To cultivate/farming of fruits such as banana, pineapple, tomatoes, passion fruits, chili etc.

with rain harvesting method

A. Pineapple Planting requirements Pineapples can be grown in a variety of soil types but prefer mildly acid soils (pH 5,56,5). However, there are certain requirements for successful pineapple production, which include: Planting material The aims in the layout of a pineapple land are to: control water runoff and thereby limit soil erosion facilitate good drainage and prevent root and heart rot uniform distribution of sunlight to all plants have roads allowing machinery easy access to the pineapple plants (to expedite harvesting and spraying). Planting Planting is done by hand, with or without the aid of a planting machine. Use of the latter results in uniform, neat plantations. Plant spacing Spacing from ridge centre to ridge centre: 1,5 m. Each ridge must carry a double row of plants. Spacing between rows should be 600 mm. Spacing between the plants in the row: 300 mm. Weed control For the control of most broad-leaved weeds and annual grasses, contact herbicides can be used. Pest and disease control Effective control measures are available for the most important pests and diseases. Pesticides used to control soil pests and diseases should be incorporated into the soil before ridging, with booster applications if required. Fertilisation Use the following fertilisers Hand applied fertiliser: ammonium sulphate 100 N (sulphate of ammonia) 10 pockets/ha Phosphate: drilled into the ridges 0300 kg/ha (Saaifos and zinc) Potassium: broadcast before ridging 0400 kg/ha (potassium chloride) Mixture: drilled/broadcast 0600 kg/ha (0:1:6 + Mg/Zn)

Forcing agents With the use of forcing agents, the pineapples can be made to bear fruit at virtually any time of the year. Why? It initiates flowering, shortens crop cycle and increases yield It ensures uniform, complete and concentrated cropping Fruit colouring or yellowing Fruiting agents can also be applied to colour fruit, by spraying or brushing onto fruit. This ensures uniform colouring of the fruit in a plantation. Irrigation The pineapple plant is able to utilize rainwater and even dew very effectively. Therefore, the heavy dew that occurs in the coastal regions is so valuable to pineapples that irrigation may not even be necessary. Supplementary irrigation could, however, sometimes be essential and of great value. Harvesting Harvesting should be done 7 to 14 days after yellowing. It is labour intensive because workers walk in the space between ridges to pick the fruit by hand, loading it into baskets, or onto a boom harvester. After harvesting the crowns are broken off (not twisted) and left on top of the plants in the field or are placed in bags to be collected at a later date for planting. Make sure that the fruit is not too green or too ripe when harvested, not bruised or damaged and that it is not affected to a large extent by any physiological problems. B. Banana Preparing the land Soil analysis for lime and phosphate is essential before planting. Add kraal manure or compost if available. Fertilise the soil using 4 bags of Supers fertiliser per hectare. Add 2 bags of lime if the pH is low on soil analysis. Plough. Rip the field after fertilising to loosen the soil deep. Spray herbicide or hoe if there are many weeds in the field. Measure the planting distance and dig holes for planting. Planting Bananas can be planted using 3 methods: Tissue culture plants Bits Suckers. Planting method for bits and suckers Bits are small portions of the banana plant cut from the rhizome (corm) of the plant and a bud is attached. Suckers are shoots growing from the rhizome of banana plants and they grow into new plants. Planting a bit When planting bits, the planting depth must be 10 cm and the bit also about 10 cm. Buds point the same direction on each plant.

