangousi ngIBAorNAA10,000ppm inlanoli
npaste.
Successupt o50percenthasalsobeenobt
ainedbyusingSeradi
x-Basrootpr
omot er.Theair
-
l
ay erscanbeusedforper
manentplanti
ngorforraisi
nguni
for
mr ootst
ocks.

Tr
anspl
ant
ingandspaci
ng:

Tr
ansplant
ingshouldbedonejustbeforeorearl
yinthewetseasoni
fnoir
rigat
ioni
sav ai
l
abl
e.
Organi
cmat t
er(FYM)andphosphati
cf er
ti
li
zershoul
dbeaddedtothepl
ant
inghole(
size60cm
x60cm x60cm)bef or
epl
anti
ng.

Spaci
ngislar
gelydependentupont
heenv
ironmentandthevi
gouroft
hecul
ti
var
.Ingener
al
spaci
ngsrangi
ngfrom 7to15m by7to15m areadopted.

I
rr
igat
ion:

Inrai
nf al
ldefi
cientar
eas,i
rri
gati
onisrequi
red.General
ly,youngtranspl
antsrequi
re20-30li
tr
es
ofwat erevery4-5daysforabout2-3monthsduri
ngest abl
ishment .Fort
heremainderofthe
fi
rstyearratesmaybei ncreasedto40-50l
itr
esat10-dayinterv
als.Inthesecondyear,rat
esare
i
ncreasedt oabout100-150l i
tr
esevery10days.Inthethir
dy ear,r
atesof200-300li
tr
espertree
at15-dayinterval
smaybeadequat e.

Gr
aft
edt
reesbegi
ntobearf
rui
tsi
nthei
rthi
rdy
ear
;ir
ri
gat
ionmanagementshoul
dthenbe
70
adjust
edt or ef
lectthischange,especi al
lyinthetropi cs.Itisthendesirabletohavea3- 4month
dryperiodpr i
ortoflower i
ngforreliableproducti
onandt oreducev egetat
iveflushgrowth.
Ir
ri
gationshoul dber esumedwhenf loweri
ngi scompl et
eandf r
uitsethasoccur r
ed.Ast hefr
uit
approachesmat uri
ty,ir
ri
gati
onshoul dbecompl et elycutoff–dr ycondi t
ionsfavourhigher
sugarcont entsinfruit
.Heav yir
rigationisagainr esumedi mmedi atel
yafterharvesttopromote
anewv egetati
veflushandagai nr educedt omat ur etheflush.

Tr
aini
ngandpr
uni
ng:

Normally
,mangot reesrequir
ev eryli
tt
leornopr uning.Howev er,thetrai
ningoft heplant
sinthe
i
nit
ial
stagesisv er
yessentialtogivethem propershape, especial
lywhent hegraf thas
br
anchedt oolow,theprocessoft rai
ningbecomesv er
yi mportant.Atleast1m oft hemain
st
em shouldbekeptf reefr
om br anchingandthef i
rstleader/mai nbranchmaybeal l
owed
af
terthat.Themai nbranchesshoul dbespacedi nsuchawayt hattheygrowi ndi f
fer
ent
di
rect
ionsandar eatleast20-25cm apar t
,other
wi setherearechancesofbr eakageduet o
small
ercrotchanglesandaheav ytop.
Thebr ancheswhichexhibi
ttendencyofcrossingandr ubbingeachothershouldberemovedin
thepencilthi
cknessstage,
otherwisetheybreakbyr ubbingeachotheratalaterst
ageand
createcomplicati
ons.Secondly,
ifthecentr
eisclosedt hef r
uit
sproducedareofpoorquali
ty
havinglesscolourat
ionint
heabsenceofsuf fi
cientsunli
ght .

Byf ol
lowingt heabov epracti
ceandaf tergi
v i
ngpropershapet ot hetr
ees,ther
ewi ll
bevery
minimal scopef orfutur
epr uningexceptremov alofdiseased,pestinf
estedordr i
edshoots/
wood.Anoccasi onalli
ghtthinni
nginthepl antcanbedonei ft
het r
eebecomest oodenseto
facil
it
atelightpenetrati
on,airmov ement,andpest i
cideappli
cation.Somepr uningtoachi
eve
heightcont r
ol canalsobedone.

Inculti
varswit
hbiennial
(ir
regular)bearing, shootsthathavefl
ower edcanberemovedafter
harvesttopavewayf ort
hoset hatwillformf l
owersi nthenextseason.Flower
ingshoot
st hat
donotsetf r
uitshoul
dalsober emov ed.Al sot heremov al
ofapicalbudsaft
ereachfl
ushi
ng
cycl
et oincr
easethenumberoft erminal shootscanl eadtobetterfrui
ti
ngandli
mit
streesize.

Fer
ti
li
zat
ion:

Fertil
i
zati
onschedul esshoul dbewor kedoutbasedont hegr
owthandf l
oweringcycl
esoft he
trees.Inthef ir
stthreey ears, ~113-227gpert reeofcompleteNPKf er
ti
li
zershouldbeapplied
threetimeay ear.From t hef ourt
hy eart r
eesar ematureandfert
il
izeri
sappli
edtwiceay ear.
Oneappl icati
oni smadewhent hefirstinfl
orescencebeginstoappearandthesecond
i
mmedi atelyafterharvestingt opromot enewv egetat
ivefl
ushes.Properappl
icati
onisessenti
al
ast hefeederr ootsarel ocatedabout90- 175cm awayf rom t
hetrunkatadept hof20cm.
Irri
gati
onmustbeappl iedwhent reesar eferti
li
zed.

NPK15:15:
15i
sr ecommended;t
heschedul
eshoul
dbe4kg/
treei
nthef
ir
stappl
i
cat
ionand
6kg/
treei
mmediatel
yaft
erhar
vest.

71
Weedmanagement
:

Weedcont r
oli
sessent
ialdur
ingor
chardestabli
shment
.Youngt r
eescanbegrownunderclean
cult
ivat
ionorsodwithri
ngweeding.Inter
croppi
ngisal
sopracti
cedwit
hpapaya,pi
neappl
eor
vegetablestonur
sethecrop.Inmaturetr
eescanopycl
osur
et endstoprev
entweedgrowth.

Har
vest
ing:

Harvestmat uri
tyi
sdet erminedbyusi ngcrit
eriasuchascolourchanges,
ful
lnessofcheeksand
hardenedendocar p.Agoodi ndicatorofmat urit
yisthehardeni
ngoftheendocarpandthe
presenceofy el
lowingtissueneart heseed–dest r
ucti
vetest
.Mangosar eharvest
edbyhand
whereverreachablefrom thegr oundorf rom ladders.Theycanalsobeharvestedbyusealong
polewithacl ot
hbagt ohol dtwoort hreelar
gef rui
tatt
achedtotheti
p.

