SEED SPICES
8. Flowering and pollination : Vanilla u p
10.0 cm of the vine, 6-8 months before the flowering season encourages flower production. Similarly, pruning off the older branches (which bore fruits the previous year) also encourages flower production. The flowers are borne in axillary racemes and ach inflorescence consists of 15-20 flowers. The flowers are to be artificially pollinated (hand pollination) for fruit set. Since the flowers last only for a day pollination must be
flowers a day.
m rot or root rot diseases. Generally, fungal diseases are wide spread in closely planted gardens having thick shade, intensive management with manures, frequent irrigation and where no phytosanitory measures are adopted.
1 Stem rot: Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. vanillae: Spray 0.2 % Mancozeb + Carbendazim 2 Stem blight: Phytophthora sp: Spray 1 % Bordeaux mixture or 0.4 % Potassium Phosphonate
3 Root rot: Fusarium batatis Wollen var. vanillae : Soil drenching with 0.2 % Carbendazim or 0.2 % Copper oxychloride. Bio control with Trichoderma viride and Pseudomonas fluorescens are successful.
4 Bean rot : Phytophthora meadii: Spray 1 % Bordeaux mixture or 0.2 % Copper oxychloride
iral diseases: Occurrence of viral diseases is common in several countires where
) Use of virus – free planting material e
done on the same day. The remaining flower buds are nipped off. About 10-12 inflorescences may be pollinated in a vine. In hand pollination method, a pin or needle or small piece of pointed wood or a tooth pick is ideal to apply pollen on the stigma of the flower. The pollen of the vanilla flower is produced in a mass called pollinia, and is covered by hood or anther cap. The stigma is protected with a lip known as ‘rosetellum’
or ‘labellum’. For pollination, the stamen cap is removed by a needle and exposing the pollinia. Then the flap like rostellum is pushed up and the pollinia are brought into contact with the stigma. The ideal time for pollination is 6 amm to 1 pm. An efficient worker can pollinate 100-150
Plant protection
Fungal diseases: A number of pathogenic fungi cause diseases in vanilla, some of which result in total death of vines. The pathogens affect almost all the plant parts like roots, stem, leaves and beans and occasionally inflorescence also. Fungal infections often lead to rotting of affected plant parts or wilting of the entire vine as in the case of ste
V
vanilla is grown on a commercial scale. The crop affected by six viruses. Management measures suggested are
a
b) Regular inspection and removal of infected plants c) Control of insect vectors like aphids
Pests : Among the insect pests that damage vanilla, a hemipteran bug, a lepidopteran caterpillar and a coleopteran weevil cause considerable damage. They cause shoot tip rot.
pary of Monocrotophos at 0.1 % a.i. controls the nymphs.
. At this time, the pods ay be 12-25 cm long. It is essential to harvest the pods at the right stage, as immature ods produce an inferior product and over mature pods split during curing. The right picking stage is when the distal en s yellow and fine yellow streaks appear on the pods. Daily picking of mature pods is essential. The pods can be harvested
th a knife. A good vanillery yields 300-600 kg of cured beans per hectare
al know how, hardly 20 per cent farmers process their produce before sale. Majority farmers do not go for processing just because they are afraid that they may loose the quality because of improper curing i.e. the farmer doesn’t have the fool-proof technology for processing, which involves the following five stages:
1. Washing (1st. day): The harvested beans are washed to remove remains of Bordeaux mixture, chemical spray and other unwanted adhering material. Generally women labours are engaged in this operation.
2. Killing (1st. day): In this process, 8-10 kgs of beans in a jute bag, dipped in hot water at 63-65° c for three minutes. In order to carry out this process materials required are 10 jute bags, one container to boil the water and a thermome r. Both men and women labours were employed to carryout this operation.
. Sweating (1st. day): In this third process of sweating, three-four kgs of killed beans o a dark blankets and the blankets are arranged in to wooden box. Around
. Slow drying:(12th day): In this process sweated beans are spread on the stand made wooden/iron under shade, to allow for complete drying, this processs lasts for two S
Harvest and Post Harvest Technology
The beans or pods are ready for harvest 6-9 months after flowering. The beans can be considerd as mature when they change from green to pale yellow
m p
d of the pod turn by cutting wi
per year. About 6 kg of green pods produce 1 kg of cured beans. The yield of vines declines after 12 –14 years.
Processing technology Due to lack of technic
te
3
will be put in t
15-16 blankets folded with killed beans will be put in to each wooden box for sweating.
For around 8-10 days continuously they will take the beans out and spread under sunlight for about two hours a day. Required, materials for this process are 25 dark blankets, 6 wooden boxes and 18 women labour.