 The planting method for suckers is the same as for planting tissue culture plants. Spacing Space the rows 3 m apart and the plants 1,6 m in the row. The size of the hole must be 30 x 30 cm and the depth about 60 cm. Planting a sucker Dos and donts when planting Do not damage the plant or dislodge the soil when removing the baguse a knife instead of a hoe. Do not plant too shallow or too deep and allow a space of 10 cm between the plant and the soill surface. Irrigate the banana plants after planting. Desuckering Desuckering means cutting off unwanted shoots from the stems of the mother banana plant. Use a knife to cut off the stems of the suckers which have grown to about 30cm. When planting on a slope, always leave the suckers which are on the uphill side. Cut off all suckers which are on the northwestern side of the banana plant. This is the side where the bunch hangs. After 5 months from planting, select only 1 vigorous sucker to carry the next bunch. Cut the remaining suckers. Continue removing unwanted suckers as they appear. Do not pour diesel over the stems of the suckers, water them instead. NB: It is important to keep not more than 2 080 plants per hectare. Therefore, after harvesting only 1 sucker should be allowed to grow. Cut off all suckers which are on the northwestern side of the banana plant Irrigating Water the banana plants after planting. Irrigate newly-planted tissue culture banana plants every day for 2 weeks (15 minutes per irrigation) to protect leaves from heat stress. In the absence of rain, irrigation water should be applied on a little and often basis to banana plants. For heavy loamy soil apply 20 mm of water every 3 days in summer and every 8 days in winter. Find out the delivery rate of sprinkler nozzles. Example: Nozzle delivery = 3 mm per hour For every irrigation, run the system for 20 hours divided by 3 hours = 6 hours and 40 minutes (20/3 = 6 hours, 40 min) For light sandy soil apply 12 mm water every 2 days in summer and every 5 days in winter. Find out the delivery rate of sprinkler nozzles. Example: Nozzle delivery = 3 mm per hour For every irrigation, run the system for 12 hours divided by 3 hours = 4 hours (12/3 = 4 hours) Bagging and removing leaves Cover the banana bunches with bags for protection against insects and wind. Remove lower hanging, yellow leaves from the plant. Covering the bananas will result in better quality bananas. Remove lower leaves from the banana plant as they get old because they can spread diseases and scratch the bunch.

 Use a knife to cut off old leaves from the banana plant do not pull them. Old leaves can scratch and damage the fruit on the bunch. Cut off the old leaves and place them on the groundthey mulch the surface and increase nutrient content in the soil. Remember to give your banana plants support by propping the bunches with a rope and sticks. Controlling weeds Control weeds by using: chemical method hand method both methods. Chemical sprays are used to kill the weedsuse only recommended chemicals and apply these strictly according to the instructions on the label. Do not spray: too much the banana plants when it is windy.

Pest and disease control Control pests and diseases. Different pests and diseases require different treatments. Thrips Use chlorpyrifos pesticide once a month to kill thrips if they are present. Nematodes If they are present, kill them with Nemacur using 45 kg per hectare (20 g per plant). Compost, kraal manure and chicken manure applied in ample quantities will also suppress nematodes. Tissue culture plants are free of nematodes. Sigatoka Spray with Dithane plus mineral oil. Post-harvest decay Dip the banana hands into Benlate solution (5 g Benlate per 10 l water) to prevent post-harvest decay. Harvesting Harvest bananas when they are swollen and green but before they become ripe (plump and yellow). Do not harvest: too early (when the bananas are thin and dark green) too late (when they are thick and turning yellow). Hang bunches in packhouse at a cool location How to harvest Get at least 2 people to help you cut the banana pseudostem halfway across and halfway down. Let the plant fall down slowly and then remove the bunch from it by cutting the bunch stalk. Chop up the leaves and top part of the pseudostem and lay on the soil as a mulch. Carry the bunches to the trailer and put them next to each other (not on top of each other).

C. Tomato Climatic Requirement The tomato is a warm-season crop. The crop does well under an average monthly temperature of 210C to 230C. Temperature and light intensity affect the fruit-set, pigmentation and nutritive value of the fruit. Long dry spell and heavy rainfall both shows detrimental effect on growth and fruiting. Soils The tomato grows on practically all soils from light sandy to heavy clay. Light soils are good for an early crop, while clay loam and silt-loam soils are well suited for heavy yields. Tomatoes do best in a soil that has a soil reaction from pH 6.0 to 7.0. If the soil is acidic liming is required. Seed rate

For raising the seedlings in nursery bed 300 - 400 g/ha seeds are required. Hybrid seeds are very costly so it should be sown in plastic cups or ice cube tray, which require only 70-90 g.

Time of planting

Tomato is a day neutral plant so wildly it found grown in any season. In the northern plains three crops are taken but in frost affected area rabi crop is not fruitful. The kharif crop is transplanted in July, rabi crop in October - November and zaid crop in February months. In the southern plains where there is no danger of frost, The first transplanting is done in December-January, Second June-July Third in September-October depending on the irrigation facilities available.

