Unit 3: Production Technology of Sub-Tropical and Minor Fruits

HRT208 — Production Technology Of Fruit And Plantation Crops 10 min read

I. Production Framework — Principles of Orchard Management

Sub-tropical and minor fruit crops include evergreen, deciduous, climacteric and non-climacteric species adapted to environments ranging from humid tropics to hot arid regions. Successful production depends on matching crop biology with climate, soil, propagation, canopy management, nutrition, irrigation, crop regulation and post-harvest requirements.

Defining characteristics:

Site–crop matching: Temperature, rainfall, humidity and frost determine crop suitability; litchi requires a cool, dry winter, whereas date palm needs prolonged heat and low humidity during ripening.
True-to-type planting: Vegetative propagation—layering, grafting, budding, cuttings or suckers—preserves cultivar characters and promotes early bearing.
Orchard geometry: Plant population depends on spacing:

TEXT

Plants per hectare = 10,000 ÷ (row spacing × plant spacing)

Here, spacing is measured in metres and one hectare equals 10,000 m².

Canopy management: Training builds a strong framework; pruning regulates light, fruiting wood and crop load.
Integrated inputs: Farmyard manure, fertilizers, irrigation, mulching and pest management are adjusted for crop age, soil tests and expected yield.
Harvest maturity: Colour, size, firmness, sweetness, acidity and days after flowering guide harvest; delicate fruits require rapid grading, cooling and marketing.

II. Guava — Hardy, High-Vitamin Fruit Crop

Guava (Psidium guajava L.; Myrtaceae) is a hardy evergreen fruit valued for vitamin C, dietary fibre, pectin and its ability to grow under comparatively adverse soil and moisture conditions.

A. Guava

Guava production centres on vegetative propagation, crop-season regulation and management of wilt and fruit fly.

Climate and soil: A tropical–sub-tropical climate with a distinct dry period supports quality fruit; well-drained loam at about pH 5–7.5 is preferred, though guava tolerates moderate salinity and alkalinity.
Cultivars: Allahabad Safeda and Sardar/Lucknow-49 bear white flesh; Lalit and Punjab Pink have coloured flesh; Arka Mridula is suitable for fresh use and processing.
Propagation and planting: Air layering, stooling and patch budding produce true-to-type plants; common spacing is about 6 × 6 m, while closer systems require regular pruning.
Training and nutrition: Plants are trained to a single stem up to 60–75 cm and then allowed 3–4 scaffold branches; annual manures and fertilizers are increased with tree age and applied around the canopy drip line.
Crop regulation: Guava flowers on current-season growth. In north India, withholding irrigation, root exposure or blossom thinning suppresses the rainy crop and favours the higher-quality winter crop.
Harvest and protection: Fruits are picked mature-green to yellow-green; fruit fly is reduced by orchard sanitation and bait trapping, while wilt requires clean planting material, drainage and removal of affected trees.

III. Sapota — Evergreen Latex-Bearing Fruit

Sapota (Manilkara zapota; Sapotaceae), also called chikoo, is a tropical evergreen whose sweet fruits contain abundant sugars and whose tissues produce milky latex.

A. Sapota

Commercial sapota orchards require grafted plants, warm frost-free conditions and careful recognition of physiological maturity.

Climate and soil: Warm, humid conditions favour growth, but established trees withstand seasonal dryness; deep, well-drained alluvial or red loam is suitable.
Cultivars: Kalipatti produces oval, high-quality fruits; Cricket Ball bears large round fruits; CO-1, CO-2, PKM-1 and DHS-1 are regionally important.
Propagation and spacing: Softwood grafting or inarching on khirni (Manilkara hexandra) rootstock is standard; trees are commonly planted at 8–10 m spacing.
Orchard care: A strong central framework is retained and rootstock sprouts removed; irrigation is particularly important during establishment, flowering and fruit development.
Maturity and harvest: Mature fruits lose the brown scaly surface, develop a corky skin and show reduced latex when scratched; fruits are clipped because immature sapota remains hard and astringent.
Constraints: Seed borer, bud borer and leaf webber require monitoring; dense canopies and prolonged humidity encourage pest incidence and reduce spray penetration.

IV. Grape — Intensively Managed Vine Crop

Grape (Vitis vinifera L.; Vitaceae) is a deciduous woody vine cultivated for table grapes, raisins, juice and wine; productivity depends strongly on training and pruning.