Posthar
vesthandl
ingandt
reat
ment
s:

Anyformifinj
uryshouldbeav oidedduri
ngharv
esti
ngandtransporttothepackingshed.Atthe
packi
nghouse,fr
uitareplacedinawat er
-bat
horhand-
washedt oremov ethestem sapfr
om the
surf
aceofthefrui
t–t hi
si sessenti
alt
oav oi
dsapburnandshouldbedonewi t
hin24hours.
0
Hot(52Cf or5mi n)waterdipscanbedonet ocont
rolf
rui
tanthracnose.Acombi nati
onofhot
waterandfungi
cideorchl or
inemayalsobeused.

Gradi
ngisbasedonsize,col
ourandf
reedom f
rom i
njur
yanddef
ect
s.Fr
uiti
spackedsi
ngl
e-or
doubl
e-l
ayercar
tonswit
hadequatepr
otect
ivemater
ial
.

Atambienttemperatur
estheshel
fli
feofmangoisshort–7-14daystofull
yripe.Full
yri
pefrui
t
canbestoredat8-100Cwiththel
engthofstor
agevary
ingwithcul
ti
var
s,mat uri
tyatharv
est,
i
njur
y,cal
cium spr
aysandexposuretoethyl
ene.Adipin4-
6%CaCl cansignifi
cantl
yincr
ease
shel
fli
feofsomecul ti
var
s.

Cont
rol
l
edatmospher
est
oragei
sal
soappl
i
cabl
einmangos:5%O2and5%C02i
spossi
blef
or
upt
o20days.

Waxi
ngi
swi
del
yandsuccessf
ull
yusedi
nmangost
oreducewat
erl
oss.

Treat
menttocontrolander
adicatefrui
tfl
iesinexportgr
adefruiti
srequi
red.Alternati
vest
ot he
bannedfumi
gant,ethyl
enedi
bromi de,i
ncludecol
dandheatt reatment
s,i
rradiat
ion(250Gy),
i
mmer si
onoffrui
tinhotwater(46.10C)for65mi nut
es,vapourheatandforcedairtreat
ments.

Posthar
vestdi
sor
der
s:

1. Chil
li
nginj
ury:Ast or
agedisorderoccurri
ngattemperat
uresbelow12.50C;theextentof
0
i
njur
ybeingdependentont hestoragetemper at
ureanddurati
on.At0Ci toccurswithi
n
4days,at50Cin8day sandat100Ci n12day s.Symptomsi ncl
udeski
n-scal
ding,f
ail
ure
tori
penandincreaseddiseasesusceptibi
li
ty.
72
 2. Sapbur n:Causedbyf r
uitskincontactwi t
hsapexudedf rom thecutorbr okenpedi cel
.
Thisr educesconsumeraccept ancebecauseoft hebrowni ngandbl ackeningoft heski
n
afterl enticelpenetrati
on.Thesapcomponentt houghttober esponsiblefort heburnisa
non- aqueoust erpenecomponent ,ter
pinolenein‘Kensington’andi n‘I
rwin’the
predomi nantt erpeneiscar -
3-ene.
3. Internalbr eakdown:Al socal l
edspongyt i
ssueorsof tti
ssuedi sorder
.Thel owerhalfof
thef ruitist hemostaf fected.
4. Lumpyt issue:Themesocar pcontainswhi test
ar chylumpsandt hefrui
tsur face
dev elopsi ndentations.Itscausei sunknown.
5. Internalf ruitnecrosis:Firstappearsasabr ownar eainthemesocar pandendocar pof
ther apidlygr owingf r
uit.Itl
aterextendst otheski nandabr own- bl
ackgummy
exudat i
onoccur s.Thesear easlatercollapseandar esurroundedbycor kyt i
ssue.This
disor derisassoci atedwi t
hbor ondeficiency.

MangoDi
seases

Powder
yMi
l Oi
dew( di
um mangi
fer
ae)
:

Powder ymi l
dewi soneoft hemostser i
ousdiseasesofmangoaf fecti
ngalmostal l
the
vari
eti
es.Thechar acter
isti
csy mptom oft
hediseaseist hewhitesuperfici
alpowdery
fungalgrowthonl eaves,stal
kofpanicles,
flowersandy oungfrui
ts.Theaf fected
fl
ower sandf r
uitsdroppr e-
mat ur
elyr
educingthecroploadconsi derabl
yormi ghteven
preventthefruitset.Rainsormi st
saccompani edbycool erni
ghtsdur i
ngfloweri
ngare
congenialforthediseasespr ead.

Cont
r :Al
ol ter
nat
espr
ayi
ngofWet
tabl
esul
phur(
0.2percent
,2gSul
fex/
li
tr
e),
Tri
demor
ph
(O.1percent
,1ml Cal
i
xin/
li
tr
e)andBavi
sti
n(0.
1%)at15daysi
nter
valcanef
fecti
vel
y
control
ofthedi
sease.Thefi
rstspr
ayshoul
dbeappl
iedatt
hepanicl
eemergence
stage.

Ant
hr Col
acnose( l
etot
ri
chum gl
oeospor
ioi
des)
:

Iti
sofwi despr eadoccur r
encei nt hef i
eldandi nstor age.Thedi seasecausesser i
ous
l
ossest oy oungshoot s,
flower sandf ruitsunderf av orableclimat i
ccondi t
ions(hi
gh
humidity,fr
equentr ainsandt het emper at
urer angeof24- 32° C).Thedi seaseproduces
l
eafspot ,blossom bl i
ght,witheredt i
p,t wi
gbl ightandf r
uitrotsy mptoms.Tender
shootsandf ol
iagear eeasilyaffectedwhi chul t
imat elycausedi ebackofy oung
branches.Ol dertwigsmayal sobei nfectedt hroughwounds, whichinsev er
ecases
maybef atal.Blackspot sdev eloponpani cles.Sev ereinfectiondest roystheenti
re
i
nflorescencer esul
tinginf ai
lureoff ruitsetti
ng.Youngi nfectedf rui
tsdevelopblack
spots,shri
v elanddr opoff.Fr uitsinf
ect edatmat urest agecar r
ythef ungusint
ost or
age
andcauseconsi derablelossdur i
ngst orage, t
ransitandmar keti
ng.

Cont
r :Th
ol edi
seasedt
wigsshoul
dbepr
unedandbur
ntal
ongwi
thf
all
enl
eav
es.
Spr
ayi
ngt
wicewi
thCar
bendazi
m(Bav
ist
in0.
1%)at15day
sint
erv
aldur
ingf
lower
ing

73
contr
olsblossom inf
ection.Spray
ingofcopperfungici
des(0.
3%)isr
ecommendedfor
thecontr
ol offol
i
arinfecti
on.Postharv
estdiseaseofmangocausedbyanthr
acnose
coul
dbecont r
oll
edbydi ptreat
mentoffr
uit
sinCar bendazi
m(0.1%)i
nhotwat
erat52°
Cfor15mi nutes.

