ORCHARD ESTABLISHMENTS AND MANAGEMENTS

 

introduction to orchard managements

Orchard is a planting of fruit trees, nut trees, or sugar maples also : the trees of such a planting

a long-term investment and needs lot of planning and expertise. While planning and planting a new orchard, one should give utmost attention and care to various aspects like selection of location and site, nature of soil and subsoil, planning of suitable kinds and varieties of fruits, proper planting distance and purchasing of plants from reliable nurseries.

A detailed survey of the site is carried out including the levels and a good map to scale is drawn.

The guiding principles in the preparation of plan are:

– The orchard should be managed most profitably

– It should present as attractive look as possible.

A careful plan of the orchard is necessary for the most efficient and economic management. The following points should be borne in mind in the preparing the plan.

• Optimum spacing to accommodate maximum no. of trees per unit area

•  Stores and office building in the orchard should be constructed at the center for proper supervision

•  Wells should be located at convenient places in different parts at the rate of one well for 2 to 4 hectares.

• Each kind of fruit should be assigned in separate block
• Fruits ripening at the same time should be grouped together.
• When varieties with pollen preferences are planted, they should have the pollinizer in an adjacent block or in alternate rows so as to ensure good crop set.

•  Irrigation channels should be laid along the gradients for most economical conduct of water. For every 30m length of channel, 7.5cm slope should be given.

• Drains should follow the gradient of the land, should be as straight as possible and concealed from the visitors, if possible.

• Shor growing trees should be allotted at the front and tall at the back for easy watching and to improve the appearance.

• Evergreen trees should be in the front and deciduous ones behind.
• Fruits attracting birds and animals should be close to the watchman’s shed.

• A good fence is essential
• Wind breaks for reducing the wind velocity and minimizing the damage to the fruit trees and other crops.

Types of Orchards

There are various types of orcharding:

1. Orcharding with single variety of a particular fruit crop.

2. Orcharding with different variety of a fruit crop.

3. Mixed orchard with different fruit crops of almost equal life span.

4. Orcharding with intercrops/intercropping.

5. Multistoried orchard.

6. High density orchard.

7. Dry land orchard.

8. Clonal orchards.

9. Nutrition /Kitchen garden

General steps in establishment of an orchard after

The selection of the site

• Clearing of the land
• Leveling
• Fencing
• Wind breaks plant
• Roads and Drains
• Tillage
• Sowing green manure crops
• Marking plant positions
• Digging and filling pits
• Selection of plants from the nursery
• Lifting and packing
• Season of planting
• Planting
• Heeling inn

Basic Principles of Orchard Establishment

❖ SITE SELECTION

The following points should be considered while selecting a site:

1. Climate & soil:

The climate is an important factor which determines the plant growth and development. The important climatic factors are temperature, rainfall,wind, humidity, etc. selection of fruit crops suitable to particular agroclimatic region should be kept in mind while establishing the fruit orchard. The fruits and vegetables suitable for different agroclimatic regions are listed below:

Tropical fruits: mango, papaya, banana, pineapple, sapota, cashew nut,coconut, arecanut, groundnut and melons. Potato, cauliflower, okra, eggplant, tomato are main vegetable crops.

Sub-tropical fruits: guava, grape, litchi, citrus, date, pomegranate and low chilling cultivars of peach, pear, etc. Cauliflower and legumes grow well in winter and most of cucurbits grow well in summer.

Temperate fruits: apple, pear peach, plum, blackberry, strawberry,apricot, walnut, etc. Vegetables like Cole crops grow well. Similarly, soil should be suitable for growing fruit crops. Soil having PH 6-7, good fertility, 3m depth (no stones or rocks up to 3 m) and uniform sub soil texture is considered good for orchard establishment. Shallow soil with rocky substrate should be avoided for fruit production.

2. Location:

It is always safe and better to start and establish an orchard in a well established fruit, vegetable or other horticultural crops available region than in a new locality where no agricultural enterprises exist. Sharing of enterprises with local growers will be helpful for growing horticultural crops in particular locality. Besides, other facilities like marketing and storage of products, orchard management materials, plant requirement (mechanical), etc. will be easily available

Selection of place having good marketing, irrigation transport, labor and other essential facilities.

4. Selection of an open, leveled site to avoid landslide and making farm operation easy.

5. Avoid river basin and jungle area to avoid flood and various pests.

6. Selection of proper ventilated place with better sunlight preferably facing north-east.

7. Perennial source of irrigation: Plant can’t exist without water. A perennial source of irrigation is

necessary near the orchard for the proper growth and development of fruit trees. Water plays vital role in photosynthesis and other plant metabolic processes. Thus, water is basic need for plant that makes perennial irrigation an essential requirement for orchard management

LAYOUT OF AN ORCHARD:

Orchard layout is a process of locating the actual position of plants in plot for planting fruit crops. It is an essential operation. The fruit plants should be arranged in the plot in such a way that each plant gets sufficient space for proper growth and development and also the total space gets properly utilized

to accommodate the requisite number of plants per unit area. Important factors to be considered for proper layout of orchard are system of planting and spacing of individual fruit species. Various types of planting systems are used to achieve maximum efficiency in the production. The system of planting depends on size, tree density and management strategy. The high-density planting of smaller trees to achieve early production and maintain high quality fruits are new trend in fruit farming.Hence, system of planting depends upon various factors such as slope of land, purpose of utilizing orchard space and convenience, etc. Some common seven different systems for fruit trees:

1. Square System:

This is the simplest and most common system of layout in which field is divided into squares and trees are planted in corners of square. Here, distance between the plants and that between rows of plants is same and thus the use of orchard equipment’s and intercultural operations can be done from both directions. However, this system has less plant density in comparison to others.