Raising seedlings

Seedlings are grown before one months of transplanting raised beds of 60-100 cm width and of convenient length. Soil solorization of nursery bed by covering them with white transparent polythene sheet for one month should be done in hot summer months. It will kill the disease causing organisms like fungus, bacteria, nematode as well as insects and seeds of weeds. For one m2 of nursery area apply 5kg well rotten FYM and 20 g of each N, P and K fertiliser, and also apply 2.5g carbofuran or 200 g of neem cake and 10-25 g tricoderma. While preparing the nursery beds, neem cake /castor cake/ neam leaf/ castor leaf/ pongamia leaf/ calotropis leaf has to be incorporated @ 400 g/m2 for protection against nematoads. After sowing the seeds, mulch with green leaves and irrigate with a rose-can daily in the morning. Remove the mulch immediately after germination of the seeds. Restrict

irrigation one week before transplanting and irrigate heavily on the previous day of transplanting. Cover the nursery bed with fine nylon net to escape the damage by virus transmitting insects.

Seed treatment

To avoid damping off disease treats the seed with Tricoderma @ 5-10 g/Kg seed or carbendazim 2g/Kg seed. The treated seeds are dried in shade for 30 minutes and then sown sparsely along the lines in cm depth and then covered by the topsoil.

Land preparation Land is prepared to a fine tilth by thorough ploughing or digging 2 - 3 times. At the last ploughing organic manure and 10 kg carbofuran granules or 200 kg neem cake has to be applied Manuring Apply well rotten farm yard manure / compost @ 20-25 t/ha at the time of land preparation and mix well with the soil. A fertilizer dose of 75:40:25 kg N:P 2O5:K2O / ha may be given. Half the dose of nitrogen, full phosphorus and half of potash may be applied as basal before transplanting. One fourth of nitrogen and half of potash may be applied 20-30 days after planting. The remaining quantity may be applied two months after planting. Transplanting

The transplanting is done in small flat beds or in shallow furrow depending upon the availability of irrigation. In heavy soil it is usually transplanted on ridges and during the rains also it is advantageous to plant the seedlings on ridges. For indeterminate varieties/hybrids, the seedlings have to be staked using bamboo sticks of two meter length or planted in broad ridge of 90 cm width and 15 cm height. The seedlings are planted in the furrows at a spacing of 30 cm and the plant is allowed to spread on the broad ridge.

Spacing The spacing recommended for the autumn-winter crop is 75 x 60 cm and for the spring-summer crop 75 x 45 cm. Irrigation Tomatoes need very careful irrigation that is just sufficient water at the right time. It is necessary to maintain an even moisture supply. During summer season, irrigation at every 5to 7 days interval is necessary, whereas in winter 10 to 15 days interval is sufficient. A period of drought followed by sudden heavy watering during the fruiting period may cause cracking of fruits.

Weed Control

There is need of light hoeing during first four weeks in the field which encourage the growth but also remove the weeds from the field. The surface soil is loosened by hand hoeing as soon as it is dry enough after every irrigation or shower. All weeds should also be removed in this process. Mulching with straw, black polythene and many other materials has been found beneficial in moisture conservation, in controlling weeds and some diseases.

Plant protection Insects Gram pod borer Heliothis armigera It is a polyphagous, attacks most of the cultivated crops, major pest of tomato, Young larvae feed on tender foliage, while advanced stages attack the fruits. Larva bore circular holes in fruits. Serpentine leaf miner Liriomyza trifolii . Maggot mines into the leaf and feeds on the mesophyll of the leaves making serpentine mines/galleries. Tobacco caterpillar Spotoptera litura It is also polyphagous in nature, major pest of tomato, distributed widely. Freshly hatched larvae feed gregariously, scraping the leaves from ventral side, later stages, feed voraciously at night on the foliage. Larvae may also feed on fruits hollowing these out. Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne spp. This nematode has wide host range, affects most of the vegetable crops, often tomato, brinjal, okra. Root-knot nematodes are small, microscopic, males are slender and females swollen. The most characteristic symptom on the root is production of root galls. Above ground symptoms are reduced growth, chlorosis of foliage, susceptibility to wilting, and reduced fruit production. Insects Management

Two rows of marigold for every 16 rows of tomato can be grown as a trap crop. Marigold flowers attract egg laying of H. armigera. Spray 5% neem seed kernel extract to kill early stages larvae. Placement of 15-20 bird perches (T shaped) per ha helps in inviting insectivorous birds. Spray NPV @ 625 LE/ha during evening hours. Application of chopped leaves of Pongamia or Crotalaria reduces disease severity caused by nematode.