Di Bot
eBack( ryodi
plodi
a(orLasi
odi
plodi
a)t
heobr
omae)
:

Diebacki soneoftheseriousdiseasesofmango.Thedi seaseont hetreemaybe

noti
cedatanyt i
meofthey earbutiti
smostconspi cuousduringOct ober-
Nov ember.
Thediseasei schar
acter
izedbydr yi
ngoftwigsandbr anchesf ol
lowedbycompl et
e
defol
iat
ion, whi
chgivesthetreeanappearanceofscor chi
ngbyf ire.Init
ial
l
yitisevident
bydiscolorati
onanddarkeningofthebark.Thedar kareaadv ancesandext ends
outwardalongt hevei
nsofleaves.Theaf f
ectedleafturnsbrownandi t
smar ginsrol
l
upwards.Att hisst
age,thetwigorbranchdies,shri
velsandleaff al
ls.Thismaybe
accompani edbyexudati
onofy ell
owishbrowngum.

Cont
r :Pr
ol uni
ngoft
hedi
seasedt
wigs2-
3inchesbel
owt
heaf
fect
edpor
ti
onandspr
ayi
ng
CopperOxychl
ori
de(0.3%)oninf
ectedtr
eescontr
olsthedi
sease.Thecutendsoft
he
pr
unedtwigsarepastedwithCopperOxychl
ori
de(0.
3%).

PhomaBl
i Phomagl
ght( omer
ata)
:

Thesy mptomsoft hediseaseareobser vedonlyonol dleaves.Ini

ti
all
y,thel
esi
onsare
angular,
mi nute,
irr
egular,yell
owtolightbrown,scatteredoverleaflamina.Asthe
l
esionsenlarge,theircolourchangesfrom browntoci nnamonandt heybecomeal most
i
rregular
.Incaseofsev ereinf
ecti
onsuchspot scoalescef ormingpatchesresult
ingi
n
compl et
ewi ther
inganddef oli
ati
onofi nf
ectedleaves.

Cont
r :Spr
ol ayi
ngBenomy
l(0.
2%)j
ustaf
tert
heappear
anceoft
hedi
seasef
oll
owedby
0.
3%Mi
l
tox(
CopperOxy
chl
ori
de+Zi
neb)at20dayi
nter
val
prov
idesgoodcont
rol
.

Bact
eri Xant
alCanker( homonascampest
ri
spv.mangi
fer
aei
ndi
cae)
:

Cankeri saser i
ousdi seasei nIndia.Thedi seasecausesf r
uitdrop( 10-70%),yieldloss
(10-85%)andst orager ot(5-100%) .Manycommer ci
al culti
varsofmangoi ncludi ng
Langr a, Dashehar i
, Ar nrapal i,
Mal l
ikaandTot apur iar
esuscept ibl
et othisdisease.The
diseasei sfoundonl eav es, peti
oles,twigs,branchesandf ruit
s.Thedi seasef i
rst
appear sasmi nut ewat ersoakedi rr
egularl
esionsonanypar tofl eaforleaflami na.
Sev eral l
esionscoal escet of ormir r
egularnecr ot
iccanker ouspat ches.I nsever e
i
nf ectionst hel eav est urny ell
owanddr opof f.Canker ousl esionsal soappearon
pet i
oles, t
wi gsandy oungf r uit
s.Thewat ersoakedl esionsal sodev eloponf ruitswhich
l
at erturndar kbr ownt oblack.Theyof tenbur stopen,releasinghi ghlycontagious
gummyoozecont aini ngbact erialcell
s.

Cont
r :T
ol hr
eespr
aysofant
ibi
oti
cs,
Str
ept
ocy
cli
ne(
0.01%)orAgr
imy
cin-
100(
0.01%)
,
74
aft
erfi
rstv
isualsy
mptom at10dayint
erval
sandmonthlyspr
aysofCar
bendazim
(Bavi
sti
n0.1%)orCopperOxychl
ori
de(
0.3%)areef
fect
ivei
ncontr
oll
i
ngthedisease.

Cepbal
RedRust( eur
osvi
rescens)
:

Thedi seaseattackcausesr educti

oninphot osynthet
icactivi
tyanddef oli
ati
onofl eaves
ther
ebyr educingt hevit
alit
yoft hehostpl ant
.Thedi seaseisev i
dentbyt her ustyr
ed
spotsmai nlyonl eavesandsomet imesonpet i
olesandbar kofyoungt wigs.Thespot s
aregreenishgr eyincolourandv el
vetyintextur
e.Lat er
,theyturnr eddishbr own.The
cir
cularandslight l
yelevatedspot ssomet imescoalescetof or
ml ar gerandi rregul
ar
spots.Theaf f
ect edportionofst em cracks.Incaseofsev ereinfect i
on, t
hebar k
becomest hi
ck, t
wi gsgetenlargedbutr emainstuntedandt hefoliagef inal
lydr i
esup.

Cont
rol
:Twot
othr
eespr
aysofCopperOxy
chl
ori
de(
0.3%)i
sef
fect
ivei
ncont
rol
l
ingt
he
di
sease.

Soot
yMoul
d(Mel
i
olamangi
fer
ae)
:

Thedi seasei scommoni nt heor

char dswheremeal ybug,scal einsectsandhopper sare
notcont r
oll
edef f
ici
entl
y.Thedi seasei nt
hefiel
disr ecognizedbyt hepresenceofa
blacksoot ymoul dont heleafsurface.Inseverecases, t
het reestur ncompletel
yblack
duet ot hepresenceofmoul dovertheentir
esurfaceoft wigsandl eaves.Thesev er
ity
ofinfect i
ondependsont hehoney dewsecreti
onoft heabov ei nsects.Honey dew
secretionsf r
om insectssticktotheleafsurf
aceandpr ovi
denecessar ymedium for
fungal growth.Al t
hought hefunguscausesnodi rectdamage, thephot osynthet
ic
activ
ityoft heleafisadverselyaf
fected.

Cont
r :Pr
ol uni
ngofaf
fect
edbr
anchesandt
hei
rpr
omptdest
ruct
ionf
oll
owedbyspr
ayi
ng
ofWet
tasul
f(0.
2%)
+Met
aci
d(0.
1%)
+gum acaci
a(0.
3%)hel
pst
ocont
rol
thedi
sease.

Di
plodi
aSt
em- Lasi
endRot( odi
plodi
atheobr
omae)
:

Thefungusenter
sthroughmechani
call
yinj
uredar
easonthest
em orski
n.Thef
ungus
growsfrom t
hepediceli
ntoaci
rcul
arbl
acklesi
onaroundt
hepedi
cel
.

Cont
r :Ca
ol r
eful
handl
i
ngt
omi
nimi
zemechani
cal
inj
uri
es.Posthar
vestdi
poff
rui
tsi
n
Carbendazi
m( 0.
1%)inhotwat
erat52±1°
Cfor15mi
nut
escont
rol
sthedi
seasei
n
st
orageandt r
ansit
.

Pest
s:

Commonname Causalor
gani
sm Par
tsaf
fect
ed,
sympt
oms

Mexi
canf
rui
tfl
y Anast
rephal
udens Lar
vadamaget
ofr
uit
.