2. Rectangular System:

In this system, row to row distance is generally more than plant to plant distance. Mechanical operation is easy in both rectangular and square system where no of plants can be calculated using:

NP= A/(P*R)

Note: np=number of plants

A=area

P= plant to plant distance

R= row to row distance

3. Quincunx system (diagonal filler):

This is the modification of square/ rectangular system with filter tree planted in center. Filter plant are quick growing, early maintaining and erect type.

Fruits like banana and papaya are used as filter plants. The filter plants are removed as soon as the main fruit trees in the orchard start to bear flower and fruits. The planting of filter trees provides additional income to the grower in the early stage of orchard

4. Contour/ Terrace System:

It is mainly followed in hilly areas where the topography is undulated. Trees are planted against the slope usually right angle to the slope. Contour lines are detected by A-frame (leveling purpose) or by dumpy lines. Contour terraces are constructed on the steeper slopes. Main purpose of this system

is to check run-off and minimize soil erosion. Trees are planted in a row at same height. However, planting distance may not be uniform in this system.

Planting Fruit Crops:

➢ Handling of plant materials:

During handling of plant materials, following points should be taken under consideration:

a. Irrigate before pulling out the plant materials.

b. Keep small earth ball for longer distance.

c. Give minimum shock to the plants during planting.

d. If they are received in advance, for deciduous type make a trench in shade and store these materials in plant position so that more branching takes place. Evergreen type can be stored just in shade and sprinkled water periodically in balls.

SOIL & FERTILITY MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES:

Soil is the most important material for plant growth and nutrition. To conserve soil from erosion and maintain its fertility and productivity, adequate practices must be adopted. Soil management practices have following

OBJECTIVES:

a. To provide favorable moisture to plant.

b. To provide sufficient nutrition for maximum production.

c. To add organic matters to soil.

d. To improve physical and chemical composition of soil.

There are several soil managements practices that have been used to improve the soil fertility in horticultural field/orchard. Individual or combined practices are effective to maintain the good soil fertility. The following practices are adopted.

1. Clean cultivation:

This practice involves regular ploughing, disking and harrowing of the area between plant rows. So, the land will be free from weeds, increase the infiltration and makes easy to mix fertilizers and green manure. It is not a desirable practice to the horticulturist if nutrient supply and irrigation are limited. It is done to keep the field free from weeds and to make the top soil loose

2. Cover cropping:

It is a practice of growing weepy and bushy plants with dense vegetative growth under horticulture trees. It is more important in the areas of high rainfall. E.g.: berseem, Lucerne, beans, sweet potato, etc.

3. Inter cropping:

It is growing up of two or more crops on the same piece of land. It is also known as companion or mixed cropping. E.g.: fruit trees+ vegetable crops, coconut+ banana+ pineapple (multi-storeyed crops).

4. Crop rotation:

It is growing of two or more crops one after another on the same piece of land. E.g.; rice-vegetables, cabbage-beans-Cole crops-cucurbits, tomato okra-cowpea

5.Mulching:

This is the process of covering naked soil around the stem of growing plant with layer of organic material usually plant residues and several other materials. Mulching helps to conserve soil moisture, reduce evaporation, reduce compactness, maintain soil fertility, decrease soil erosion and control weeds population.

6. Green manuring:

Green manuring plants like dhaincha and other legumes are grown when they are needed and then buried by ploughing. Flowering stage is appropriate for ploughing.Ideal green manuring crops should be fast growing to produce large amount of organic matter and also to fix atmospheric nitrogen.

7. Soilless culture:

It is a system of soil management where plants are grown in permanent grass without tillage and additional organic matter. This practice is mostly used to control soil erosion in orchards. Grape vines, grasses, legumes etc. are planted between rows and raised without tillage. It is not very practicable in tropical and sub-tropical belts. It is mostly practiced in cold and moist regions of steep slopes where erosion is a serious problem.

8. Terracing:

Land which are slope and where there is more problem of erosion would require the use of terracing. Cultivation by terracing checks the soil from erosion by reducing the velocity of run-off water

Reclamation of problematic soil:

Soil reaction (PH ) is a measure to determine concentration of hydrogen ions in the soil, although not directly influencing plant growth. It has a number of indirect effects such as the availability of various nutrients and the activity of beneficial microbial activity. A PH range of 5.5-7.0 is best for plant growth usually. 7.0 is a neutral point and below this is called acidic and above it is alkaline.

To lower the pH of an alkaline soil, calcium sulphate (CaSO4) is used and to higher the pH of soil, calcium nitrate and quick lime (CaO) is applicable.

❖ IRRIGATION: –

Irrigation can be defined as the artificial application of water to the soil for better growth and development of plants. In broader sense, irrigation is application of water to the soil for following purpose:

1. To supply the moisture essential to the soil for proper plant growth.

b. To provide crop insurance against short duration drought.

c. To cool the soil and plant atmosphere, thereby making favorable environment for plant growth.

d. To soften soil crust for easier tillage operation.

e. To leach and washout soil salts for reclaiming it.

f. To reduce hazards of pests.

g. To reduce hazards of soil piping.