New Orchard Plantation and Management Guide: Citrus, Mango, and Custard Apple
New Orchard Plantation and Management Guide: Citrus, Mango, and Custard Apple
Establishing an orchard is a multi-decade investment. The success and yield of fruits like sweet orange (Mosambi), Mandarin orange (Santra), mango, and custard apple depend on soil preparation and care taken during the first three critical years.
1. Land Selection and Field Preparation
- Soil Requirements: Medium-to-heavy, well-drained soils are ideal. Avoid excessively deep black soil (over 4–5 feet depth).
- Avoid Calcareous Soils: High lime content leads to calcium and phosphorus lock-up, causing nutrient deficiencies and root choke.
- Field Prep: Plough deeply and cultivate with a rotavator. Incorporate around 10 tons of well-decomposed FYM (farmyard manure) per acre prior to final harrowing.
2. Orange and Sweet Orange (Citrus) Setup
- Spacing: Depending on soil fertility, adopt spacings such as 15×15 ft, 18×18 ft, or 20×10 ft.
- Rootstock Selection: Stick to proven rootstocks such as Jambheri (Rough Lemon) or Rangpur Lime.
- Root Dip Treatment: Treat the root system with Trichoderma, Pseudomonas, and suitable root-protecting insecticides before pit plantation.
- Drenching Program: Around 15–20 days after plantation, apply a drench of humic acid, growth tonics, and bio-fertilizers (0.5 to 0.75 L per plant) to stimulate white roots.
- Rootstock Desuckering: Continuously remove shoots sprouting below the graft union; otherwise, the rootstock suppresses scion growth.
3. Mango Orchard Management
- Staking: Mango grafts need immediate support. Stake them with bamboo and tie with twine loosely to prevent wind breakage.
- Summer Protection: Protect tender saplings from heat stress in peak summers by providing partial thatch or shading.
- Drip Irrigation Layout: Keep drip nozzles slightly away from direct contact with the trunk to prevent collar rot.
- Fertilizer Program: Apply 10–15 kg organic compost and 200 g neem cake annually. Supplement with 100 g N, 50 g P, and 100 g K split into quarterly doses during Year 1.
4. Custard Apple (Sitaphal) Canopy Training
- Single Trunk Training: Keep the bottom 2.5 feet of the trunk completely free of branches, training the canopy into 3–4 lateral scaffold branches above this height.
- De-blossoming (Prune Flowers): Pinch off all natural flowers during the initial 2–3 years to channel carbohydrates into vegetative frame development.
- Pest Barrier: Wrap grease-bands or plastic barriers around the stem base to curb ants that cultivate mealybugs.
5. Universal Management Best Practices
- Intercrops: Leave a 2-foot buffer on either side of plants and cultivate short-duration legumes (green gram, black gram, cowpea, or groundnut).
- Avoid Chemical Herbicides: Weed manually around basins; chemical weedicides can stunt juvenile root growth.
- Bordeaux Paste: Apply 1% Bordeaux paste on tree trunks up to 1.5–2 feet height thrice a year (June, September, and December) to protect against Phytophthora and gummosis.
- Biological Slurry: Routine soil applications of cow-dung, urine, pulse flour, and beneficial microbes drastically improve rhizosphere biology.
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