A. Grape

Grape cultivation manipulates vine architecture and fruitful buds to obtain well-exposed, uniform bunches.

Climate and soil: Warm, dry weather during fruit development improves sugar accumulation and suppresses rots; deep, well-drained loam is preferred, and waterlogging is highly damaging.
Cultivars: Thompson Seedless and its selections are major seedless grapes; Anab-e-Shahi and Bangalore Blue are important regional cultivars; wine cultivars include Cabernet Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc.
Propagation and planting: Hardwood cuttings are widely used; grafting onto resistant rootstocks is preferred where salinity, nematodes or phylloxera are concerns.
Training and pruning: Head, Kniffin, cordon and bower systems are used. Bower or pergola training supports vigorous vines; pruning severity depends on where fruitful buds occur on the cane.
Crop improvement: Shoot thinning, bunch thinning and girdling regulate crop load; gibberellic acid is used in seedless cultivars for rachis elongation, berry thinning and berry enlargement at stage-specific concentrations.
Harvest and disorders: Grapes do not improve substantially in sweetness after picking, so bunches are harvested at cultivar-specific soluble solids and acidity; downy mildew, powdery mildew, anthracnose and berry cracking are major constraints.

V. Litchi — High-Value Arillate Fruit

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.; Sapindaceae) is an evergreen sub-tropical tree producing fruits with a red pericarp and edible translucent aril.

A. Litchi

Litchi requires cool winter induction, humid fruit development and protection from moisture stress during aril expansion.

Climate and soil: Cool, dry winters encourage floral initiation, while warm, humid springs aid fruit growth; hot winds and frost are harmful. Deep, acidic to neutral, well-drained loam is ideal.
Cultivars: Shahi, China, Rose Scented, Dehradun and Bedana differ in maturity, fruit size, seed size and aril percentage.
Propagation and planting: Air layering or gootee is the principal method; plants are generally spaced about 8–10 m apart and sheltered with windbreaks.
Canopy and water management: Only light pruning is needed after harvest; irrigation and organic mulches conserve moisture during fruit development, but excessive nitrogen encourages vegetative growth.
Harvest: Entire panicles are clipped when the pericarp develops characteristic pink-red colour and the aril reaches desirable sweetness; fruits lose moisture and brown rapidly after harvest.
Major problems: Fruit cracking is associated with moisture fluctuation, hot winds and nutritional imbalance; litchi mite, fruit borer and pericarp browning require integrated field and post-harvest management.

VI. Pineapple — Commercial Multiple-Fruit Crop

Pineapple (Ananas comosus; Bromeliaceae) is a herbaceous perennial in which many fruitlets fuse with the central axis to form a multiple fruit.

A. Pineapple

Uniform planting material and synchronized flowering are central to profitable pineapple production.

Climate and soil: Warm, humid, frost-free conditions are favourable; acidic, well-drained sandy loam around pH 4.5–6.5 is preferred, and waterlogging causes root and heart rots.
Cultivars: Kew and Giant Kew are processing types; Queen and Mauritius produce smaller, aromatic table fruits.
Propagation: Suckers, slips and crowns are used; uniform suckers generally crop earlier than crowns. Planting material is graded by size and cured before planting.
Planting system: Double-row planting, approximately 60 cm between paired rows, 90 cm between beds and 30 cm between plants, supports high populations and efficient field operations.
Crop management: Shallow roots require frequent light irrigation, mulching and split fertilizer application; flowering can be synchronized with recommended ethylene-releasing treatments applied to physiologically mature plants.
Harvest and protection: Shell colour and flattening of eyes indicate maturity; sunscald is reduced by covering fruits, while mealybug wilt and heart rot require clean material, drainage and vector management.

VII. Pomegranate — Drought-Adapted Arid Fruit

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.; Lythraceae) is a deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub whose edible portion consists of juicy arils surrounding the seeds.

A. Pomegranate

Commercial production depends on regulating flowering season, maintaining steady moisture and controlling bacterial blight.

