- In winters irrigation is done at the interval of 30 days and in summers irrigation is given at the interval of 12 days.
- Drip irrigation is done as it will reduce upto 40% water.
- In initial stage i.e. during first two years, 2 drippers are laid at the spacing of 50cm from the tree and then till 5 years, 4 drippers are laid at the spacing of 1m from the tree.
Sapota
Botanical Name -Manilkhara achras
Family – Sapotaceae
- It is native to Mexico and other native countries of South America.
- It is commonly known as Chiku and it is mainly cultivated in India.
- It is mainly used for the production of latex which is used for the preparation of chewing gums.
- In India, it is mainly grown in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.
- Sapota is cultivated in 65 thousand acre of land and gives an annual production of 5.4lakhs metric tonnes.
- Its fruit is berry which contains 3-5 black shining seeds.
1) Kalipatti:
- Released in 2011.
- High yielding and good quality variety, egg shaped fruits and contains less seeds i.e. 1-4 seeds per fruit.
- It gives an average yield of 166kg / tree.
2) Cricket Ball:
- Developed in 2011.
- It is famously known as Calcutta Large, large round fruit, grainy flesh, and not much sweet.
- It gives an average yield of 157 kg /tree.
Other state varieties:
1) Chhatri
- Low quality as compared with kaali patti variety, high yielding variety.
2) Dhola Diwani
- Good quality yield having egg shaped fruits.
3) Baramasi
- In northern India, it is popular variety, round and medium shape fruit, 12 months yield giving variety.
4) Pot Sapota
- Fruiting starts in the pot, small fruit which is egg shaped and having a sharp top, fruit is very sweet and aromatic.
Calcutta Round, Pala, Vavi Valsa, Pilipatti, Murabba, Baharu, and Gandhevi are also the varieties grown in other states.
Soil –
- It is grown in variety of soil but deep alluvial, sandy loam soil and black soil having good drainage are ideal for doing sapota farming.
- pH having 6.0-8.0 is optimum for sapota farming.
- Avoid cultivation in shallow clayey soil and in high calcium content.
Climate –
- Sapota, being a tropical crop can be grown from sea level upto 1200 m. above m.s.l.
- It needs warm (10-380 C) and humid climate (70% relative humidity) for growth and can be cultivated throughout the year.
- Coastal climate is best suited for its cultivation.
Time of sowing:
- Planting is mainly done in February to March and August to October month.
- The ideal season of planting is June to December
- Grafted on Manilkhara hexandra (Pala) rootstock.
- Sapota can be propagated by approach grafting. Grafting can be done on Manilkhara hexandra (Pala) rootstock.
- For sapota farming, well prepared land is required.
- To bring the soil to fine tilth, ploughing is done 2-3 times followed by leveling.
Spacing
- 8 x 8 m (156 plants/ha) for conventional planting.
- Adopt high density planting at 8 x 4 m (312 plants / ha) for high productivity
- Planting
- Dig pits of 1 m x 1 m x 1 m size and fill up with top soil mixed with 10 Kg of FYM, 1 Kg of neem cake .
- Plant the grafts at the centre of the pit with ball of earth intact.
- The graft joint must be atleast 15 cm above the ground level.
- After planting stake the plants properly to avoid bending or damage to graft joint during heavy winds.
- Legumes and short duration vegetable crops may be raised as intercrop during pre-bearing stage.
- Raising of intercrop serve as additional income and enriches the soil fertility by fixing the atmospheric nitrogen.
- Depending upon climate and irrigation facilities, intercropping with pineapple and cocoa, tomato, brinjal, cauliflower, peas, cucurbits, banana, papaya can be done.
Pre emergence application of Stomp@800ml/acre or Diuron@800gm/acre is done for initial 10-12 months for the effective weed control.
| Age of tree (in years) | FYM (kg/tree) | UREA (gm/tree) | SSP (gm/tree) | MOP (gm/tree) |
| 1-3 years | 25 | 220-660 | 300-900 | 75-250 |
| 4-6 years | 50 | 880-1300 | 1240-1860 | 340-500 |
| 7-9 years | 75 | 1550-2000 | 2200-2800 | 600-770 |
| 10 years and above | 100 | 2200 | 3100 | 850 |
- In December to January month, application of FYM, phosphorus and potassium is done.
- Application of nitrogen is done in two equal splits, first half dose is applied in March month and the remaining half dose of nitrogen is applied in July to August month.
- Manures and fertilizers may be applied in September-October at 45 cm away from the trunk upto the leaf drip and incorporated.
1.Bud worm: Anarsia epotias
Symptoms of damage
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2.Fruit fly: Bactrocera (Dacus) dorsalis
| Symptoms of damage | |
Management
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3.Stem borer:
Symptoms of damage
Management
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4.Leaf webber : Nephopteyrx eugraphella
| Symptoms of damage | ||
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5.Hairy caterpillar: Metanastria hytaca
| Symptoms of damage |
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| Management |
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6.Striped mealy bug : Ferrisia virgata
Symptoms of damage
Management
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7.Green Scale: Coccus viridis
| Symptoms of damage | |
Management
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1) Leaf spot :
Symptoms-
- Deep purplish brown color spots which are white from the center and are round in shape are seen.
