Intercultural operation techniques

Index:

SI.NO CONTENT
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BANANA:
INTERCULTURAL OPERATION:
Weed Control:
 Weeds are a menace in any cropping system. In a crop like banana, where
the entire crop depends on the surface soil for its nutrition and water
requirements, weed of any sort will be of deleterious effect to the crop.
 The weeds compete with the main crop for nutrients and moisture. They at
times also harbour pests of banana.
 The luxurious weed growth in any banana fields will reduce the yield by way
of reduction of bunch weight, grade of bunches, etc. Hence in banana
plantations, periodical weeding is taken up to have a clean cultivation.
 Weeding is done either through a light digging of surface soil, by mulching or
by manual weeding. Presently, in commercial banana gardens, weedicides,
are also used extensively to control the weeds.
 One Dalapon and Eleven Paraquat sprays controlled weed effectively in
banana plot.
 Pre-emergence application of Diuron at 4kg a.i/ha was effective in checking
both mono-cot and dicot weed growth. Diuron treatment did not reduce
banana quality.
 Among the post-emergence sprays, the combination of Diuron and
Gramaxone at 4 kg/ha and 1.5 l/ha gave good control of weed population.
Desuckering:

 Bananas are vegetatively propagated through the suckers, which are

produced from the auxiliary buds of the underground rhizome, once the
plant crop attains maturation.

 The suckers produced by different varieties vary in number. The time of

sucker production by parent plant is that more than half the number of total
suckers produced by a plant is produced since flowering of the mother plant.

 Some suckers are produced three or four months before flowering also. In a
pure crop of banana, where single crop is only taken, usually all the suckers,
which arise before flowering are removed as it will compete with mother
plant for nutrients resulting in reduction of bunch size.

 Hence suckers which are produced by the plant in excess, or out of place are
removed periodically to ensure better growth and bunch development of
mother plant.

 This is an important operation in growing of bananas. In perennial system of

banana culture, the 'setting of followers' at proper time will ensure good
ratoon crop to the banana growers.

 In Tamil Nadu, it is a practice to pour kerosene into cavity left after digging
the suckers. In case of hill bananas, unwanted suckers are removed after
heading off and killing them by pouring kerosene (5-10 ml per sucker) over
the cut surface of the sucker.

 While using kerosene, it should be avoided to treat suckers, which arise on

the corm above ground level and have no root system. These suckers are
entirely dependent on the parent plant and the kerosene may move back
into the sap stream and injure it.

 The best method of handling these suckers is to cut off level with the parent
corm.

 Desuckering of bananas by using chemicals like, 2, 4-D is also found to be in

use. A pruning paste consisting of a mixture of 2, 4-D, fuel oil and grease may
also be applied for desuckering.
Setting of followers for ratooning

Removal of all suckers upto flowering of the plant and maintaining only
one follower afterwards is the best desuckering practice.
Ordinarily daughter sucker commences to appear from the base of the
plants from about the third month of planting, but in suckers carelessly
removed as to include large slices of rhizomes, some buds may shoot up to form
new suckers even earlier than above period.
Removal of male bud

i. The part of the inflorescence which consists of male flowers only, is

invariably termed in different parts of the world as male bud, heart, or Navel.
This has apparently no comprehensible function or value in the normal
bunch formation or development.
ii. Therefore, the male bud is more often pruned off in many places, where
intensive and efficient cultivation is practiced, obviously with the belief that
the removal of unwanted growth may favour better bunch development.
iii. In one of the commercial variety Karpura Chakkrakeli Male bud was removed
(12-15 days after shooting) soon after the completion of bunch formation,
leaving a 5cm length of a barren axis. It was found that pruning the male bud
had resulted in some increase in both the length and circumference of the
fruit.
iv. In respect of mean duration from shooting to maturity, there was reduction
of light days in the pruned plants.
v. In the case of yield also, there was a significant increase of 0.9kg in the mean
bunch weight of pruned plants which worked out to 7.5 per cent increase in
 yield.
vi. Other advantages in pruning the male bud include extra monetary returns by
sale of male buds which are used as vegetable.
vii. It was observed that the banana thrips which attack the fruit and cause
unsightly brown freckling on the fruit, live and breed in the male buds in
large numbers.
viii. When the bunches are nucleus foci for further infection. The removal of
the male buds obviously results in less damage from this pest.
ix. In Dwarf Cavendish whenever the male bud was allowed to grow, it delayed
the harvest by 18 days.
x. The bunches in which male bud was removed, were heavier by three
kilograms over the unremoved plants

Propping of Banana plants

One of the important problems facing banana growers is the lodging of

plants with mature or immature bunches during heavy winds and cyclones. The
plants are uprooted or broken at the middle resulting in heavy losses to the
growers.
To overcome this problem, the plants have to be propped with bamboos
or caesarian poles. Single props are given. The top of the prop is placed against
the throat of the plant, under the curvature of the bunch stem.
It is important that the prop itself is clear of the bunch to prevent fruit
injury. Double props consist of two poles of equal length and tied together. The
legs are spread to form a V at the top, in which the bunch stem is held.
Trimming of leaves and care of Banana bunches

 Leaf trimming is an important operation for controlling certain leaf diseases

and for promoting light penetration.

 Trimming is the removal of the dead leaves that hang down the sides of the
pseudostem. It is very important that only the dead and diseased leaves are
cut and removed and not the still green leaves that often hang down the side
of the pseudostem.

 By removing those green leaves, the photosynthetic area is reduced and the
final bunch size is affected.