Disease

Tomato is attacked vast range of fungus, bacteria and viruses. The most common diseases are anthracnose, bacterial spot, bacterial blight, bacterial canker, buck eye rot, damping off, early blight , fusarium blight, late blight, leaf curl, mosaic, powdery mildew, rots, and septorial leaf blight. Few major disease are discussed below. Bacterial Wilt Pseudomonas solanacearum Deadly disease of tomato. Wilting, stunting, yellowing of the foliage and finally collapse of the entire plant are the characteristic symptoms of the disease. The lower leaves may droop first before wilting occurs. Damping Off Pythium aphanidermatum, Rhizoctonia solani Occurring in nurseries of Tomato, Tobacco, Chillies, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Brinjal and Cucurbits. Young seedlings are killed before they emerge through the soil surface or collar region of grownup plants get rotten and toppling of small plants are seen in nursery bed. Early Blight Alternaria solani Common disease of tomato occurring. The characteristic leaf spots and blight first becomes visible as small, isolated, scattered pale brown spots on the leaf which later on also develop on stem and fruits. Fully developed spots are irregular, brown to dark brown in colour, and with concentric rings inside the spot. In severe attacks the entire plant may be defoliated. Wilt Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. Lycopersici It is a worst disease of tomato occurring. First symptoms appear as chlorosis of the leaf. Soon the petiole and leaves droop and wilt. When plant roots and basal stems are split open dark brown or black discoloration of the vascular tissues may be seen. Tomato Mosiac Tobacco mosaic virus, Cucumber mosaic virus The common symptom of mosaic is mottling of the leaves. The normal green colour of the leaf is interspersed with light green to pale yellow islands of irregular patches. The edges of the leaf turn downward and are stiffer than those of a healthy leaf. Powdery Mildew Leveillula taurica A light powdery covering of the lesions may occur on the lower surface. Heavily infected leaves die but seldom drop from the plant. Septoria Leaf Blight Septoria lycopersici In young plants numerous spots appear on older leaves or on plants with poor growth. Small, circular spots are first observed as water soaked areas on the under surface of the lower leaves. As the spots enlarge, they develop dark brown marking and sunken, white or grey centres. Rots

Black mold rot Alternaria alternata, Stemphylium botryosum Sunken or slightly flattened lesions with water soaked in appearance occurs on fruits. Soon these lesion become brown to black in colour. Tomato fruits coming in contact with the soil are attacked by soil-borne fungi causing rotting of the fruits. Disease Management

Soil solorization or partial sterilisation of the soil by burning trash on the surface Seed treatment with tricoderma 5-10g or carbendazim 2g or thirum3 g/Kg seed. Field sanitation Crop rotation with non-solanaceous Providing better drainage, forming raised beds Uproot the heavily infected or virus infected plants Sanitation and crop rotation reduces the disease incidence Spraying the plants with a mixture of Streptocycline 200 ppm and Copper oxychloride 3g per litre of water gives fairly good control of the disease.

Other skills and knowledge if growing hydroponic tomatoes There has been an increase in the quantity of tomatoes grown hydroponically under cover. However, this is still only a small part of the Queensland crop. Many of these crops are grown in bags with drippers supplying water and nutrients. The varieties grown this way are indeterminate types and often unsuitable for outside production. Setting up for undercover production is very expensive and a high level of skill is required for management, whether grown hydroponically or in the soil. Crop management, such as pruning and plant training, is labour intensive.

Machinery and equipment

Table 3 lists the machinery and equipment considered essential or optional for a tomato production unit growing 40 ha per year and packing about 150 cartons per hour. Table 3. Machinery and equipment required for a tomato farm Essential Tractor (26 kW) for planting, cultivation and spraying Bed-former, plastic and trickle tube layer with fertiliser box Main grader Seconds grader Scales Spray equipment for crop Spray equipment for interrow herbicides Half-tonne bins Buckets Shed forklift

Pallet jack Cultivation equipment Irrigation equipment Trellising equipment (stake driver, wire winder, stake puller) 12-20 pallet cold and ripening room Mulch gatherer Slasher/pulveriser

Labour
The main labour we will require will be for harvesting and packing. A standard grading and packing rate is about 12 cartons per person per hour, though this depends on the quality of fruit and the equipment being used. Physical strength Growing tomatoes involves hard physical work. There is a high labour requirement for all facets of production. These include land preparation; laying mulch and trickle tube; pest, disease and weed control; irrigation; picking; and packing. Knowledge and management skills Management skills or access to consultants with these skills are required for managing finances, staff and the crop. Skills in machinery operation and maintenance, and the ability to read and understand chemical labels, are essential. Careful attention to detail is necessary to be a successful tomato grower. Knowledge of integrated pest management (IPM) is highly desirable because of the intense pest and disease pressure in tomato production.