Intercropping with groundnut to fetch better returns from ber orchards: Experts

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 23

‘Ber’ (Indian jujube) is a well-known versatile fruit plant having rich nutritional value. It can be grown in saline conditions, waste and degraded lands in arid and semi-arid climate. The fruit can also be well grown in poor and marginal soils and require very less input and management efforts for its cultivation.

The ‘ber’ tree has a high ability for tolerating water-logged conditions also. However, due to thorny nature of plants, difficulty in fruit picking, annual pruning requirement and late harvesting varieties render the ‘ber’ orchards less remunerative and least preferred for new establishments. With proper management practices and intercropping of suitable agronomic crops, more profit can be fetched from ‘ber’ orchards, said Dr JS Brar, senior horticulturist, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).

Pruning of ‘ber’ trees

Regular annual pruning is essential to induce a good and healthy growth which will provide a maximum fruit bearing area on the tree as well as to improve fruit size and quality.

The best time for pruning of tree is middle of May. Pruning by heading back at 8 buds length of previous year’s growth gives higher yield and better quality fruits. Some thinning out of the branches of ‘ber’ trees is also necessary to avoid too much crowding so as to allow adequate sunlight and facilitate proper aeration, added Dr Brar.

After pruning in the month of May, ample space between pruned trees remains vacant till the end of August. During this period, intercropping of suitable agronomic crop can be done to fetch additional income.

Recently, the PAU has released a short duration groundnut variety TG 37A which become ready to harvest after 100-110 days of sowing.

Steps to improve fruit yield, quality

• Powdery mildew is a serious problem in ‘ber’ which deteriorate the fruit size and quality. For its management, spray Wettable Sulphur 2.5 g per litre of water as a first and preventive spray before the onset of flowering, second spray at flowering and third spray at fruit set stage. It will check the incidence of powdery mildew in ‘ber’.
• For management of weeds, application of 10 cm thick layer of paddy straw mulch under the tree canopies can be done in the month of October, it will reduce fruit drop and improve fruit yield and quality.
• Spray potassium nitrate 15 gm per litre of water in the middle of November and again in the middle of January to improve fruit size, weight, yield and quality.
• Physiological fruit drop is another major problem in ‘ber’ which can be managed with two sprays of Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) 15 g in 500 litres of water per acre during the second fortnight of October and again during second fortnight of November can be done. Dissolve NAA in small quantity of alcohol before mixing in water.

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