75
 Sout
hAmer
icanf
rui
t Anast
rephaf
rat
ercul
us Lar
vadamaget
ofr
uit
.
fl
y

Car
ibbeanf
rui
tfl
y Anast
rephasuspense Lar
vadamaget
ofr
uit
.

Queensl
andf
rui
tfl
y Bat
rocer
atr
yoni Lar
vadamaget
ofr
uit
.

Medi
ter
raneanf
rui
tfl
y Cer
ati
ti
scapi
tat
a Lar
vadamaget
ofr
uit
.

Mar
ulaf
rui
tfl
y Cr
ati
ti
scosr
ya Lar
vadamaget
ofr
uit
.

Nat
alf
rui
tfl
y Cer
ati
ti
srosa Lar
vadamaget
ofr
uit
.

Or
ient
alf
rui
tfl
y Dacusdor
sal
i
s Lar
vadamaget
ofr
uit
.

Mangoseedweev
il St
ernochet
usmangi
fer
ae seed

Mangobl dge Er
ossom mi osomyi
aindi
ca Sucki
ngsapf
rom f
lor
alpar
ts.

Dasi
neur
amangi
fer
a

Mangohopper I
dioscopussp. Sucki
ngsapf
rom f
lower
ing
shoot
s.

Redbandedt
hri
ps Sel
enot
hri
psr
ubr
oci
ntus Sucki
ngonunder
sidesofy
oung
l
eaves.

Coconutbug Pseudot
her
apt
uswayi
i Sucki
ngsapfr
om theyoungfr
uit
,
water
yspotonfr
uit
,fr
uitdr
op.

MangoPackhouseOper
ati
ons

Gr
adi
ng:

Ifthef ruit
sar egradedaccor dingtotheirsize,wei ght,
colourandmat urit
y ,
boththe
producerandconsumerar ebenef it
ed.Ithasbeenobser vedt hatbiggersizefrui
tstake
2-4day smor etimei nri
peningt hansmal l
erones.Hence, packagingofsmal l
erf rui
ts
wi t
hl argeronesshoul dbeav oidedtoachiev euni f
ormr i
peni ng.Immat ure,over
ripe,
damagedanddi seasedfrui
tsshoul dbedi scar ded.Forexpor t
s,thestem ofthef rui
tsis
cutappr oxi
mat elyatalengthof1cm f rom t hefruitwit
ht hehelpofshar pscissor s.
Thent hef r
uit
sar ekeptupsi dedownf ortwohour ssot hatt helatexfl
owsoutf r
om t he
fruitcompl etely.Forthi
soper ati
onspecial knitt
edpalletsshoul dbepr eparedtokeep
thef ruitupsidedown.Ut mostcar eshouldbet akenwhi l
ecut ti
ngt hestem ofthef ruit
sot hatl at
exdr opdoesnotf al lonthefrui
t.

76
Theexportqual
itymangoesarecategorisedi
ntothr
eegradesaccordingtothefr
uit
wei
ghtviz.
,Category
-I(
200-250g),
Cat egory-
II(
251-
300g)andCat egory-
II
I(300-
350g)
.

Mangoesdonotnor mallyneedanypost -
harvesttreat
mentf orlocalmarketi
ng.Iti
sa
generalpr
acti
cet ohar
v estfr
uit
searlyintheseason( prematurestage)tocaptureear
ly
market.Thesefrui
tsdonotr i
peuniformlywithoutanyr i
peningaid.Suchfruit
scouldbe
ri
peneduniformlybydippingin750ppm Et herel(1.8ml/l
i
tre)i
nhotwat erat52±2°Cfor
5mi nut
eswi t
hin4-8day sunderambientcondi t
ions.Maturefruit
scansimilarl
ybe
ri
penedwi t
hlowerdosesofEt herel
foruni f
orm colour.

Frui
tsforurbansuper marketsmayneedt obewashedi ft
heyareheav il
ycontaminated
withlatexordust.Onacommer ci
alscal
e,mangoesforexportaresomet i
mesdi ppedin
hotwat ercontai
ningfungici
deforthecontr
olofthi
sdisease.Thetreatmenti
snot
appropriat
eforsmal l
-scaleoper
ati
ons.Thepostharvestlossesinmangoeshav ebeen
esti
mat edintherangeof25- 40%from har
vesti
ngtoconsumpt i
onst age.I
fproper
met hodsofhar v
esti
ng, t
ranspor
tat
ionandstorageareadopted,suchlossescouldbe
minimized.

Packagi
ng:

Usual
l
y,fr
uitsar
eplacedi
nlay
ersoneabovetheot
her,wi
thast
rawpaddi
ngin-
bet
ween.
Temperat
uresbetween19-
21°Cdur
ingr
ipeni
ngimprov
ethequal
it
yoffr
uit
s.

Woodenboxesar ecommonl yusedf orpackagi ngandt ranspor t

ationofmangof r
uits.
Cent r
alInsti
tutef orSubtropical Hor t
iculture,Lucknow, hasdesi gnedanddev elopedCFB
Boxesof5kgand10kgcapaci tyforpacki ngandshi ppi ngofmangof rui
tssuccessfull
y
asanal ternativet otradit
ional nai l
edwoodenboxes.TheuseofCFBboxesf or
packagingf ort hedomest icmar ketisal sot heneedoft hehourduet oscarci
tyofthe
woodandenv i
ronment al concer nsoft hecount ry.Forexpor tpurposes, CFBboxesar e
alr
eadyi nex tensi veuse.Paperscr aps, newspaper s,etc.,
ar ecommonl yusedas
cushioningmat er i
alforthepackagi ngoff ruit
swhi chpr eventt hem from gett
ingbruised
andspoi leddur ingst or
ageandt ranspor tation.Pol yt
hene( LDPE)l i
ninghasalsobeen
foundbenef icial asitmai ntainshumi dity,whichr esultsinlessershr i
nkagedur i
ng
storage.Wr appi ngoff rui
tsi ndividually(Unipack)wi t
hnewspaperort issuepaperand
packinginhoney combnet shel psi nget ti
ngopt imum r ipeningwi threducedspoilage.

St
orage:

Stor
ageisessent
ial
forext
endingtheconsumpti
onperiodoffrui
ts,
regul
ati
ngt heir
suppl
ytothemarketandalsof
ort r
ansport
ati
ontolongdist
ances.Themat uregreen
fr
uit
scanbekeptatroom temperatur
eforabout
-4-
10day sdependi
ngupont hev ari
ety
.

Forexport
s,t
heharvestedf
rui
tsarepr
e-cool
edto10-12°Candt
henst oredatan
appropr
iat
etemperatur
e.Thefrui
tsofDashehar
i,Mall
i
kaandAmr apali
shouldbe
stor
edat12°C,Langr
aat14°CandChausaat8° Cwith85-90%r
elati
vehumi di
ty.The
77
f
rui
tscoul
dbest
oredf
or3-
4weeksi
ngoodcondi
ti
onatl
owt
emper
atur
e.