- The disease is characterized by numerous, small, pinkish to reddish brown spots with whitish centers in the leaf.
- Long spots are seen on the stem of fruits and petals.
Treatment: - Spraying of copper oxychloride@400 gm per acre is done.
- Spray Mancozeb @ 0.25% or Copper oxychloride 0.2% to control the disease
2) Heart rot :
Symptoms –
- It is a fungal disease that causes the decay of wood at the center of the trunk and branches.
Treatment : - Spraying of Carbendazim@400gm or Z-78@400gm in 150 ltr of water per acre is done.
3) Anthracnose :
Symptoms-
- On stem and branches, deep sunken wounds of canker are seen and on leaves, brown color stains are seen.
Treatment :
- Spraying of copper oxychloride or M-45@400gm per 150ltr water is done to get rid of anthracnose.
4.Sooty mould : Capnodium sp.
Symptom
- It is a fungal disease developed on honeydew-like excretion secreted by aphids and scale insects.
- The fungus slowly covers the entire leaf area severely affecting the process of photosynthesis.
- This results in reduced translocation of food to the fruits, which leads to reduction in their size.
Management
- Spray starch solution 5% to remove the fungal growth.
- Control insects by spraying systemic insecticides.
Post Harvest Diseases–
1. Soft Rot: Pestalotiopsis mangiferae
Symptoms:
- The disease appears as water-soaked spots covering the entire fruit within 3 to 4 days.
- Rotted fruits become soft and dark brown and later numerous acervuli are seen in rotted zones.
2. Fruit Rots
- Phytophthora palmivora, Pestalotiopsis versicolor, P. glandicola, P. sapotae and Botrydiplodia theobromae are the causal agents of fruit rots in sapota.
- Diseased fruits exhibited water-soaked lesions which become brown within 2 to 3 days.
- Subsequently the whole fruit is covered with tufts of mycelium.
Management
- Spray Mancozeb 0.25%.
1.Nitrogen
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| Deficiency Symptoms |
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| Correction Measure |
Foliar sprays of urea 2% were more effective treatment with 250 g N per tree from both sources increases the fruit weight and yield. |
2.Phosphorus
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| Deficiency Symptoms |
Pigmentation seen in older leaves; leaf size become small |
| Correction Measure |
Foliar spray of DAP 2% at fortnightly intervals. |
3.Potassium
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| Deficiency Symptoms |
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| Correction Measure |
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4.Calcium
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| Deficiency Symptoms |
Tip of the twig and flower bud affected; |
Correction Measure
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5.Magnesium
Deficiency Symptoms
- Leaves become lighter green which gradually turned greenish yellow, remaining deeper green along the mid rib and larger veins.
- Leaves turned yellow with scattered brown lesion on the leaf blade.
- Interveinial chlorosis on older leaves followed by necrosis of distal leaf edge.
Correction Measure
- Application of dolomite or spraying magnesium nitrate 1% can avoid the deficiency.
6.Sulphur
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| Deficiency Symptoms |
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| Correction Measure |
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7.Boron
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| Deficiency Symptoms |
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| Correction Measure |
Soil application of borax at 5 kg/ha. |
8.Copper
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| Deficiency Symptoms |
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| Correction Measure |
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9. Iron
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| Deficiency Symptoms |
yellowing of young leaves; occurence of interveinal chlorosis |
| Correction Measure |
Foliar spray of [email protected] % at fortnightly intervals |
10.Manganese
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| Deficiency Symptoms |
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| Correction Measure |
Spraying of MnSO4-0.3% at fortnightly intervals.. |
11.Zinc
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| Deficiency Symptoms |
Symptoms seen in young leaves; size of the leaf become small |
| Correction Measure |
Foliar spray of [email protected]% |
- Harvesting is done in July-September month.
- But keep in mind not to harvest unripe fruits.
- Mainly harvesting is done when fruits are having to fade orange or potato color and fruits having a less sticky milky color product and it is gets easily plucked from the tree.
- Mainly 5-10 years old tree gives 250-1000 fruits.
- After harvesting, grading is done and then storage is done at 20 C temperature for a period of 7-8 days.
- Storage life can be increased for 21-25 days by removing ethylene and adding CO2 @5-10% in the storage atmosphere.
- After storage packing is done in cardboard boxes and is used for long distance transportation.
- February – June and September – October.
- Ripen the fruits in air tight room by keeping a beaker containing 5000 ppm Ethrel + 10 g NaOH pellets in an air tight chamber (5 ml Ethrel in one lit of water is 5000 ppm).
- Alternatively, fruits can be exposed to ethylene gas at 100 – 200 ppm for 18 – 20 hrs to induce ripening.
20-25 t / ha / year.
Growing Districts: Dindigul, Coimbatore, Virudhunagar, Theni, Namakkal
Major Markets in Tamil Nadu: Dindigul, Coimbatore, Anna Fruit Market, Koyambedu,
Chennai
Preferred Varieties and hybrids: Cricket Ball, PKM 1, Kalipatti, PKM 4
Grade Specification: Based on size and shape, large, medium and small
