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Betelvine
Botanical Name - Piper betel
Family - Piperaceae

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

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

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.

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
November – December and January – February.
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.

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

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 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.

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).

Pests
1)Scale insects
Spray NSKE 5 %
2)Mites (Sevvattai)
Spray wettable sulphur 50 WP @ 1 g/lit or dicofol 18.5 EC 0.5 ml/lit or NSKE 5%.
3)Aphids
Spray chlorpyriphos at 2 ml/lit on agathi leaves. Clip off excess agathi leaves.
4)Mealy bugs
Spray chlorpyriphos 20 EC at 2 ml/lit or dimethoate 30 EC 2ml/lit. Concentrate the spray towards the collar region.
5)Nematode
Application of Neem cake at 1 t/ha or chopped and shade dried Calotrophis leaves at 2.5 t/ha to soil, after lowering the vines. 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 .

1)Phytophthora Wilt
 Select well matured (more than 1 year old) seed vines free from pest and diseases
 Soak the seed vines for about 30 minutes in streptocyline @ 500 ppm or 0.5 % Bordeaux mixture
 Apply shade dried neem leaf or Calotrophis leaves at 2 t/ha and cover it with mud (2 t in 2 split doses) on beds
 Drench with 0.25 % Bordeaux mixture in basin formed around the vine at monthly intervals starting from October – January, three times soil drench and six times spray from June – July
 During winter season avoid frequent irrigation
 Remove the affected vines away from the garden and burn them
 Application of fosetyl-Al @ 3 g/l for four times at monthly intervals
 Application of Trichoderma asperellum 5 g/vine.


2)Bacterial leaf spot, blight and bacterial stem rot
 Spray streptocycline @ 400 ppm + 0.25% Bordeaux mixture when the first disease
symptoms appear. Continue spraying at 20 days intervals and always spray the chemical after plucking the leaves.


3)Anthracnose (theechal)
 Spray ziram @ 0.2 % or 0.5 % Bordeaux mixture after plucking the leaves after the first appearance of the symptom

Powdery mildew
 Spray wettable sulphur @ 0.2 % after plucking the leaves. 

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

75 to 100 lakh leaves/ha/year

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