Contr
oll
edatmosphere(CO23-4%andO24- 5%)st
orageofAlphonsomango,undera
conti
nuousfl
owsystem heldat13-
15°Cindi
cat
edthatAl
phonsocouldbekeptfor30
dayswithapostst
orageripeni
ngperi
odof4to5days.

Tr
anspor
t:

Forl
ocalmar
kett
hehar
vest
edf
rui
tsar
epackedi
nwoodenboxes/
CFBandt
ranspor
ted
bytr
ucks.

CoolChai
n:

Coolchai
nisessenti
alduringthetr
ansportofexportqual
i
tycommodityal
ltheway
fr
om thefar
mt othecustomer .Thi
shelpsinmai nt
aini
ngthetemper
atur
einsi
dethe
boxatthesamelowl ev
el asinthecol
dstorage.

Thev
ari
ousst
agesoft
hecool
chai
nar
e:

1.Coldstoreatthef arm.
2.Refri
geratedtruckf rom far
mt otheairpor
t
3.Coldstoreattheai rport
.
4.Buil
dingupoft hepal l
etinacoldstoreattheair
port
.
5.Loadingt heaircr
af t
sdirect
lyfr
om t hecol
dstoreinashortt
ime.
6.Cargoai r
craftmai ntai
nscoldstoretemperatur
einhold.
7.Offloadingdirectintoacoldstoreinthereceiv
ingcount
ry.
Refr
igeratedtrucktot hecustomer s.

Suggest
ionsf
orf
urt
herr
eadi
ng:

78
 Temper
ateFr
uit
s

Defi
niti
on:Thesearefr
uitpl
antsthatunder
goaperiodofdormancyduri
ngpartoftheirl
if
e
cycl
einwhichtheyareexposedtochil
li
ngtemper
atures.Duri
ngthedormantperi
odtheplant
s
shedtheirl
eav
esortheirt
oggrowthdiesback–theyar edeci
duous.Fr
uit
sinthi
scat egor
y
i
nclude:

Pomes–appl
es,
pear
sandqui
nce.

St
onef
rui
ts–pl
ums,
peaches,
apr
icot
s,cher
ri
esandal
monds.

Smal
lsof
tfr
uit
s–st
rawber
ri
es,
gooseber
ry,
raspber
ry,
blackber
ri
eset
c.

Vi
nes–gr
apev
ine.

Someobser
vat
ionsont
emper
atef
rui
tst
hatpr
ovi
dechal
l
engest
othei
rpr
oduct
ioni
nEastAf
ri
ca
:
1.Mostoft hefr
uit
sareself
-i
nfer
ti
leandoftenrequir
etobei nt
erplant
edwithpoll
i
nizercul
ti
var
s
whenest abl
ishi
ngorchar
ds.Thisischal
l
engi ngtoEastAfr
icanproducerswhomaynotbewel l
educatedinthesci
enceofpicki
ngcommer cialcul
ti
varsandmat chingthem wi
thsuit
able
poll
i
nizers.

2.Fr
uitsrequireconti
nuousandspeci f
icall
yquant i
fiedcoldspells(
dependingont hevar
iet
y)t
o
i
nducesi gnif
icantdormancy.IntheKeny ansituati
on, wherewehav egoodchi l
l
ing
temperatures,wedon’thavesigni
fi
cantcoldcumul ati
vehour stoeff
ectthechil
li
ngrequi
rement
ofsomeoft hecrops.Toef f
ectproperchil
ling,nointerr
uptionsshouldoccur.Wide
fl
uctuat
ionsofv erycoldandwar mtemper aturesinmanyhi ghlandareasofKeny abecome
l
imit
ing.Thi sisbeingaddressedbythesel ecti
onofv ari
eti
eswi thl
owchi l
li
ngrequir
ements.

3.Mostt emperatefruitsarephot
operiodic–t heyr
equirespeci
fi
cchangesindaylengthsto
i
nit
iatereproducti
vegr owth.Forexampl eblueberr
iesrequi
reupto14hoursofli
ghttosustaina
goodqual i
tycrop.Someoft hemor elucrat
iveapplevari
eti
esaccumulateasmanyas2400-
degreedayswhi charepossi bl
eonlyunderlongdayhi ghtemperatur
esit
uati
ons,notpossi
ble
undertheEastAf r
icansi t
uati
on.Thiscanbemedi atedbytheselect
ionofdayneutr
alcult
ivar
s
tosuitt
heequat ori
al r
egimesinKeny a.

4.Culturalpracti
cesformostoft hesecr opsareuniqueandneedt obeperfor medingoodtime
toensur esuccessfulcropping.E. g.Pruningi
nmostr osaceousf r
uit
sfoll
owst heopencent r
e
tr
aining,whichhast obemai nt
ainedi fhighquali
tyfr
uitist
obepr oduced.Thi sal
sofacil
it
ates
diseaseandpestcont r
olandal soensur esproperchill
i
ngduringdormancy .Specif
icpruni
ng
met hodsar ealsoemploy edtofaci l
it
ategoodpr oducti
on–br anchpruni
ng, spurpr
uningand
fr
uitthinni
ng.

5.Under
standi
ngt
hephy
siol
ogyofdor
mancy–mostofourpr
oducer
sar
enott
rai
nedi
n

79
understandingthecroprequi
rementsasitrelat
estodormancyandactivegr owthperiods.Thi
s
knowl edgeisrequi
redtobeabletoschedulemanagementoper at
ionsint hecropse.g.whento
prune, t
hin,et
c.Atthedormantstage,theplant
stransi
stfr
om t
hev egetativ
etot he
reproductiv
ephases.Thedor mantstagealsohelpstoprot
ectbudsagai nstseverecold.

Whatr
espondst
ochi
ll
ing?
Budsaretherecept
orsofthechi
ll
i
ngst imul
us.Theyrequi
retorecei
vespeci
fi
choursofchil
li
ng
atspeci
fi
ctemperatur
erangesandt hreshol
ds(dependi
ngont hespeci
esandcul
ti
var)andalso
speci
fi
cdaylengthperi
odsandli
ghti ntensi
tyr
egimestoeff
ectaphasechange.Inthetropi
cs
pl
antsarechatt
edtorespondli
kewise.

Fact
orsaf
fect
ingbuddor
mancy
:

1.Temper
atur
e–suf f
ici
entcol
dhour
sbel
owagi
vent
hreshol
d(e.
g.f
orappl
esweneed1000-
0
1600hour
sbelow7C) .

2.Photoper
iodi
sm –dormancyisinducedbyprogr
essiv
eshorterday
sandbrokenasdaysstar
t
becomi ngl
onger
.Flowerbudsareformedeit
herinfal
lorwi
nterwhendaysareshor
terandare
expressedi
nthespri
ngasdaysgetl onger
.

3.Li
ghti
ntensi
ty–Lowl
i
ghti
ntensi
ti
esbr
ingaboutdor
mancy
.

