PAU EXPERTS SPELL OUT HORTICULTURAL OPERATIONS FOR JULY

LUDHIANA, JUNE 24:-----



The month of July is the right time for planning and procurement of plant material for planting evergreen fruit orchards of citrus, mango, litchi, guava, loquat, ber and papaya, emphasized Dr P.S. Aulakh, Professor and Head, Department of Horticulture, PAU. Advising the farmers to utilize the beneficial tips for successful horticultural operations, the expert said that it is the most suitable time for the transplanting of papaya seedlings in the fields.



The vacant land may be put under kharif pulses like moong, mash, moth or jantar, etc. for green manuring. To improve fruit size and increase yield in kinnow mandarin, give foliar sprays of potassium nitrate @ 1.0%, said Dr Aulakh, while cautioning that pear fruit should be carefully picked so that the spurs are not damaged / broken. The fully developed hard ripe mangoes should be picked for artificial ripening and the full grown ber plants should be given 500 g urea tree during this month. The second coat of white wash should be given to check the adverse effect of heat on the exposed tree trunk.



For the control of mealy bugs in citrus and grapes, monitor regularly the infestation of tress by observing the underside of leaves, young shoots, fruits and branches, suggested the expert to the farmers. Asking the farming community to maintain the orchards neat and clean and do not allow the branches of the trees to touch the ground, Dr Aulakh advised them to prune or remove the infested branches and destroy the same. Destroy the ant nests in the orchards and drench spraying of insecticides like 1875 ml Durmet / Dursban / Coroban 20 EC (chlorpyriphos) in 500 litres of water first on the appearance of the pest and repeat the spray if required after 15 days, added he.



Dr Gurbakhsh Singh Kahlon, PAU horticulturist, said that to control pathological fruit drop and rot in citrus, give four sprays of Bavistin (500 g/500 litres of water) or Aurofungin (20 g/500 litres of water) at 15 days interval starting in the month of July. The farm varsity scientist told to control insect-pests of citrus like white fly, citrus psylla and leaf miner by spraying 200 ml Imidacloprid 200 SL or 1250ml Rogar 30 EC or 1250 ml Hostathion 40 EC in 500 litres of water. This solution will be sufficient for one acre of a full grown orchard.



In citrus, to check withertip or dieback, scab and stem-end fruit rot, canker diseases, Bordeaux mixture (2:2:250) or 50 per cent Copper Oxychloride (0.3%) should be sprayed at 15 days interval, advised Dr Kahlon. For the control of gummosis in citrus trunk, paint trees with 2 g Ridomil MZ in 100 ml of linseed oil on the infected portion and apply 25 g of Ridomil MZ as soil drench in 10 litres of water per infected tree.



In grapes, spray the vines with Bavistin @ 400g in 400 litres of water per acre to control anthracnose, which is an economically important diseases in the rainy season. The PAU experts suggested the farmers to check chaffer and defoliating beetles in almond, peach, plum, ber, grapes and pear by spraying Sevin Hexvin 50 WP @ 1 kg in 500 litres of water, in the evening hours. If need be, this spray should be repeated after 7-10 days.
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