Need to promote sunflower cultivation
By S.P. Goyal and D. Singh
Sunflower is an important oilseed crop containing 44 to 50 per cent oil content and fits well in the multiple cropping system because of its short growth duration. The prerequisite for successful cultivation of the crop is that its maturity should not coincide with the rains. Hence the crop is planted in January-February and harvested in the end of May, mainly in Haryana and Punjab. The sunflower crop gained popularity among the farmers after the introduction of hybrid varieties by the private sector.

Remunerative herb plantation
By Kishori Lal
THE plantation of a precious wild herb dioscorea, locally called “shingli-mingli by the village forest development committee in the Seraj Forest Division in Mandi has opened up new vistas of economic growth for the hilly people.

Making and maintenance of lawn
By P. Singh and P. J. Singh

THE most characteristic feature of a garden is its lawn. A well cared for lawn provides a smooth, living carpet for relaxation and recreation. It adds a touch of coolness to the garden on hot summer days. In view of the large-scale urbanisation, which has led to diminished space, the lawn assumes enormous significance.

Selection of site:
Most lawn grasses grow best in full sunlight. So, when planning a lawn area, avoid shaded situations such as northern side of the buildings and planting under large shrubs and trees where the grass has to compete for light, in addition to moisture and nutrients.

Preparation of the soil:
A good, light-textured, crumbly, topsoil is the best for establishing a good lawn. It allows air to penetrate easily into the grass roots. Moreover, excess water also drains out easily in such soils.

Soil preparation should be started well before planting of grass. This will allow time for fertilising the soil and destroying weed seeds as they sprout. In hot weather, dig up the ground to a depth of about 45 cm and remove the roots of the weeds, pebbles, etc. Then expose the soil to the scorching rays of sun for killing disease organisms and weed seeds. Before the onset of rains, incorporate one cartload of well-rotten farm yard manure (FYM) along with 4 kg of single super phosphate (SSP), 3.75 kg of muriate of potash (MOP) per 100 sq.m. area, followed by breaking of clods of earth and levelling the ground. If the soil is loose, it may be necessary to use a roller to compact it. After these operations, apply irrigation and let the soil settle down and weeds germinate. Remove the weeds as they come up.

Kinds of grasses:
The recommended types of grasses for our conditions are:

Calcutta grass (cynodon dactylon):

Calcutta grass is a fine strain of Bermuda grass which grows vigorously and spreads by above-ground runners and under-ground rootstalks. It will not thrive under conditions of shade, poor drainage, high acidity or low fertility. It requires free applications of nitrogen in readily available form and is relatively drought resistant. It must be clipped closely in order to form a dense turf.

Japanese or Korean grass (zoysia japonica)

It is a low-growing perennial that spreads by above-ground runners and shallow rootstocks. It forms a dense turf that resists weed invasion and is normally free from disease and insect damage. It makes best growth when given liberal application of a balanced dose of fertilisers having a high nitrogen content. It is highly resistant to wear and will withstand close clippings. Japanese grass can be established by spring planting the stems, spot sodding or seeding.

Methods of planting:

Seeding:

The best time for sowing of seed is about end of August. Sowing may be done in February and March also, but it is encountered with a greater risk of succumbing to drought, since the following months, May and June, are normally very dry. Seeding is the cheapest and probably the best way of getting a good lawn, but it is preferred only where the area to be covered is very large. Seed rate is 250-300g/100 sq.m. The seed should be mixed with small amounts of a carrier, which may be topsoil or sand, to obtain uniform distribution of the

seed. After the sowing is complete, a light covering with dry, sieved, garden compost or weed-free straw helps to retain moisture for longer time and prevents washing of seed during watering or rainfall. The surface soil has to be kept moist until the seeds germinate and seedlings establish. Normally, the seedlings come through in 10-12 days.

Dibbling:

Dibbling or vegetative planting is the most commonly used method for developing a lawn in Punjab. In February-March or July-August runners are obtained by tearing apart or shredding pieces of established sod which are dibbled about 4-6 inches apart. The spacing may be reduced if fast coverage is required. An important precaution is that half to one-third portion of the grass should go into the soil and it should be pressed. Watering should be done immediately afterwards. The newly planted grass establishes within three-four months’ time.