4.Growt
hr egulat
ors–Changesingrowt
hr egulat
orsregi
meswithi
nthepl
antsbr
ingaboutthe
i
nducti
onorr emov al
ofdormancy
.Thesef l
uctuatewitht
heseasons.I
nearl
yspri
ngtolat
e
summerpl antsarehighi
nauxi
ns,cy
toki
ninsandt osomeextentgi
bber
ell
i
ns;i
nfall
tomid-
wint
erplantsarehighinABA.

5.Cul
tur
alpract
ices–Woundingaff
ect
sbuddormancy.Cr
eat
ingnotchesabov
edor
mantbuds
wil
lmakethem break.Bendi
ngbr
anchesal
soachi
evesasi
mil
areff
ect.

Lev
elsofdor
mancy
:
Theamountofst
imul
ust
obegi
vent
oapl
anti
susedt
ocl
assi
fyt
hedor
mancyl
evel
.Thuswe
have:

1.Shal
lowseateddormancy–needsv eryl
it
tl
esti
mulust obreak.
2.Medium dormancy–r equi
resal
it
tl
emor est
imulustobreak.
3.Deepseateddormancy–needsv eryhi
ghsti
muluslevelst
obr eak.
I
nt het
ropi
cscr opsselect
edf orshal
l
ow andmedi um dormancyar ethemostsui
tabl
efor
pr
oduct
ion.

Ar
ti
fi
ci
aldor
mancybr
eaki
ngt
echni
ques–chi
tt
ingt
echni
ques:
1.Def
oli
ati
on–donebothmanual
lyorusi
ngchemical
defoli
ant
s.Thispract
icegi
vesthe
pl
antashockandmakesi
tfeel
ithasgonet
hroughfal
landwint
er.Ifwell
timeditl
eads

80
 tofloweri
ngwi t
hin3-4weeks.
2.Woundi ng–scor i
ngtheplantinterruptscarbohydr at
etranspor
tandther
ef oreraises
theirl
evelswit
hinbranches.Thisi nturnstimulatesbudbr eakandfl
owering.
3.Chemi calchi
tt
ing–Thi sisav er
yef fecti
vemet hodbutal sover
yexpensive.Thi sisthe
useofgr owthregulat
orsthatareant agonisti
ctot hedormancycausingendogenous
hormones.Chemi cal
sincludeKNO3, Overmot,Thi our
ea,DNOC( di
nit
ro-
orthocresol)
.
4.Bending–di sr
uptspolartransportofendogenousdor mancycausi
ngfactors,hence
helpsbreakdormancy .

PLUMS

I
ntr
oduct
ion:

Theplum hasbeencul
ti
vat
edformoret
han3000years.I
thasadiversi
tyofr
esour
cesandcan
begrowninawi der
angeofcl
i
mat i
candsoi
lcondi
ti
ons.I
tiscul
ti
vatedinmanycount
ri
esofthe
worl
d.

Plum fr
uit
sarejui
cyandbeaut
if
ulincolourwit
hanicef
lav
our
.Theyar
eri
chi
nnut
ri
ent
content
se.g.100goffr
eshmaturefr
uitcontai
ns:

8-
17gcar
bohy
drat
es,
0.16-
2.29gor
gani
caci
ds,
0.15-
1.5gt
anni
ns,
0.5gpr
otei
n,

0.
2gf
at,
0.11mgcar
otene,
0.01mgP,
and0.
5mgFe.

Plum f
rui
tscanal
sobepr
ocessedi
ntodr
ychi
ps,jam,wi
neandj
uice.Pl
um t
reeshav
ea
beauti
ful
shapeandar
ecommonlyusedasl
andscapetr
ees.

Bot
any
:

Plum t
reesaresmal
larbor
swi t
haheightof3-4m andcanopydiamet erof4-5m.Thecanopy
nd r
hasaglobeshape.Youngtreesgrowveryfastandstartbear
ingfrom the2 -3dyearaf
ter
t
h th
pl
anti
ng; t
heyent
erpeakproducti
onfr
om the6 - 8y earaft
erplanti
ng.

Tr
ees’economicli
fecanlastfor30-
40y
ear
s(Chi
neset
ypes)and20-
30y
ear
s(Eur
opeanand
Ameri
cantypes),
respect
ivel
y.

(
1)Root
.

Pl
um rootsareshall
owwithmostoftheabsorpt
iver
oot
sinthetop20-40cm oft
hesoi
lpr
ofi
l
e.
Hor
izontal
ly
,therootsy
stem canext
endto1-2ti
mesofthecanopydiameter
.

(
2)Buds

Pl
um t
reespr
oducel
eafbudsandf
lowerbudssepar
atel
y.

81
Ther
ear
ethr
eet
ypesofbuds:

Thesi
ngl
eleafbuds,

Thesi
ngl
efl
owerbudsand

Thecompl
exbudscont
aini
ng1l
eafbudand1-
3fl
owerbuds.

Thesi
ngl
ebudsar eont hebasal
andt i
ppartsoftheshoot,
whi
lethecomplexbudsar
eonthe
middl
eoftheshoot.Al
l ti
pbudsareleafbuds.Flowerbudspr
oduceflowersonl
y.Mostof
pl
um cul
ti
varsar
eself-
incompati
bleandneedt obeplant
edwit
hpolli
nizer
s.

Theleafbudsofy oungtr
eeseasil
ygeneratel
ongshootswhil
ethoseonagedt r
eesforml ong
shootswithgreatdif
fi
cul
ty.Thusagedtreeshavedenseshor
tshootsandonlyaf ewlong
shoots.Thelatentbudsonthebasalpartoft
hebranchescanbreakt
oregenerateshootsaft
er
sti
mulati
onbypr acti
cessuchasheadingback.

(
3)Shoot
sandbr
anches

Pl
um shoot
sar
ecl
assi
fi
edi
ntot
wo-phot
osy
nthet
icandf
rui
ti
ngshoot
s.

Photosynt
het
icshoot
sar
ecat
egor
izedas:
spi
ndl
eshoot
s,dev
elopmentshoot
s,andsl
im
shoots.

Thespi
ndl
eshootsarelongert
han100cm andar
ound1.5cm t
hickness.Theycanbechanged
tof
rui
ti
ngshoot
sthroughpruni
ngandcanalsobeusef
ulforr
egenerati
onofagedtr
ees.

Developi
ngshoot sare60-100cm i
nlengthandaround1cm indiameter
.Thesecarryleafbuds,
whichgenerateshoots.Thedev el
opingshootsaremaint
ainedassidebranchesofthe
scaff
oldsorturnedintofr
uiti
ngshootsthroughpr
operpruning.

Sl
i
m shoot
sar
eshor
tert
han10cm andabout2mm i
ndi
amet
er.Theyar
enor
mal
l
ythi
nnedout
.