Climate and soil: Hot, dry conditions improve colour and sweetness; well-drained loam is best, although the crop tolerates drought, moderate salinity and alkalinity.
Cultivars: Bhagwa is valued for red rind and arils; Ganesh has soft seeds; Arakta and Mridula are also commercially cultivated.
Propagation and planting: Hardwood cuttings or air layers are planted commonly at 4–5 m spacing; plants may be trained as a single stem or as 3–4 main stems.
Bahar treatment: Flowering is regulated into ambe bahar (January–February), mrig bahar (June–July) or hasta bahar (September–October) by withholding irrigation, light root exposure and subsequent manuring and irrigation.
Fruit quality: Regular irrigation prevents sudden changes in fruit water status; moisture fluctuation, boron or calcium imbalance and delayed harvest contribute to fruit cracking.
Protection and harvest: Bacterial blight requires disease-free plants, sanitation and avoidance of splash dispersal; fruits are harvested when full-sized with characteristic rind colour and a metallic sound when tapped.

VIII. Jackfruit — Large Multiple-Fruit Tree

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.; Moraceae) is an evergreen tree bearing the world’s largest tree-borne fruits, usually on the trunk and major branches.

A. Jackfruit

Jackfruit is a multipurpose crop used as a vegetable when immature and as a sweet fruit when ripe.

Climate and soil: Warm, humid tropical conditions are ideal; deep, fertile, well-drained soils support growth, while young plants are sensitive to drought, frost and waterlogging.
Types and cultivars: Fruits are broadly grouped into firm-fleshed varikka and soft-fleshed koozha types; Singapore, Gulabi and selected local clones are cultivated.
Propagation and planting: Softwood grafting and epicotyl grafting preserve superior clones; grafted plants are commonly spaced 8–10 m apart.
Bearing and care: Cauliflorous fruits develop on the trunk and main limbs; weak, crowded and diseased branches are removed, while young fruits may be supported to prevent stalk breakage.
Harvest and use: Flattened spines, a dull hollow sound and characteristic aroma indicate ripeness; stalk exudation is managed by oiling knives and hands because latex is sticky.
Constraints: Shoot and fruit borer, fruit rot and trunk damage are reduced through sanitation, drainage and removal of infested tissues.

IX. Date — Fruit Palm of Hot Deserts

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.; Arecaceae) is a dioecious palm adapted to extreme summer heat and arid conditions, provided irrigation is available.

A. Date

Date production requires separate male pollen sources, artificial pollination and dry weather during ripening.

Climate and soil: Prolonged hot summers favour fruit maturity; rain or high humidity at ripening causes checking and rot. Deep sandy loam with drainage is preferred, though palms tolerate salinity.
Cultivars: Barhee, Khalas, Medjool, Khuneizi and Halawy vary in colour, softness and suitability for fresh or dry consumption.
Propagation and planting: Offshoots ensure true-to-type female palms; tissue-cultured plants are also used. Spacing is commonly about 8–10 m.
Pollination: A limited number of male palms supply pollen; male strands are inserted into receptive female inflorescences, reducing the land needed for non-bearing males.
Fruit stages: Development progresses through kimri (green), khalal (full-sized and crisp), rutab (softening) and tamr (fully ripe).
Crop care: Bunch thinning and support improve fruit size and prevent breakage; bunch covering protects against rain, birds and insects, while red palm weevil demands strict sanitation and early detection.

X. Ber — Hardy Fruit of Dry Regions

Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.; Rhamnaceae) is a drought-hardy deciduous or semi-deciduous fruit tree suited to arid and semi-arid farming.

A. Ber

Ber production relies on budding superior cultivars and annual pruning because flowers arise on current-season shoots.

Climate and soil: Hot, dry climates favour production; the tree tolerates poor, alkaline and moderately saline soils but performs best in well-drained sandy loam.
Cultivars: Umran bears large late fruits; Gola is round and early; Seb, Kaithli, Banarasi Karaka and Sanaur selections serve different regions.
Propagation and planting: T- or shield budding on hardy seedling rootstocks is common; standard orchards generally use about 6–8 m spacing.
Training and pruning: Trees are trained to 4–6 well-spaced scaffold branches. Annual pruning during dormancy removes part of the previous season’s growth and stimulates new fruiting shoots.
Nutrition and irrigation: Farmyard manure and fertilizers are applied before monsoon growth; irrigation during flowering and fruit development improves yield, but excessive water encourages vegetative growth.
Harvest and protection: Fruits are harvested in several pickings when they attain cultivar-specific size and yellow-green colour; fruit fly, powdery mildew and fruit drop are managed through sanitation, balanced nutrition and timely protection.