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Senna (Cassia angustifolia Vahl.); Leguminosae

KKM – 1, ALFT-2 and Sona

In Tamil Nadu, it is grown in sandy or sandy loam or lateritic soils. It is a hardy warm weather crop grown under rainfed and irrigated conditions.
15 – 20 kg/ha. The seeds are scarified with sand or can be soaked overnight in water and sown in beds at a spacing 45 x 30 cm.

February – March and June – July.

Basal
Apply FYM 10 – 15 t/ha and N, P and K at 40, 40 and 40 kg/ha respectively.
Top dressing
Apply 25 kg N in two splits at 40 and 80 days after sowing.

One or two weedings.

The first harvest of leaves and pods are done 2 months after sowing and subsequent harvests at 30 days interval. Leaves and pods are dried for 7 – 10 days.

Irrigated
Dried leaves: 2 t/ha.
Dried pod: 150 – 200 kg/ha.
Rainfed
Dried leaves: 1 t/ha.
Dried pods: 75 – 100 kg/ha

Seeds attain physiological maturity at 40 days after anthesis, associated with colour change of pods from green to brown. Seeds can be processed by using 8/64″ round perforated metal sieves. Hard seediness can be effectively overcome by acid scarification with commercial sulphuric acid @ 100 ml/kg of seed for 10 minutes.

Pest
Pod borer (Etiella zinckenella)
Spray neem seed kernel extract 5 %
Aphids
Spray neem oil 3%

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