Thef r
uit
ingshoot sareclassif
iedasl ongfruit
ingshoot s, medium f rui
ti
ngshoot s,shortf
ruit
ing
shoot sandf lower-cl
usterfrui
ti
ngshoot s.Thel ongf ruit
ingshoot sare30-40cm inlengthwitha
thicknessofabov e0.5cm andcar ri
esmanycompl exbuds.Theypr oducefl
ower sandalso
shor tfr
uiti
ngshoot sorf l
ower-clust
ershoot s.Themedi um fruitingshootsar e15-20cm in
l
engt hand0. 3-0.5cm indiamet er.Thecangener ateshor tfr
uitingshoot sorflower-cl
uster
shoot safterfrui
ti
ng.Theshor tfrui
ti
ngshoot sare5- 10cm inl engt handlessthan0. 3cm in
diamet er.Theypr oduceslim shootsar efr
uiti
ng.Thef lower-clustershootsar elessthan5cm in
l
engt h.Thei rti
pbudsar etheonlyleafbudsandt heot herbudsar edenselylocatedf l
owerbuds.

(
4)Fr
uit
ingchar
act
eri
sti
cs

Theyoungtreeshavev
igorousvegetat
ivegr
owt h.Thel
ongandmedium fr
uit
ingshootsar et
he
mainbear
ingshoots.Withtheagingofthet
ree, t
henumberoff
lower
-cl
ust
ershootsincreases.
Whentheplum tr
eeenter
speakpr oduct
ionstage,80%oft
hebeari
ngshootsarefl
ower-clust
er
82
shoot
s.

Theflowerbudsont hefl
owerclust
ershootsarestr
ongandeasytosetf
rui
ts.Thefl
ower-
cl
ustershootsareinthemiddl
eandbasal part
softhemotherbr
anch.Thei
rti
pleafbuds
ext
endt ogenerat
enewf l
ower-cl
ustershoot
safterf
rui
ti
ng.

Thiskindofext
ensi
onoffl
ower-
clustershootscanconti
nueforsev
eral
years,
whil
ethef
rui
ti
ng
capacityoft
he2-4year
sext
ensi
oni sthehighest
.After5yearsext
ensi
on,t
hebeari
ngst
art
sto
decrease.

Env
ironment
alr
equi
rement
s:

Oft
heseveral
plum speci
es,
theori
ent
alorChinesepl
um, Prunussali
cini
a,hast
hel
eastchi
l
li
ng
r
equi
rementandwil
l pr
oduceaft
eramildwi
nter.Itt
oler
atesfreezi
ngandhotcondi
ti
ons.

TheEur
opeanpl
umscanbegr
owni
nthewar
m ar
easbutnotsui
tabl
eforf
reezi
ngweat
her
.

TheAmeri
canpl
umscantoler
atef
reezingweat
herbutchi
ll
ingrequi
rementi
scrit
ical
.Int
he
tr
opi
cs,
plumsshoul
dbegrownathigherel
evat
ions,
rangi
ngfrom 1,
800m a.
s.l
.

Plum tr
eesar edroughtr
esistantbutcannottol
eratedumpycondi t
ions.Theyarenormall
y
grownont hehillsl
opes.Iftheyaregrownonpl ainland,dr
ainagesystemsshouldbeprepar
ed
whenest abl
ishi
ngt heor
char d.Intherai
nyregi
ons, plum t
reeseasi
lydevel
opspindl
ygrowth
andfruitcr
acking.

Plum treescanbegrowninawi derangeofsoil

types.However,t
hefert
il
esandyloamsgiv
e
betteryiel
dandquali
tybecausetheplum r
ootsareshal
low.Plum t
reescantol
erat
ecert
ain
l
ev elsofsoil
sal
ini
ty.

Plum tr
eescantol
erat
eshading,
butforhi
ghyi
eldsandgoodqual
i
tyfrui
tful
l sunshi
nei
s
requi
red.Sunnyweatherdur
ingfl
oweri
nghel
psinpoll
i
nati
onandfrui
tssett
ing.

Speci
esandcul
ti
vart
ypes:

Plumsbel
ongt
ot hegenusPrunusi
nt hef
amil
yRosaceae.Theyor i
ginat
edfrom Asi
a,Eur
ope
andNort
hAmerica.Therearemorethan50speciesandsubspeci
esinthisgenusworl
dwide.
Thecommerci
alcult
ivar
saremainl
yfrom t
hefol
lowing4species:

1)Pr
( unussal
i
cinaLi
ndl
:

Iti
scommonl ynamedChi nesepl um.I toriginat edfr
om t heYangtzeRiverregionofChina.This
speciesissuitableforawi der angeofcul t
ivationcondi t
ionsandi scurr
ent l
ycul t
ivat
edin
vari
ousar easintheWor l
d.Thet reesareshor twithvi
gor ousshootgrowt h.Ev eryfl
owerbud
produces2- 3flowers.Thef lowercl ust
ershoot sarethemai nf r
uiti
ngshoot s.Fruitsar
eglobal
orlongglobalandy ellow,red,darkr ed,orpur pleincolourwithasl i
ghtl
yshar pblossom end.
Thef r
uitfl
eshi syell
oworpur ple.Thisspeci esi swidelycult
ivatedinChinaandJapan.I n
Amer ica,
thisspecieswascr ossedwi ththeAmer i
canplum andmanynewcul t
ivarswere
83
sel
ect
ed.

2)Pr
( unussi
moni
iCar
r:

Iti
scommonl ynamedapr i
cotplum.Itori
ginat
edfrom Norther
nChina.Thetreesaresmall
.
Frui
tshaveaflatglobalshapeanddarkredorpurpleincolourwit
horangefr
uitfl
esh.Frui
ts
haveast r
ongflav
or .Somer esear
chershaveproposedthatthi
sspeciesi
sav ari
etyofP.
sali
cina.

3)Pr
( unusdomest
icaLi
nn:

AlsocalledEuropeanplum.Itor i
ginatedf rom Caucasianr
egionandwasbroughtt
oRomeand
spreadtov ar
iouspartsofEurope.Thet wigsandleavesarecoveredwi
thhai
rs.Fl
owersar
e
bi
ggert hanthoseofP.sil
ici
na.Ever yf lowerbudpr oduces102flower
s.Frui
tsar
eyel
low,r
ed,
purpleorblueincolourwit
hyellowf ruitflesh.

4)Pr
( unusAmer
icanaMar
ch:

Alsocal
ledtheAmer icanpl
um.Or i
ginat
edfr
om Amer ica,CanadaandMexico.Thisspecies
canbegr owninawi derangeofcl
imatesandsoilcondit
ions.Itt
oler
atesfr
eezi
ngweat her.
Treeshaveabi gcanopy.It
sshootshaveacharacteri
sti
cofdownwar dgrowthori
entati
on.
Leavesarebiggerandhairy.Manygoodcult
ivar
swer eselectedt
hroughthehybri
dizat
ion
betweenthi esandP.sal
sspeci ici
na.

Pl
um cul
ti
var
scommoni
nKeny
a,i
ncl
ude:

Gol
denKi
ng,
Met
hley
,Kesl
ey,
Ogden,
Sant
aRosa,
SunGol
d.