Sodding or turfing:

It may be done where immediate effect is required or on steep slopes or terraces where washing is a serious problem. What is important is that turf should be absolutely free of weeds and should be in a mown condition, and of uniform density and colour. Sod should not be cut more than 1 inch thick. Pieces should be laid like bricks in a wall and fitted as tightly as possible.

After laying off, it should be tamped lightly and top-dressed with a small amount of topsoil. The topsoil should be driven into the cracks with the back of a wooden rake. The sod should be kept moist till the lawn is well-established. The method is, no doubt, very useful but the cost of laying turf is very high.

Manuring and fertilisation:

It is recommended that NPK in a ratio of 10:4:6 should be applied to the lawn in spring each year at the rate of 6 kg/100 sq.m. area. As nitrogen is removed in much larger amounts than phosphorus and potassium, it should be applied 3-5 times @ 1 kg (2.2 kg urea)/100 sq.m. area from March to October. Fertilisers should not be applied when grass leaves are wet as it causes their burning. Lawn should be watered immediately after applying fertilisers to wash the fertilisers off the leaves. Fertilisers can also be applied in liquid form with a watering can.

Watering:

Water requirement varies depending on the type of grass, kind of soil and weather conditions. Sandy soils require frequent watering in small amounts. Heavy soils, on the other hand, require less frequent watering but in larger amounts. Most lawns on average soils require watering twice a week in hot dry months and once a week during winter. Normally, no watering is required in the rainy season.

Rolling and mowing:

A newly-established lawn needs rolling to make the soil compact. Care should be taken that rolling is not done on the wet soil. When cutting a new lawn for the first time, do not use a lawn mower because barely established grass may get uprooted. The grass can be trimmed with the help of a sharp scythe. The first mowing should be delayed till the grass is about 2 inches high and then it should be carefully topped. The cutting height can be gradually reduced.

Raking, scrapping and top-dressing:

After 3-4 years of constant use, the lawn becomes compact. Old grass stems and roots form that prevent water, air and nutrients from reaching the soil. As a result, the root system is restricted and the grass dries out. To overcome this problem, the lawn should either be spiked, raked or scrapped in February or September. These practices are essential to promote aeration and drainage in the lawn. To spike, the lawn should be watered properly and garden fork inserted about 10 cm deep at a spacing of 10-15 cm all over the lawn. For raking, the lawn should be mown closely, the grass clippings removed and raked severely. After spiking, raking or scraping, the lawn should be top-dressed with the mixture comprised of sieved, well-rotten FYM and loamy soil in the proportion of 1:. A layer of 1 cm thickness is considered to be optimum.

Weeding:

To prevent invasion by weed, it is very important to have a thick and vigorous cover of grass which can be maintained by proper watering, feeding and mowing.

The common weeds invading lawns are motha/deela (cyprus rotundus), takri ghas (digitaria sanguinalis), blue grass (poa annua), milkweed (euphorbia microphylla), maina medicago denticulata), maini (trigonella polycerta) and itsit (trianthema portulacastrum). Normally the best course of action is to do weeding manually. However, in larger areas it may become necessary to control them with selective weedicides. Broad-leaved weeds may be killed by spraying 2,4-D @25 ml/100sq.m.

Diseases:

Brown patch disease caused by rhizoctonia solani appears as roughly circular, brown patches, with a smoky ring appearance at the outer margin on the grass during hot and humid weather. Control lies in drenching the affected area with Tiram (0.3%) or Captan (0.2%) Mercury-based fungicides also provide satisfactory control of the disease, but should be avoided due to their highly hazardous nature.

Insect and pests:

Many kinds of insect and pests damage lawns, but some pests such as grubs, white ants, ants and earthworms are more common than others. The grubs and white ants feed on the roots, while the ants dig holes in the lawn and throw up mounds of earth. Earthworms are generally considered to be beneficial for garden soil, but on the lawn the detrimental effect of casts are unsightly. Casts make mowing difficult, damage mower blades and provide ideal site for germination of weeds. To control these pests apply Dursban or Radar @ 50 ml/100 sq.m. area with a watering can be followed by a heavy irrigation.

Yellowing of lawn:

Yellowing may result due to waterlogging inadequate watering or nitrogen deficiency. It may be due to specific behaviour of the grass also, for instance Calcutta grass turns pale in winter. Proper care needs to be taken to correct the problem.