 Leaf removal may be done throughout the growing season. By keeping the
plantation clean, more light and heat are available for promoting plant
growth.

 Further advantages of removing dead and dried leaves are that the potential
dangers of fruit injury and disease infection are reduced.
Bunch Covering
Bagging is a cultural technique used by planters in the French West Indies,
Latin America, Africa, Australia, etc., particularly, where export bananas are
grown.
The main purposes are the protection of bunches against cold, sun
scorching, against attack of thrips and scarring beetle.

It also improves certain visual qualities of the fruits. Bunch covering

with dry leaves is a common practice in India, which, however, may be a source
of inoculum for post harvest diseases.

Earthing up

Earthing up should be done during the rainy season to provide
drainage, and to avoid water logging at the base. During summer and
winter, the plants should be in furrow and on ridges during rainy
season.
SUGAECANE:
Weeding:

Two to five handweedings are given at 20 days interval depending upon

the intensity of weeds in case of short furrow and serpentine furrow method.
One pre emergence spraying of weedicides like Atrazin or 2, 4-D @ 5 kg./ha. in
1025 liters of water may be give to kill broad leaved weeds.

Hoeing:

Two tine hoes are worked in the furrows to stir the soil and to remove
weeds in long furrow and contour furrow layout. Such 3 to 4 hoeings are given
at one month interval.

Tagarni:

Tagarni, a partial hilling up of soil against crop rows is done when the cane crop
starts rapid growth at the age of 3 – 4 months. It is done twice at an interval of
one month for loosening the soil and pruning nonfunctional roots.

Earthing Up:
Breaking or ridges and converting them into furrows and furrows into ridges are
called as earthing up in sugarcane. This operation is done when the crop is 5 to
5.5 months old and 2 to 3 inter-nodes are visible. It is done to support the plants
with soil and avoid the direct contact of water of plants.

Detrashing:

Removal of some of the older leaves from cane crop is known as detrashing it is
done to avoid attack of insect pests. Detrashed leaves are used for cattle
feeding or mulching.

Propping or Tieing of Cane Plants:

The tieing of cane plants to prevent lodging is known as propping. Some

canes of two adjacent rows are brought together and tied by sugarcane leaves
rope. It also helps in applying irrigation in a better way.
APPLE:
INTERCULTURAL OPERATION:
Weed Control
The young apple is very vulnerable to competition for nutrient from
the weeds. Weeding should be done at regular intervals during the initial years.
Apart from hand weeding use of herbicides to eliminate weeds both in the
nursery as well as in the field is recommended.

In the nursery, the weeds are controlled by pre-emergence application

of Nitrofen (0.5-1 kg a.i./ha) or Simazine (0.2-4 kg a.i./ha). In the field, pre- and
post-emergence application of Atrazine (2-6 kg a.i./ha) or Terbacil (1-3 kg
a.i./ha) effectively controls the weed population. Mulching followed by
herbicide application is the most effective method of controlling the weed
population. The best time of application of these herbicides is early in the
spring.
Mulching
Mulching with straw, hay, sawdust, oak leaves or other organic matter
increases the humus content of the soil and its moisture holding capacity.
Various plastic and polythene mulches are also used.

Black alkathene mulch in cooler climatic conditions is very effective in

weed control and moisture conservation. It also helps in reducing fruit drop and
improve fruit size, colour and quality.
Training
The objective of training is to admit maximum sunlight and air upto the centre
of the tree and to have maximum exposure of foliage to sunlight. It is also done
with the view to direct the growth of the plants in such a way that cultural
operations are possible with maximum efficiency and at a lower cost. The
various methods of training adopted in apples are as follows
Pruning
Pruning is one of the most important practice which promotes plant vigour and
productivity. Pruning is done with a view to divert the sap flow towards the
fruiting branches and to force the plants to bear more fruits or to induce
vigorous vegetative growth. During pruning, weak-growing and diseased
branches are removed from the tree. Usually the trees are pruned every year in
the month of December-January.The systems of pruning adopted in apple
cultivation are as follows

Established Spur System :

Objective of this pruning is to develop permanent fruit spurs for production of
fruits. To ensure formation of spurs on the laterals the central leader is cut back
every year along with the strong erect laterals near the central leader. This leads
to wide angled vigorous laterals for formation of spurs.
Regulated System :
Regulated pruning is practiced generally on apple cultivars growing on semi-
dwarfing and vigorous root-stocks. Before planting, the central leader of the
tree is cut back at 75 cm on which three well placed primary branches are
allowed to grow. In bearing trees, the growth of leader and strong laterals
are encouraged by pruning weak and crowded branches.
Renewal System :
In vigorous cultivars instead of developing permanent spurs, the objective is to
encourage continuous growth of new healthy shoots, spurs and branches every
year. A part of the tree is pruned every year to produce fruits in the following
year on the new shoot growth, while the unpruned parts produces fruit
buds.
Thinning of Fruits
Thinning is one of the major techniques employed to regulate fruit
quality. In apples, heavy bearing not only results in small-sized poor quality
fruits but also sets in alternate bearing cycle. Judicious thinning done at the
proper stage of fruit development can regulate cropping and improve fruit size
and quality.
Since manual thinning is cumbersome and expensive, chemical thinning is
employed. The chemicals used in thinning along with their concentration and
stage of application are as follows

Chemical thinners should not be applied in very hot and dry conditions as
it adversely affects the absorption. Spraying should be done thoroughly to cover
the entire canopy. Sometimes chemical thinning follow calcium deficiency
therefore adequate calcium nutrition should be supplemented after
thinning.