Management
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Activity
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Pre- planting*
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Common cultural practices:
- Timely planting.
- Apply manures and fertilizers as per soil test recommendations
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Nutrients
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- Nutrient should be applied on the basis of soil test report and recommendation for the particular agro-climatic zone.
- Prepare land by ploughing and harrowing.
- The pits are dug in summer about a fortnight before planting and left undisturbed.
- Pits of about 1m x 1m x 1m size are dug at a distance of 4 to 5 meter in square system of planting.
- Apply lime in soil if pH is below 7.
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Weeds
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- Ploughing and leveling the field before planting to destroy existing weeds in the field.
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Planting*
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Common cultural practices:
- Use healthy and certified plants
- Grow resistant/tolerant varieties.
- Planting in rows with recommended spacing.
- Avoid growing in low-lying areas and flooding.
- Do not delay irrigation until the crop exhibits moisture stress symptoms.
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Nutrients
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- Planting is done in pits already filled with top soil and farm yard manure during the months of Oct.-Nov.
- A basket of soil taken from old apricot orchard is added to each pit to ensure mycorrhizal association with apricot roots.
- At the time of planting, manures and fertilizers are applied @ 50 Kg FYM or compost, 20 g N + 15 g P + 15 g K per plant.
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Weeds
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- Use weed free seedlings for planting.
- During the initial 2-4 years to suppress the weeds between rows, leguminous crops such as pea, bean, soybean, and cowpea and vegetables should be grown as intercrops. Remove existing weeds in and around the pits at the time of planting.
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*Apply Trichoderma viride / harzianum and Pseudomonas fluorescens for treatment of seed/seedling/planting materials in the nurseries and field application (if commercial products are used, check for label claim. However, biopesticides produced by farmers for own consumption in their fields, registration is not required).
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Vegetative stage
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Common cultural practices:
- Deep summer ploughing between rows
- Timely irrigation
- Avoid water logging
- Enhance parasitic activity by avoiding chemical spray, when 1- 2 larval parasitoids are observed
Common mechanical practices:
- Remove and destroy alternate wild hosts and weeds
- Remove and destroy the dead hearts along with larvae
- Installation of light trap @ 1/ acre
- Prune and burn all attacked shoot and branches.
Common biological practices:
- Conserve natural enemies through ecological engineering
- Augmentative release of natural enemies
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Nutrients
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- Apply fertilizers according to the age of plant @ 20 g N + 15 g P + 15 g K per plant in first year and doubling the dose each year till a stabilised dose is reached at 6th years.
- Apply manures @ 50kg per plant in Dec - January every year along with full dose of P and K.
- The fertilizers should be applied in 20-30 cm deep and 30cms wide trench along the drip line of the tree.
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Weeds
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- Intercultural operations between the rows.
- Tool weeding should be done on regular basis especially around the plants. Use slashing and moving between the rows to control the weeds.
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Defoliating beetles
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- Use of plastic-lined trenches, propane flamers and vacuums.
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Hairy caterpillar
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Cultural control:
- Irrigate once to avoid prolonged mid -season drought.
Mechanical control:
- Dig the pits of 1 inch depth between the fields & dust to kill the larvae in pits.
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Leaf curl plum aphid
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Cultural control:
- In the early stages, wash away any aphids with a sharp spray from a hose pipe
- Put on a pair of gloves and crush them between your fingers.
Chemical control:
- Spray dimethoate 30% EC@ 594-792 ml diluted in 600-800 lit of water.
Biological control:
- Conserve predators such as lacewing and ladybird beetle.
- Companion Planting - Plant yellow/orange nasturtium around the base of fruit trees to attract aphids and lure them away, or alternatively repel aphids by planting strong smelling herbs such as chives, garlic, marigold, and tansy under the trees.
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Brown apricot scale
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Biological control:
- Conserve parasites such as Coccophagus, Encyrtus, and Metaphycus spp. Parasitized nymphs are almost black and have convex covers; unparasitized nymphs are flat.
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San Jose scale
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Cultural control:
- Grow attractant plants for natural enemies: viz., sunflower family, carrot family plants, buckwheat
Mechanical control:
- See the common mechanical control
Biological control:
- Parasitoids such as Encarsia perniciosi and Aphytis diaspidis cause effective parasitization.
- Coccinellid predators such as Chilocorus infernalis, Chilocorus rubidus, Pharoscymnus flexibilis
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Tent Caterpillar
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Mechanical control:
- Egg mass covered with yellowish hair collect and destroy (between August-March).
- Put a burlap at the base of tree trunk to destroy the larvae underneath the burlap
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Leaf roller
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Cultural control:
- Delayed dormant treatments and bloom time applications helps keep leaf roller populations under control.
- Regular monitoring each season is important so that prompt action can be taken. Biological control
- Conserve parasites such as Macrocentrus, Apanteles and Exochus attack leaf roller larvae.
- Conserve predators such as lacewings, assassin bugs, and minute pirate bugs.
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Earwig
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Cultural control:
- Remove all pruning debris and loose bark around trees.
- Wrapping trunks tightly with plastic wrap
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Green capsid
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Mechanical control:
- Grow rootstock sucker, especially at the edges of orchards where the pest is removed.
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Consperse sting bug
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- See common cultural and mechanical practices
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Cow rhinoceros beetle
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Cultural control:
- Monitor parasite levels through the use of faecal egg counts to determine.
- Determine thresholds for parasites such as buffalo fly and do not treat until these levels are reached. This will target treatment times and decrease treatments.
- Regularly reassess parasite thresholds in light of changing seasonal variations.
- Genetic selection of animals resistant or resilient to parasites.
