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nafex - [NAFEX] Fw: [ISAPindia] FEATURE: Custard apple -- promising crop for tropics

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  • From: "Dr. Chiranjit Parmar" <parmarch@vsnl.com>
  • To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Fw: [ISAPindia] FEATURE: Custard apple -- promising crop for tropics
  • Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 16:58:01 +0530



Custard apple -- promising crop for tropics
>
By Our Agriculture Correspondent
>
> CUSTARD APPLE (Annona squamosa - Sitapazham in Tamil and Sitaphal in
> Hindi), the woody, semi-deciduous tree, which grows unattended in several
> southern Indian states, is a promising tree of commercial importance.
>
> Several exclusive orchards with high yielding and choice varieties
> selected from Balanagar near Hyderabad have sprung up in Andhra Pradesh
> and Maharshtra in recent times.
>
> The hardy fruit tree thrives naturally in rocky terrain with shallow,
> gravelly, well-drained soils. However, they do extremely well in arable,
> red, sandy shallow soils slightly acidic in nature. Heavy soils and
> waterlogged fields are not suitable for its cuiltivation. It does well in
> calcareous soils with as high as 50 per cent lime content.
>
> Being a cross-pollinated crop, custard apple has wide variations in forms
> and sizes of fruit as well as colour of the pulp.
>
> Depending on the external fruit colour, it is distinguished into green,
> red and yellow. But green ones are the most common and popular varieties
> that head to the market. The popular varieties of green custard apple are
> Balanagar, Barbados seedling, British Guinea, Kakarlapahad, Local
> Sitaphal, Mahaboobnagar, Saharanpur Local and Washington.
>
> Traditionally propagated by seeds, this fruit tree can be multiplied
> vegetatively by grafting.
>
> Well-conditioned plants of about 30 cm height can be used for planting in
> the main fields. Pits of 60 cm by 60 cm are ideal for planting the young
> seedlings or grafts.
>
> A spacing of about 5 m by 5 m is ideal for commercial orchards. About 400
> plants can be accomodated in a hectare. The pits are filled with ripe
> organic manure, vermi-compost, powdered rock phosphate, powdered neem cake
> and a host of beneficial microbial bio-fertilizers to get the best
> establishment, growth and yield from the plants.
>
> Watering is done in the initial phase of establihsment, and being a
> drought-tolerant crop, it can remain green and healthy even during
> protracted dry spells.
>
> The crop is free of most pests and diseases. The only pest that attacks
> this crop is mealy bug, and it can be controlled by the inundative release
> of natural enemies or by spraying with suitable botanical insecticides.
>
> Custard apple starts bearing fruits from the fourth year of planting, and
> yield declines gradually after the fifteenth year. It yields fruit during
> August to October season in south India and during September to November
> in the northern parts of the country.
>
> On maturity, the fruits turn light green in colour. The inter-areolar
> space widens, and the fruits turn creamy white.
>
> The fruits are harvested manually when they are fully mature and still
> firm. About 5 to 6 pickings will be needed to harvest all fruits during
> the season. On an average, a well nurtured, seven-year-old tree will
> produce about 100 to 150 fruits, and a total yield of about seven tonnes
> can be harvested from a hectare.
>
> The fruit ripens in about three days after plucking. The medium sized
> fruits of 250 g to 300 g with sweet pulp and pleasant aroma will have
> about 60 to 80 seeds each. The seeds are of insecticidal value.
>
> The oil extracted from the custard apple seeds are used as potent
> insecticide along with need formulations. The immature custard apple
> fruits are used as fish baits by the local people in Karnataka and in
> tribal regions.
>
> The leaf extract is used to repel honeybees by the tribals while
> extracting honey from the beehives. (ENDS)
> --
> _____ _ _ _
> | ___| __ ___ __| | ___ _ __(_) ___| | __ Freelance Journo, Goa India
> | |_ | '__/ _ \/ _` |/ _ \ '__| |/ __| |/ / http://linuxinindia.pitas.com
> | _|| | | __/ (_| | __/ | | | (__| < http://www.bytesforall.org
> |_| |_| \___|\__,_|\___|_| |_|\___|_|\_\
http://opennews.indianissues.org
> --
> Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783
> Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference
>
>
>
>
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>
>



  • [NAFEX] Fw: [ISAPindia] FEATURE: Custard apple -- promising crop for tropics, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar, 02/17/2003

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