recipes (Page 2)

Production Process Flow

Site And Soil:

Strawberry requires a well-drained medium loam soil, rich in organic matter. The soil should be slightly acidic with pH from 5.8-6.5. At higher pH root formation is poor. The presence of excessive calcium in the soil causes yellowing of the leaves. Strawberry should not be cultivated in the same land for a number of years. It is preferable to plant it in green manure field. Alkaline soils and soils infected with nematodes should be avoided. It is generally cultivated on ridges or raised beds where the addition of organic matter will not only improve the soil but aid drainage.

Ploughing:

The first step for Strawberry cultivation is ploughing. The primary purpose of ploughing is to turn over the upper layer of the soil, bringing fresh nutrients to the surface, while burying weeds and the remains of previous crops and allowing them to break down.

Ridge Preparation:

Strawberries can be cultivated on raised beds of 10-12 inch high in the center after firming down and 24 inch wide should be constructed. The ridge should have an even curve and the soil broken down to a fine tilth which have the following advantages over conventional growing:

• Reduced risk of water-logging and soil-borne diseases.
• Increase in the available rooting depth on shallow soils.
• Early production of crops as warmth penetrates at a higher rate.

These Advantages In Turn Lead To Higher Yields.

Runners Bed Preparation:

In next step runners bed is prepared. The soil of a runners’ bed needs to be loose and smoothed, without large lumps, so that runners can be planted easily. Large lumps and uneven surface area would tend to make the planting depth random.

Soil Fertilizing:

Fertilizers are fertigated or spread in, as the next step. Plants need to be fertilized because in most cases, the soil does not provide the essential nutrients required for optimum growth.

Runners Transplanting:

The distance between the rows should be 20-24 inches and the distance between the plants should be 4-6 inches.

Weed Control:

Weeds are plants that grow where they are not wanted. Vigilant weeding measures keeps weeds from robbing valuable nutrients from the soil and competing with desired flowers, vegetables, herbs and shrubs. Weeds can also shelter harmful insects and diseases. Weeds can be effectively controlled by using mulch as well as through the use of weedicides like paraquat or pedimentharine.

Grading And Packing:

Strawberries are then sorted into grades according to their quality and packed accordingly. They should only be packed into shallow containers because in deeper containers lower tiers of fruit will be bruised by the weight of upper tier fruit pressing down on them.

Transportation:

Strawberries are highly perishable goods and a great deal of care in handling and marketing is required. Usually the fruit is packaged in the early morning and sent to the market in the afternoon of the same day or is picked in the late afternoon, stored overnight in a cool place, and sent to the market the following morning.

Critical Factors

The Main Critical Factors That Would Determine The Degree Of Success Of The Crop Are As Follows:

• Fertile land and its maintenance during the period of cultivation.
• Special attention towards plant health and healthy runners, land preparation, sowing pattern, water management, fertilizer application and marketing is required.
• Timely control of pests, diseases and implementation of all recommended agronomics measures.
• Appropriate post-harvest arrangement for washing, grading, packing and transportation of product to the market.
• Use of high quality hybrid seeds.
• Proper soil analysis for determining the level of nutrients in the soil.
• Farming should be done on scientific grounds, taking care of input requirements and optimal resource utilization.

Nursery Development

Nurseries are raised on well-prepared, metre wide and three meter long strip. Before broadcasting the seeds, straws or farm yard manure is burned on the strips after which seeds are broadcast and pressed in the soil and covered with a thin layer of soil. These are then covered with layers of straws supported by wooden sticks with water application in the morning and evening till the seeds germinate. After germination straw is removed and water is applied after every 4-5 days. Within six weeks seedlings become ready for transplanting.

Soil Conditions

Chilies are grown on soils with light sands to well drained clay. Silty and clay loam soils are better, while water-logged and alkali is not suitable. Soils selected are prepared thoroughly for getting good yields. As roots of chillies go one foot deep, therefore, deep ploughing is necessary. Two ploughing with mould board plow followed by global plow are done, levelling the soil for even distribution of water and fertilizer. About 30-40 cart loads of well rotten farm yard manure per acre are added one month before transplanting the chilies.

Land Preparation

Proper land preparation is very important to ensure a uniform stand and higher chili yield which can be achieved following below mentioned practices. Deep-turn soil at least three to four weeks prior to planting, using a moldboard plough. The soil should be ploughed to depth of 15 to 20 cm and one or two planking are sufficient to get good tilth and leveled seedbed. Land must be leveled in order to irrigate the plants properly. Although chili has limited root system but is very responsive to manures and commercial fertilizers.