Mechanical control:
- Use “off animal” chemical attractants and baits.
- The use of traps.
- Vaccines.
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Blossom thrips
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Cultural control:
- See common cultural practices.
Biological control:
- Conserve coccinellids, anthocorids, lygaeid, predatory thrips etc. for controlling blossom thrips
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Frosty mildew
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Cultural control:
- Spraying at full bloom needs to be avoided.
- Alkathene bands cleaned at regular interval
Mechanical control:
- Prune diseased leaves and malformed panicles harbouring the pathogen to reduce primary inoculum load.
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Brown rot
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Cultural control:
- Fruiting bodies of the pathogen should be removed and destroyed
Biological control:
- Application of Trichoderma spp. and Pseudomonas fluorescence.
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Shot hole
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- Buds can be protected from shot hole during the dormant season (mid-November to mid-December) by a fungicide application before the long winter rains begin.
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Powdery mildew
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Cultural control:
- Spraying at full bloom needs to be avoided.
- Alkathene bands cleaned at regular interval
Mechanical control:
- Prune diseased leaves and malformed panicles harbouring the pathogen to reduce primary inoculum load.
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Silver canker
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- Pruning is carried out during periods of dry weather between harvest and leaf fall.
- Before pruning it is good orchard practice to clean up any dead wood which may be lying around the orchard environment.
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White root rot
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- White root rot infected plants removed and destroyed. All roots, litter and debris from infected plants must also be removed and destroyed.
- Creating a trench with a shovel around infected areas prevent water runoff from distributing the fungal pathogen to nearby plants.
- Preparing the soil before planting with soil solarisation
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Collar rot
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Cultural control:
- Pruning diseased wood, removing fruit mummies, light penetration and air circulation, and avoiding poor sites.
- Good soil drainage and more frequent but shorter irrigations reduce root and crown rot.
Biological control
- Use of biopesticides like Trichoderma spp., Pseudomonas fluorescence,
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Gummosis
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Cultural control:
- The disease transmitting ring nematodes should be controlled and maintaining healthy, vigorous trees.
- Lighter, more frequent irrigation with drip or micro sprinklers, improved tree nutrition [nitrogen], etc.) will help reduce the incidence of this disease.
- Heavy tree pruning during the dormant period should be prevented.
- Sandy soils and in some heavy soils, control has been achieved with pre-plant fumigation for ring nematodes.
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Flowering stage
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Nutrients
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- Nitrogen is applied in 2 splits, first half at 2-3 weeks before flowering and the remaining half a month later.
- The fertilizers should be applied in 20-30 cm deep and 30cms wide trench along the drip line of the tree.
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Weeds
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- Intercultural operations to check the weed growth.
- Same as in vegetative stage.
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Flat headed borer
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- Wrap or paint the tree trunk above and 1 inch below the soil line with white, water-based paint or whitewash to protect the trunk from sunburn and flat headed borer invasions.
- Prune infested wood and burn or remove it from the orchard
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Hairy caterpillar, Leaf curl plum aphid, Brown apricot scale, San jose scale and Tent caterpillar
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Same as mentioned in the above vegetative stage
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Codling moth
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Cultural control:
- Use synthetic codlemone for mating disruption at a height of 6- 8 feet or Dispensers should be deployed within 1 meter of the top of the canopy prior to spring emergence during late may to 3 rd week of July. .
Biological control:
- Conserve coccinellids, anthocorids, lygaeid, etc. for controlling codling moth.
- Release Trichogramma spp
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Peach twig borer
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Mechanical control:
- · Mating disruption is most effective in orchards with low moth populations that are not close (a mile) to other untreated peach twig borer hosts or almond orchards.
Biological control:
- Conserve natural enemies such as gray field ant, Formica aerata,
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Consperse sting bug, Cow rhinocerus beetle and Blossom Thrips
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Same as mentioned in the above vegetative stage
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Brown rot, Frosty mildew, Powdery mildew, Silver canker, White root rot, Collar rot and Bacterial Gummosis
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Same as mentioned in the above vegetative stage
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Fruiting stage
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Nutrient Management
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- For mature trees, a mixture of 40 kg farmyard manure, 500g N, 250 g P2O5 and 200 g K is recommended. The farmyard manure should be applied during December-January along with full dose of P and K. Nitrogen is applied in 2 parts, first half at 2-3 weeks before flowering and the remaining half a month later.
- The band application of nitrogenous fertilizers should be preferred over broadcasting.
- Under rainfed conditions, apply N through 1 or 2 foliar sprays of urea (0.5%) after fruit set.
- Apply recommended micronutrients, if symptoms are observed. Fruits are deformed under boron deficiency.
- To avoid boron deficiency, apply H2BO3 (0.1%) as foliar spray.
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Weed Management
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- Remove weeds around the plants.
- Use straw or black polyethylene Mulch to avoid weed growth and to maintain soil moisture for longer period.
- Mulching tree basins with 10-15 cm thick dry grass also checks weed growth.
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Flat headed borer, Hairy caterpillar, San jose scale, Tent caterpillar and Codling moth
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Same as mentioned in the above maturity stage
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Peach twig borer and Dung beetle
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Same as mentioned in the above maturity stage
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Brown rot, Frosty mildew, Powdery mildewm Silver canker, Collar rot and Bacterial Gummosis
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Same as mentioned in the above maturity stage
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Whisker rot
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Mechanical control:
- Preventing skin cuts and punctures during harvest and packing is of prime importance in controlling rhizopus rot.
- Clean containers and good housekeeping in the packing shed and storage reduce the rot.
- Store fruit at or below 39°F—the fungus does not grow at temperatures below 40°F.
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