Agri - Info

Agri - Info

Citrus

Reason for decline

Planting on steep slope without making half-moon terraces, which causes soil erosion and leaching of nutrient due to heavy rainfall.
Lack of quality planting material.
Excessive intercropping with exhaustive crops.
Poor orchard management practices.
Incidence of insects-pest and diseases i.e. citrus trunk borer and Phytophthora

Citrus Scenario in North-eastern region (1999-2000)			National Scenario
Area (, 000 ha)	Production (, 000 tone)	Productivity (t/ha)	Area (, 000 ha)	Production (, 000 tone)	Productivity (t/ha)
57.2	300.7	5.3	488.1	4575.0	9.4

1. Preparation of half moon terrace and cleaning of tree basin
2. Periodical removal of water shoots, dry and diseased twigs, lichen, mosses and phenerogamic parasites
3. Nutritional management

FYM @ 30 kg in the month of December along with 1.3 kg urea + 3 kg SSP and 1.2 kg MOP/ tree/year in three split doses i.e. March-April, June-July and Sept-Oct.
Dolomite lime @ 3 kg/tree once in three year in the month of December is applied.
Multiplex a mixture of micronutrients @ 2.5 ml/litre of water or mixture of zinc sulphate 0.5%, copper sulphate 0.4%, magnesium sulphate 0.5% is sprayed when new flush comes

Pest Management

Trunk borer (damage 20-30%)

Collection and destruction of trunk borer adults by shaking the branches 2-3 times at 10 days interval in the month of May.
Injection of 3 to 5 ml of petrol or monocrotophos in to the bored hole through syringe and plugging the hole with wet soil.
Apply Beauveria bassiana (1020 spores/ml of water on the trunk)

Gummosis or foot rot

Proper drainage to avoid water stagnation around the plants.
Scraping of affected portions and pasting of Bordeaux paste

Root rot

Removing of soil around the trunk and drenching the root