Ot
herpr
omi
singv
ari
eti
esf
orwar
m ar
easar
e:

Beaut
y,Best
sHy
bri
d,

Br
il
li
ant
,Br
uce,
Bur
mosa,
Duar
te,
Hol
l
ywood,
Inca,
Mar
vel
,Mar
iposa,
Oxhear
t, Redbud,

Redhear
t,Sat
suma,
Shi
roandWi
ckson.

Cul
tur
alPr
act
ices:

1.Pr
opagat
ion

Plumsarepr
opagat
edmai nl
ybyveget
ati
vemeanswherehardwoodcut
ti
ngsorbuddingar
e
used.Thecommonr oot
stocksar Pr
epeaches( unusper
sicaandP.
davi
diana)
,apr
icot
(P.ar
meni
ca)andwi
ldplums.

84
Peachroot
stockshavehighcompatibi
l
itywit
hplums.Thegraf
tedseedl
ingsarevi
gorous
grower
s,ear
lybeari
ng,hi
ghy i
eldi
nganddroughtresi
stant
.Oki
nawa,Shali
,61302,
S-37or
Yunnanarenematode-r
esist
antpeachrootst
ocks.

Apr
icotroot
stocksal
sohavegoodcompati
bil
i
tywithplums.Apri
cotr
oot
stockedpl
um t
rees
hav
eal onger
-economicl
if
eti
methanthoseonotherrootst
ocks.

Thewi l
dplum r
ootst
ockshavegoodcompatibi
l
itywi
thpl
ums,butthei
rresi
stancetodr
ought
andfreezi
ngweatherisnotasst
rongaspeachandapri
cotr
ootst
ocks.‘Marianna’
isaplum
stockwithgoodnematoderesi
stance.

2.Or
char
dest
abl
ishment

(
a)LandPr
epar
ati
on

Landpreparat
ionf
orpl
umsisthesameasfortheothertemper
atefr
uitt
rees. Thel
andif
possi
bleshoul
dbecul
ti
vat
edandr
ender
edweedf
ree.Therecommendedspacingi
s2-4m x3-
4m.

(
b)Pl
ant
ing

Planti
ngisdonebare-
rootedint
hedormantseason.Somepl
um v
ari
eti
esaresel
f-
fert
il
eandwill
notrequir
ecross-
poll
inat
ion.However,i
tisagoodideat
ogrowmoret hanonetr
eet oensur
e
thatpoll
i
nati
onisful
lyeff
ected.

(
c)I
nter
croppi
ng

Covercr
opscanbeuseddur
ingt
heear
lygr
owi
ngst
agesbutshoul
dnotbeal
l
owedt
ocompl
ete
i
nthelat
eryear
s.

Or
char
dManagement

(
a)Pr
uni
ng

Thecommonform oft
reeforpl
umsisthe“bush-
type”andthe“hal
f-
standar
d”t
ree.St
andar
d
tr
eesar
etoot
all
tobeadequatel
ypr
uned,spr
ayedandharvest
ed.

Youngbushandhal f
-st
andar
dt r
eesareprunedasf
orapplesi
ntheearl
ystages.Oncethetrees
arewellf
ormed,theyrequi
reonlyami ni
mum ofpruni
ngandthisshoul
dbecar r
iedoutbefore
therai
nyseason.Iti
sonlynecessar
ytoremoveweak,di
seasedorover
crowdedbranches.

Plumswil
lfr
uitonbotholdandnewwoodandabalanceshoul
dbekeptbet
weenthetwokinds.
Sucker
sgrowingontheroot
stockshoul
dber
emoved,i
fpossi
blebypul
l
ingr
athert
hancut
ti
ng.

(
b)Manur
eandf
ert
il
izer
s

Pl
umsneedmor
eni
tr
ogent
hanappl
esespeci
all
yint
hef
ormat
ivey
ear
s,andl
i
ghtannual

85
mulcheswel l
-decomposedmanur ethati
swor kedi
ntothesoilwil
ldowell.Forthi
sr easonitis
advi
sabletokeept hegr ownaroundplum t
reescul
tiv
ated,al
thoughoneshouldremembert hat
pl
umsar eshal l
owr ooti
ngandweedsshoul dbekeptundercont r
olwit
hherbici
desr athert
han
hoei
ng.I fonewant stomai nt
aingr
assinthearea,
thenextranit
rogenshoul
dbegi vent omake
upforthattakenbyt hegrass.

Nitr
ogenshouldbeappl iedsoonaf t
erblossoming.Ar at
eof1- 2kgpertreeofammoni um
sulf
ateorequi
valentrateofot herni
tr
ogenfert
il
izersissuggest
edwhentreesbegintobear.I
f
thetreesar
eov erf
ed( gi
v entoomuchni t
rogenf er
ti
li
zer
)theywillmaket
oomuchv eget
ative
growthandcarrylessfruit,soonlyali
ghtappl
icati
onshouldbegi v
enatthebeginni
ngoft he
rai
nyseason.

(
c)Fr
uitt
hinni
ng

Itthetr
eescropheav
il
y,t
hef rui
tsshoul
dbet hi
nnedaf t
erthestoningperi
odtoleaveonef rui
t
ev er
y5to8cm alongthebranch.Oneoft hefrui
tsber emovedandspl i
topenwithakni f
et o
checkthatt
hestonehashardened.Iff
rui
tsarenotthi
nnedt hecropwil
lbeheavi
erbutt hetree
maynotbeart hefol
l
owingy ear
.Heav il
yladenbrancheswi l
lneedproppingt
opr eventthem
from br
eaki
ngundert
heweightofagoodcr op.

(
d)Pestcont
rol

Plumsareli
abletobeat
tackedbybact
erialcanker
,bl
ossom wil
t,andbrownr ot
,di
ebackand
rust
.Contr
olistospr
aywit
hnormalf
ungicidesduri
ngt
hegrowing(rai
ny)season.

Redspi
der
sat
tachi
ngt
hel
eav
esoft
hepl
um canbecont
rol
l
edef
fect
ivel
ywi
thMal
athi
on.

Ot
herpestat
tacki
ngpl
umsar
eaphi
dsandbi
rds.

Har
vest
ingandst
orage

Plumsareusuall
yhar
vestedintheear
lyri
pestage.‘Sant
aRosa’andothervari
eti
eswil
lri
pen
sati
sfact
ori
l
ywhenharvestedatthest
rawpickstage.Thisenabl
esthefrui
ttobesentto
dist
antmarket
sbefor
etheybecomef ull
yri
pe.

Whent hefruit
sar epi
ckedbefor
et heyareri
petheycanbewrappedingreasepr
ooforwaxed
paperandst oredinacoolai
ryplace,theycant
heybetakenoutforeati
ngorsaleasrequi
red.
Thestoredfruitsshoul
dbecheckedev er
yfewdaystoseei
fanyareripeni
ngandtheseshould
beusedf i
rst.

86