Need to promote sunflower cultivation
By S.P. Goyal and D. Singh

Sunflower is an important oilseed crop containing 44 to 50 per cent oil content and fits well in the multiple cropping system because of its short growth duration. The prerequisite for successful cultivation of the crop is that its maturity should not coincide with the rains. Hence the crop is planted in January-February and harvested in the end of May, mainly in Haryana and Punjab. The sunflower crop gained popularity among the farmers after the introduction of hybrid varieties by the private sector. This crop being highly remunerative was also seen as a panacea for getting rid of phalaris minor in wheat which acquired resistance to Isoproturon in farmers’ fields. Farmers received handsome returns taking three crops in a year with positive effect on agro-ecosystem. Recently the acreage under sunflower has drastically reduce due to decreasing productivity. This is an issue of serious concern for farmers, scientists, administrators and planners in the country.

Advantage of sunflower cultivation:

— Continuous paddy-wheat rotation has disturbed the agro-ecosystem. This rotation not only disturbed the soil fertility level but also gave rise to resistance against Isoproturon in the obnoxious weed of wheat i.e. phalaris minor. Sunflower cultivation helped to a great extend in exhausting seed bank of this weed in soil and again after two-three years wheat cultivation proved economical.

— Sunflower cultivation is a boon for farmers. The crop being short duration and highly remunerative fits well in the present rotation after the potato, toria, pea and sugarcane crops.

— After harvesting the flowers, the remaining plant residues of the crop are incorporated in soil, thus adding abundant organic matter in soil.

— Sunflower cultivation on a large scale would reduce import bill incurred on import of edible oils.

— Bee-keeping industry would also get a boost.

Causes of low yields:

— A large number of hybrids of sunflower were introduced and some of these hybrids performed very well. Later, performance of these hybrids was quite erratic due to mushrooming of seed producing agencies. Due to this, productivity of sunflower decreased making the crop unremunerative for farmers.

— Insect-pest attacks, particularly of helicoverpa, at the flowering time cause an appreciable loss in the yield and discouraged the farmers because spraying of pesticides at flowering is very tedious or impossible due to tall stature of the crop.

— Delayed sowing, particularly in March and April, leads to late maturity which generally coincides the onset of monsoon. Under delayed sowing irrigation requirements of sunflower crop also increase tremendously.

— Birds cause extensive damage to sunflower crop both at the emergence and seed setting stage onward.

Measures to popularise sunflower cultivation:

— Quality seed of high yielding, short duration, dwarf hybrid varieties resistant to pest and diseases recommended after rigorous testing should be made available to the farmers and that too at a reasonable price. Unscrupulous trade in hybrid seeds should be checked.

— Result of timely sowing in January and February and other recommended package of practices of cultivation should be shown to the farmers through field demonstrations

— Dwarf hybrids should be developed to facilitate the spraying operation in the event of any attack of pest and diseases.

— Since sunflower is a cross-pollinated crop and honeybees are very helpful in increasing yield of sunflower due to their pollination ability. Farmers should simultaneously be encouraged and trained for beekeeping.

— Remunerative price for sunflower seed must be assured to the farmers.

Remunerative herb plantation
By Kishori Lal

THE plantation of a precious wild herb dioscorea, locally called “shingli-mingli by the village forest development committee in the Seraj Forest Division in Mandi has opened up new vistas of economic growth for the hilly people.

According to Mr P.L Chauhan, DFO, Seraj, who pioneered the propagation of herbs, dioscorea deltoide planted in a hectare of land gives a yield of 350 quintals of herb, the value of which is Rs 5 lakh.

He says the commercial production of this and other herbs by the forest development committees and cooperative societies could go a long way in raising the living standard of the people.

The forest users are entitled to take out herbs and minor forest produce under the national forest policy framed in 1988.

The study of dioscoria deltoidea cultivation was initiated in the Seraj Forest Division in 1995. This species shot to prominence in 1960-61 when Wyeth Laboratories and CIB Private Limited entered the market for the purchase of this tuber for extraction of drugs.

Of the 2000 species of the medicinal plants found in the country, 150 species are found in the western Himalayas. Mr Chauhan says unscientific collection of medicinal flora has posed a threat of extinction of many precious herbs.

The Himachal Pradesh Government has drawn up a Rs 8.27-core plan for the herbal plantation in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The forest and horticulture university will also be involved in the implementation of the project.