4 out of
months. Materials required for this process are one stand of either wood or iron.
5. Grading and Packing (73rdDay): Last stage in on-farm processing (curing) of beans is grading and packing. In this stage dried beans are segregated based on the grade: First grade having length more than six inches, Second grade having length between 4-6 inches and third grade below four inches. Then the beans are packed grade wise
separately in a self stickable polythene covers. Materials required are 20 polythene self- stickable covers, and two women laborers.
me ‘Rosemary’(Rusmary) has its origin from Latin word ‘Rosmarinus’ (Ros arinus meaning ‘from the sea’). Rosemary, botanically known as Cropping system
Vanilla is vine it requires support for its growth. Generally, shrubs are prepered for live support. It is very candidate for agroforestry of tropical humid regions. It can be intercropped in the interspaces of coconut or arecanut plantation.
ROSEMARY
Intoduction The na
means ‘dew’ and m
Rosmarinus officinalis L. of the family Lamiaceae; Labiatae, is a native of the Mediterranean regions of Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa. It is an evergreen, perennial dicot shrub.
Composition
The leaves and flowering tops, on steam-distillation, yield the essential oil. The oil has 1, 8 cineole (20-50%), borneol (20%), camphor, linalool, α-pinene, camphene, β-pinene, sabinene, myrcene, α-phellandrene, α-terpinene, limonene, α-terpinene, p-cymene,
ujone, copaene, terpinen-4-ol, caryophyllene, methyl chavicol, α-terpineol, vacrol.
ther food terpinolene, th
thymol and car Uses
The oil is valued for its use in culinary, medicine, perfumery and cosmetic industries. It is an excellent fixative material and the oil also contributes a strong fresh odour, which blends well with various other oil odours and also serves to mask the unpleasant smell of certain other ingredients in any preparation. Rosemary oil is known to have antimicrobial activity against certain gram-positive and gram-negative organisms. It is also used in formulations of compounded oils for flavouring meat, sauces, condiments and o
products. The leaves are used in cooking. A distilled water is obtained from the flowers which is used as a smoothing eye-wash.
Area and Production
Rosemary is grown in Spain, Italy, France, Algeria, Morocco and Portugal for its essential oil. Spain has traditionally been the largest supplier of the oil, but it appears to be rapidly losing ground to Tunisia. The annual world production of the oil has been creasing gradually over the years and now 200-300 t of oil is being produced annually, egligible quality produced in India. In India, Rosemary is cultivated to a
d into numerous long, slender branches bearing any sessile, opposite leaves which are smooth and green, woody, whitish and glandular
val lobe, the lower one with two segmented triangular lobes. The corolla is also two-lipped with two violet stamens and a long style projecting from it. The fruit is an oval, four-sectioned cremocarp.
Climate and Soil
Rosemary prefers a Mediterranean type of climate with low humidity, warm winters and mild summers for its successful growth. However, any place where frost occurs
requently should be avoided as the plant is succeptible to it. The climate of the t and is found growing n rocky terrains in the temperate parts of the world. In India, the plant comes up well on
rtial shade at a depth of about 6 to 10 cm. Thereafter, regular watering and eeding is provided to the nursery for about a month. After about 6-8 weeks, the he main filed. They can also be raised in small in
against the n
limited extent in the Nilgiris in South India and Himalayas. Its cultivation in the plains is of recent origin and now it is being cultivated in and around Bangalore on a small scale.
The oil is comparable to the Spanish oil in quality and has been well received by the trade.
Botany
The plant is an hardy, dense, evergreen shrub, have tap root system and grows up to 1 to 2 m in height with an erect stem divide
m
beneath. The leaves are narrow 2 to 4 cm long and cylindrical, leathery and green on top, white and hairy below and sticky to touch. The flowers are situated in little clusters towards the end of the branches. The calyx is two-lipped, the upper one with a single broad o
f
Himalayas, Nilgiris and Bangalore, in India, have been found suitable for its cultivation.
Crop prefers well – drained calcareous soil. It is very hardy plan o
the light, loamy soils of the Nilgiris and the sandy loam soils of Bangalore. The crop requires a soil pH ranging from 6.5-7.0 for its successful growth.
Propagation
1 Vegetative Propagation: It is best propagated by stem-cuttings. Cuttings from healthy mother-plants, 10-15 cm in length, are taken. All leaves about half of the length from bottom should be removed. The cuttings are then planted in nursery beds of sandy soil under pa
w
cuttings are ready for transplanting into t
polybags or seed-pans and it helps in easy transportation of the rooted cuttings.