Transplanting Of Seedlings

After land preparation, ridges of one and half foot high and wide are prepared. Transplanting is done on both sides of the ridges and distance between each plant is maintained at one and a half foot. Care is taken to avoid plants on both sides of ridges to face each other as this leads to dense plant population causing hindrances in weeding, harvesting, spraying etc. Transplanting is preferable done in the evening, because in the morning seedlings cannot withstand noon temperatures. After transplantation two rounds of watering are applied so that plants develop roots. Subsequent irrigation is applied as per climatic conditions.

Duration Of Crop

Total duration of chili crop is 150-180 days. And seed germinate within 4-7 days.

Varieties Of Chilli

Fertilizers

Recommended fertilizer dose for chilies is one bag of DAP and one of potassium sulphate before sowing, and two to three bags of urea, one bag is applied after 20 days of transplanting and the second at flowering stage, and third, if necessary, at fruit setting.

Irrigations

After transplantation two rounds of watering are applied so that plants develop roots. Subsequent irrigation is applied as per climatic conditions.

Harvesting

Green chillies are picked early in the morning or in the evening. These are protected from the sun to avoid quality deterioration. Ripe fruits are harvested at frequent intervals. Retaining fruits for a long period on the plant causes wrinkles and colour fading. Soon after the harvest, the produce is heaped or kept in clean gunnies for one day for uniform colour development of pods. Sun-drying is necessary to ensure complete dryness. Levelled and compacted floor is made for drying. From the fifth day onwards, the produce is inverted on alternate days so that pods in the lower layers are brought up to ensure quick and uniform drying. To avoid microbial activity and aflatoxin production, the moisture in dried pods need to be brought down to 10 per cent.

Post-Harvest Practices

Since the produce is exposed to sun for 10-15 days in open yards, it is likely to get contaminated with foreign matter. This also results in poor colour for the product due to the bleaching effect of sun-rays. The produce can be dried within a period of 18 hours by using air drier for maintaining the temperature at 44-46°C. The method not only saves time of drying operation but also imparts deep red colour and glossy texture to the produce. Solar drier and tray drier can be used. While drying, the produce is covered with polythene sheets during night to avoid dew deposition and colour fading. Grading is done to remove defective and discoloured pods. Packing is done in gunny bags, or jute boras.

Pest Of Chili And Their Control

Fruit borer:

Caterpillars eat leaves of crop afterward they enter into fruit and cause heavy loss in yield management. Collect and destroy damaged fruits and grown up caterpillars. Set up pheromone traps for Helicoverpa armigera or Spodoptera litura at 5 Nos./acre. To control pod borers apply poison bait balls made up of bran-5 kg, Carbaryl-500 gm, Jaggery-500 gm and sufficient amount of water. If infestation of fruit borers is observed, spray Chlorpyrifos + Cypermethrin (Nurel-D/Amla) @30 ml+Teepol@0.5 ml in 12 Ltr of water with power sprayer. Spray with Emamectin benzoate 5% SG @4 gm/10 Ltr of water or Flubendiamide 20 WDG@6 gm/10 litre of water.

Fruit borer:

These are widely distributed pests observed throughout the world. It attacks several crops like potato, chili, beans, cotton, tobacco, cucurbit, castor, jute, coffee, lemon, citrus, blackgram, cowpea, pepper, tomato, sweet potato, mango, papaya, brinjal, guava. Nymphs and adults feed exclusively on the lower surface of the leaves. Infected leaves give cup shape appearance. Heavy infestation results in defoliation, bud shedding and drying of leaves.

If infestation of yellow mite & thrips is observed in field, spray of Chlorfenapyr@1.5ml/Ltr, Abamectin@1.5ml/Ltr are found effective. Mite is a serious pest and it may cause yield loss up to 80%. For effective control spray Spiromesifen 22.9SC@200ml/acre/180Ltr of water.

Aphid:

They attack mostly in winter month and later stage of crop. They suck sap from the leaf. They excrete honey like substance and develop sooty mold i.e blackish colour fungus on the calyx and pods thus deteriorate quality of product. Aphids also work as important insect vectors for chilli mosaic. Mosaic disease transmitted by aphids cause 20-30 percent loss in yield. To control, take spray of Acephate 75SP@5gm/Ltr or Methyl demeton 25EC@2ml/Ltr of water. Soil application of granular insecticides viz Carbofuran, Phorate@4-8kg/acre on 15 and 60 days after transplanting were also effective.