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Betelvine
Botanical Name – Piper betel
Family – Piperaceae

Importance

Betelvine leaves are important because of its medicinal, religious and ceremonial

Varieties
Karpurakodi, Kallarkodi, Revesi, Karpuri, Vellaikodi, Patcha vethalai, SGM 1 and
SGM (BV) – 2.
Soil and Climate

Soil –

• Well drained fertile clay loams are suitable.
• It does not tolerate saline and alkaline conditions.
• Betelvine require a cool shade, considerable humidity and regular supply of
  moisture in the soil.

Climate – 

• Betelvine require a cool humid with considerable humidity and regular supply of moisture in the soil is essential.
• The crop tolerates a minimum temperature of 10ºC and a maximum of 40ºC. Extremely low atmospheric temperature leads to leaf fall.

Seed and Sowing

• The vines are propagated by terminal stem cuttings or setts of about 30 – 45 cm
  long.
• Setts obtained from the top portions of the vines are easy to root and hence best for planting.
• Number of setts is 1,00,000 / ha.
• Setts with vigorous apical buds and nodal adventitious roots are selected and planted at the base of the live supports, which are to be planted 4 to 5 months earlier

Season
November – December and January – February.
Field Preparation and Planting

• The field is prepared to a fine tilth and beds of 2 m wide are formed to a convenient length.
• Provide drainage trenches of 0.5 m width and 0.5 m depth in between two adjoining beds.
• Sow the seeds of the live supports i.e. Agathi (Sesbania grandiflora) in long rows.
  About 750 banana suckers are planted at the edges of the beds, which are used, for tying the vines on the live support and for packing the betel leaf.
• When the agathi grows to a height of about 4 m they are topped.
• The crop is planted in two rows in beds of 180 cm width on agathi plants with a spacing of 45 cm between plants in the row.

Irrigation

Irrigate the field immediately after planting and afterwards once in a week.

Training of the live standards
Before the establishment of vines, the side branches of Agathi trees upto a height of
2 m are removed for early creeping of the vines.
Training & Lowering the vines

• Training of Vines –
• Training is done by fixing the vine at intervals of 15 to 20 cm along the standards loosely with the help of banana fibre.
• Training is done every 15 – 20 days depending upon the growth of vines.

Lowering of vines :

• Under normal cultivation, the vines grow to height of 3 m in one year period.
• When they reach this height their vigour to produce normal size leaf is reduced and they need rejuvenation by lowering during March – April.
• After the vine is lowered, a number of tillers spring up from the nodes at the bends of the coiled vines at the ground level and produce many primary vines. After each lowering, irrigation should be given.

Manuring

• Apply 150 kg N/ha/year through Neem cake (75 kg N) and Urea (75 kg N) and 100 kg P2O5 through superphosphate and 30 kg K2O through muriate of potash in three split doses first at 15 days after lifting the vines and second and third dose at 40 – 45 days intervals.
• Apply on beds shade dried neem leaf or Calotrophis leaves at 2 t/ha and cover it with mud (2 t in 2 split doses).

Plant Protection

1.Scale insects

Management-

• Select scale-free seed vines.
• Spray Chlorpyriphos 20 EC 2 ml/lit when one or two scales are noticed on the basal portion of the stem/leaves.
• Direct the spray solution to the basal portion of the vines. 
• Spray NSKE 5 % or Malathion 50 EC 1 ml/lit.

2.Mites (Sevvattai)

Management-

Mites can be controlled by spraying Wettable sulphur 50 WP @ 1 g/lit or Dicofol 18.5 EC 0.5 ml/lit.

3.Sooty mould (Aphids)

Management

• To control aphids spray Chlorpyriphos at 2 ml/lit on Agathi leaves.
• Clip off excess Agathi leaves.
• 4 Mealy bugs

• Mealy bugs can be controlled by spraying Chlorpyriphos 20 EC at 2 ml/lit or Dimethoate 30 EC 2ml/lit.
• Concentrate the spray towards the collar region.

 5. Nematode

Management-

• Application of Neem cake at 1 t/ha or shade dried Calotropis leaves @ 2.5 t/ha can be applied to soil for controlling the nematode populations.
• Soil application of Bacillus subtilis (BbV 57) or Pseudomonas fluorescens @ 10 g / vine for the control of root knot nematode and quick wilt of betel vine

Disease

1.Phytophthora Wilt

Management

• Integrated method for the management of Phytophthora wilt.
• Soak the seed vines for about 30 minutes in Streptocyline 500 ppm or Bordeaux mixture 0.5 %.
• Drench Bordeaux mixture 0.25% in basins formed around the vine.
• During winter season avoid frequent irrigation.
• Remove the affected vines away from the garden and burn them.
• Application of Trichoderma viride @ 5 g/vine.

  2.Bacterial leaf spot, blight and bacterial stem rot-

  

  Management-

• Spray Streptocycline @ 400 ppm + Bordeaux mixture @ 0.25% at the time of first disease symptoms appear.
• Continue spraying at 20 days intervals. 
• Always spray the chemical after plucking the leaves.

3.Anthracnose (Theechal)

Management

• Spray 0.2 % Ziram or 0.5% Bordeaux mixture after plucking the leaves after the first appearance of the symptom.
• The variety Karpoori is susceptible to the disease.

4.Powdery mildew

• 

• Management

  Powdery mildew can be controlled by spraying 0.2% Wettable sulphur after plucking the leaves.

Harvest

• It depends upon the growth of the vines and market condition.
• Once harvesting starts, it continues almost every day.

Yield

75 to 100 lakh leaves/ha/year