Sugarcane: In case a pyrilla attack is seen on sugarcane apply 350 ml of Thiodan 35 EC or 225 ml of folithion/Sumithion/Accothion 50 Ec per acre in 200 litres of water.

Wheat: Start sowing wheat varieties, namely PBW-343,WH-542 and durum wheat PDW-233 and PBW-34 under irrigated conditions and PBW-299 and PBW-175 under rainfed conditions from last week of October. Termite is a serious pest in light-textured soil, particularly in barani areas. Before sowing, treat wheat seed with chloropyriphos 20 EC @ 4 ml/kg seed.

Loose smut: Treat the seed of all wheat varieties except that of PBW-138, PDW-233, PBW-34 with Vitavax @ 2g/kg orBavistin/Agrozim/Derosal/J.K. Stein/Sten 50. @ 2.5g/kg seed for the control of loose smut. Treat the seed with Captan or Thiram @3g/kg seed for the control of root rot, foot rot, seedling blight, black tip and black spot of glumes. Captan and Thiram treatment should not be done earlier than one month of sowing as it affects seed germination.

Mamni: In Bathinda, the disease needs to be controlled. The disease is not soil borne. The infection starts from the galls mixed in the seed at the time of sowing. To separate the galls put the seed in ordinary water and agitate vigorously. The galls will float on the water surface. These may be removed with sieve and burnt.

Flag smut: To control flag smut, treat the seed before sowing with Thiram @ 3g/kg or Vitavax @ 2g/kg or Bavistin @ 2.5g/kg seed.

In rainfed areas wheat should be sown after applying 70kg of urea, 100kg of superphosphate and 20 kg muriate of potash per acre in sandy loam or heavier soils. In light-textured soils 30kg of urea, 50kg of superphosphate and 10kg muriate of potash may be drilled. In irrigated areas in the absence of soil test wheat crop required 110kg of urea, 155kg of superphosphate and 20kg muriate of potash per acre during the life span. If 55 kg Dap per acre is used as a source of phosphorus then reduce the dose of urea by 20kg per acre. Nitrophosphate (20:20:0) @125 kg per acre can also be used in wheat. If 125 kg per acre nitrophosphate is used then reduce the dose of urea by 45 kg per acre.

PULSES

Gram: Grow varieties GL-769, PDG-3and GPF-2 from October 10 to 25 in the central and south-western districts and variety PBG-1 and C-235 which has resistance to gram blight in the sub-montane districts.

The best time of sowing kabli gram (L-550) in the state except humid area of Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and Ropar is last week Oct. to Nov. 1 under irrigated conditions.

Treat the seed with Bavistin plus Thiram (1:1) 3 g or Hexacap 3 g or Rovral 2.5 kg or Captan/Captaf 3 g per kg of seed for the control of blight. Grow C-235 or PBG-1 in disease prone areas.

At the time of sowing, drill 50 kg of superphosphate and 13 kg of urea per acre but in the case of kabli gram, drill 100 kg of superphosphate per acre.

Lentil: Use varieties LL-147/L-9-12 or LL-56 and start sowing from end of October. Inoculation of seed with Rhizobium culture ensures higher yield. Drill 11 kg of urea and 50 kg of superphosphate per acre in the case of inoculated seed, otherwise double the dose of superphosphate at the time of sowing.

OILSEEDS

For raya, use varieties PBR-91, RL-1359, RLM-619 under irrigated conditions and PBR-97 under rainfed conditions. The optimum period for sowing raya is the first fortnight of October. Gobhi sarson (GSL-1, GSL-2, PGSH-51) should be sown from October 10 to end of October. African sarson PC-5 can also be sown during this month.

Drill 45 kg of urea and 75 kg of single superphosphate per acre before sowing of raya and gobhi sarson. However, in gobhi sarson on light-textured soils, increase the dose of urea to 65 kg per acre.

Sometimes hairy caterpillars become a serious pest on toria. For its control, apply Malathion dust @ 15 kg per acre or by spraying with 500 ml of Thiodan 35 EC or 200 ml of Nuvan 40 EC in 125 litres of water.

Weed control: One hoeing to toria after the third week of sowing and one or two hoeing preferably with improved wheel hoe to raya, gobhi sarson and taramira are adequate. Weeds can also be controlled through herbicides. —Progressive Farming, PAU