varieties

There are three varieties Kew, Amritham and Mauritius. Kew - recommended for processing industry Mauritius - recommended for commercial cultivation for table purpose and distant marketing, due to its shorter duration, better fruit quality, keeping quality and transportability. Kew is reccomended for large scale commercial cultivation in Kerala.

Season (planting time)

The planting season is May-June. Planting should be avoided during the periods of heavy rains

Planting materials

Select healthy suckers of uniform size weighing 500-1000 g. Keep suckers in open space under shade in a single layer for about 7 days for drying. Stripp off a few lower old dried leaves. Allow the suckers to dry and cure for another 7 days. Dip the cured suckers in 1% bordeaux mixture at the time of planting.

Planting methods

Rake the soil and plant the suckers in double rows at spacing of 45*30 cm. Limit the depth of planting to 7.5-10 cm. Adopt triangular method of planting in each trench so that the plants in two adjecent rows are not opposite to each other (40400/ha)

Irrigation

Wherever irrigation facilities are available, providing irrigation in summer months attwo weeks in tervals results in good fruit size and high yield. If there is no irrigation facility, the crop should be scheduled for harvest before summer months (before March).

fertilizers

Apply compost / FYM @ 500 g per plant at the time of planting. Also apply rock phosphate @ 20 g per plant and bone meal @ 50 g per plant. It will be ideal to apply the compost/ FYM, rock phosphate and bone meal in the pits taken for planting. Six weeks after planting, apply 250 g cowdung or vermi compost, 50 g neem cake, 50 g groundnut cake, one gm azospirillum and one gm phosphobactor or PGPR mix 1 for each plant and mild earthing up is done. Apply 1.5 g of sulphate of potash in liquid form along with cowdung solution at an interval of 6, 10, 14, 18, 22 and 30 weeks after planting for each plant.

other intercultural operation

For inducing uniform flowering, 25 ppm ethephon is applied on physiologically mature plants having 39-42 leaves (7-8 months after planting). The solution for application in 1000 plants is prepared by adding 1.25 ml of ethephon (3.2 ml of 39% ethrel or 12.5 ml of 10% ethrel), 1 kg urea and 20 g calcium carbonate to 50 litres of water. Pour 50 ml of the prepared solution to the heart of the plant during dry weather conditions (when there is no rain during the time of application).

Flowering starts by 30 days and completes within 40 days of growth regulator application. Fruits will be ready for harvest by 130-135 days after the application of growth regulator. Harvest over different months / seasons could be obtained by carefully phasing / planning the planting and growth regulator application.

Harvesting

Flowering starts by 30 days and completes within 40 days of growth regulator application.Fruits will be ready for harvest by 130-135 days after the application of growth regulator.
Harvest over different months / seasons could be obtained by carefully phasing / planning the planting and growth regulator application.