Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lam)
Rhamnaceae
Varieties
Kaithali, Umran, Gola, Banarasi and Goma Keerthi are the cultivable varieties of ber.
Soil and climate
The ber plant comes well under arid and semi-arid situation. It can tolerate salinity and alkalinity.
Planting material
Budded plants are used for planting.
Planting
Planting is done during July-August with a spacing of 7 x 7 m in pits of 60 cm x 60 cm x 60 cm size. For Kaithali, 8 x 3 m and for Banarasi 8 x 4 m spacing is followed.
Irrigation
Irrigate the plants initially for establishment. Provide 5 % slope towards the base of the tree for in situ water harvesting.
Manures and fertilizers (per plant/year)
Manures and Fertilizers |
1st year |
2nd year onwards |
FYM |
20 kg |
50 kg |
N |
200 g |
500 g |
P |
100 g |
200 g |
K |
200 g |
500 g |
Manuring should be done immediately after pruning.
Spray 2% KNO3 thrice at monthly intervals in January, February and March.
Training and pruning
Remove the root stock sprouts and have a straight stem upto 75 cm from the ground level. It is very important in the early years to build up a strong framework and in later years to maintain vigour to improve fruit size and quality.
During February – March, prune the trees and thin the crowded branches to provide maximum fruit bearing area in the tree.
Plant protection
Pests
Fruit fly
Destroy all the infested fruits. Dig the soil under tree canopy to destroy pupae and incorporate 1.3% Lindane dust @ 30 g /tree. Spray Malathion 50 EC or Chlorpyriphos 20 EC or Quinalphos 25 EC at 2 ml/lit. Use polythene bags fish meal trap with 5 gm of wet fish meal + 1 ml Dichlorvos in cotton. 50 traps are required/ha, fish meal and Dichlorvos soaked cotton are to be renewed once in 20 and 7 days respectively.
Scale insects
During pruning, all the affected materials should be collected and burnt. The trees should be sprayed with Phosphamidon 40 SL or Methyl demeton 25 EC @ 2 ml/lit.
Diseases
Black leaf spot
Spray Carbendazim 1 g/lit or Chlorothalonil 2 g/lit at 15 days interval from the initial appearance of the symptom.
Powdery mildew
Spray Dinocap 1 ml/ litre to control the disease.
Yield
The yield ranges about 70-80 Kg of fruits/tree/year
Seed Technology: Seeds of Ber attain physiological maturity 13 weeks after anthesis.It is indicated by yellowish red colour of fruit pericarp.Stones can be size graded using 22/64" round perforated metal sieve. Ber stones can be stored upto 30 months without any treatment under ambient conditions.
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