2 Seed Propagation : Seeds are slow to germinate and seedlings are raised in nursery.
The ideal season for raising the nursery is between September and November. The seeds are very small and about 0.2 to 2.5 g seeds are required to cover 1 sq m area and are sown to a depth of 1-2 cm. After they are sown in well-prepared nursery beds, regular watering nd weeding of the nursery is continued. The seeds germinate best at a soil temperature
here are two types of rosemary under cultivation. They are the ‘French semary’ and the ‘Italian rosemary’. The French type produces white-coloured flowers
pared well by repeated ploughing and harrowing.
bout 20 t of well-rotted FYM is incorporated into the soil at the time of the final
nd gives the best ield.
ses as a side dressing to promote vegetative growth. For btaining the highest yield, the CIMAP, Lucknow has recommended the application of Irrigation : Initially the crop is irrigated twice a week till the plants establish.
Afterwards, once a week is sufficient depending upon soil and climate. By nature, this crop is drought resistant and can withstand long drought periods.
Intercultivation: About 5-6 cultivations between the rows and an equal number of weedings within the rows are required to keep the weeds under control.
Plant protection
hen the crop was introduced, there were no major pest and disease problems for this lant. But of late, blight caused by Rhizoctonia spp. A soil-borne fungus, Phytocoris rosmarini and Orthotylus ribest have been reported. Maneb (1%) can be sprayed on the crop and drenching may be done at 8-10 days’ intervals to keep these diseases under control.
Harvest and Post Harvest Technology
During the first year, the crop is ready for harvest 8 months after planting and only 2 harvests are obtained. In subsequent years, 3 to 4 harvests at 100 to 120 days intervals a
raging from 14-150C. When the seedlings are about 8 to 10 weeks old, they are ready for transplanting into the main field.
Cultivation Varieties: T ro
and its oil is superior in quality to that of the Italian type whose flowers are purple coloured.
Land Preparation: The land is pre A
ploughing before seed bed preparation.
Planting: Eight to ten weeks-old rooted cuttings or seedlings are planted in the main field at a spacing of 45 cm x 120 cm. About 20000 plant/ha give the highest yield of oil. It was found that a spacing of 45 cm x 45 cm between plants is optimum a
y
Manures and Fertilizers: Prior to transplanting, 20 t of FYM, along with 20:40:40 kg N, P2O5, and K2O per ha. is applied to the soil as a basal dose. After each harvest, 80 kg/ha of N is applied in 4 equal split do
o
300 kg/N/ha/year.
W p
can be taken. Depending upon the exposure of plantation, the plants start flowering earlier in warmer and low altitude areas and later on the high slopes. In some areas harvesting commences from the second year in August after the full flowering, which commences in May-June.
Harvesting should begin at the time of 50% blossoming and continue till 75-90%
inflorescence emerges and must end when the flowers have finished blossoming. The shoots are cut for distillation when they have reached their maximum size, but have not become woody. The hardwood should not be distilled as it imparts an odour of turpentine.
Leaves are spiky and thin, they are cut into pieces, dried in shade for 2 to 3 days and crushed or powdered and packed. Herb needs immediate drying in dark ventilated place after harvest to avoid loss of essential oil. Rosemary can last 25 to 30 years and require pruning and training in each season.
Distillation: Essential oil is obtained by steam-distillation of the freshly harvested herbage. The most modern method uses steam directly or indirectly, produced at 2-3 atmospheric pressure. The herbage can also be shade dried, stored and distilled at convenience without any loss or oil. The time required to distill one charge is 3 hours.
Rosemary also is distilled for 2 hours for the maximum recovery of oil.
Oil content and Yield: In the laboratory, the fresh rosemary leaves yield 1% and shade dried leaves yield 3% oil. However, in field-distillation units, a yield of 0.7% is considered satisfactory. About 12 to 15 t/ha/annum of herbage, yielding about 85 to 100 kg/ha/annum of oil, is obtained.
Cropping system
It is a perennial crop. After 2 to 3 years, the bushes are cut frequently to keep them form becoming leggy and to promote the formation of numerous shoots, which can be harvested for the oil. When a 10 to 12 year-old plantation starts ageing and its yield is reduced, its regeneration is necessary. This should be done when the plants are in a period of rest. For this purpose, the plants are cut 4-5 cm above the ground. Quick regeneration of a plantation requires adequate care by extra dose of manure and fertilzewrs. A normal yield from an adult plantation is obtained during the second year after regeneration. Regeneration restores the production capacity of the old plantation, after it has been uprooted and replanted.
Appendix