Advance production technology of litchi

Prepared by-A. Naga tharun

M. Sc. (Pl. Physiology)

Reg. No. 04-2618-2015

LITCHI

Botanical Name : Litchi chinensis

Origin : South China

Order : Sapindales

Family : Sapindaceae

Subfamily : Sapindoideae

Inflorescence : compound raceme

Chromosome no. : 2n =30

Edible part : Aril

Type of pollination : cross pollination

Mechanism of pollinate o : Insect

Growth curve : Double sigmoid

Plant Description:HEIGHT- less than 19 m (62 ft)

The bark is grey-black, the branches are

brownish-red

ROOT- shallow rooted

Leaves-compound with leaflets in 2-4 pairs

Flowers -small, yellowish-white

Inflorescence- compound raceme

Fruit type- nut, contain:- aril- 70-86%

peel-8-15%

seed-4-18%

Edible portion- fleshly aril

Pollination system: cross pollinated crop

Nutritional value

Energy : 276 kJ (66 kcal)

Carbohydrates :16.5 g

Dietary fiber : 1.3 g

Vitamin C : 72 mg (87%)

Fat : 0.4 g

Protein : 0.8 g

Calcium : 5 mg (1%)

Magnesium : 10 mg (3%)

Phosphorus : 31 mg (4%)

`China` is the biggest producer of litchi in the world.

India rank second in the the world(Area & Production).

In India litchi is grown on large scale in Bihar.

State rank – `Bihar`(area & production)

`West Bengal`(productivity)

AREA & PRODUCTION

Litchi growing state

State Area

(Ha.)

Production

(MT)

Productivity

(MT/Ha.)

Bihar 27.7 221.7 8.0

West Bengal 5.9 61.4 10.5

Assam 4.1 18.7 4.6

Punjab 1.2 11.6 10.0

Orissa 3.5 10.2 2.9

Tripura 1.7 9.0 5.1

Jharkhand 1.5 7.5 5.0

Uttaranchal 7.8 7.5 1.0

Nagaland 0.8 4.0 5.1

Others 4.0 4.5 -

TOTAL 58.2 356.2 6.1

State-wise Area, Production & Productivity of

Litchi

ECOLOGICAL REQUIREMENT

Litchi is subtropical fruit

Bearing tree is much affected by HOT WIND causing fruit cracking

Alluvial soil with good drainage is suitable for litchi orchard.

It can grow in wide range of soils from light sandy to heavy clay.

SOIL

The temperature should not go beyond 40.5 0C in summer and below freezing point in winter

TEMPERATURE

VARIETIES

EARLY-dehradoon(fruit have an attractive colour),

Early badam (seedless variety) ,

muzzafarpur, shahi

MEDIUM- rose santed, Mclean

LATE- seedless late(late bedana), calcttia, china

PROPAGATION Through Seed

Through vegetative.

Litchi seed loses its viability with in 4-5days of its extraction from the fruit.The trees raised from seeds are very slow to come into bearing and may

take 10-12 years to come to bearing.

In vegetative propagation technique, litchi can be propagated through cutting, budding, layering and grafting.

AIR LAYERING(in the month June-July) is the Commercial method of propagation.

SEED

VEGETATIVE

PROCESS OF AIR LAYERING

Details Usual Practice

Planting Time • August – September

• Planting may be done in spring and early summer if irrigation facility is available

Planting Distance • 10×8m.

• Average no. of plants- 200 per ha.

Size of pits • 1x1x1 m (pits are dug a few weeks prior to planting)

Filling of pits • Pits are left undisturbed initially for a period of 15-20 days.

• Filled with top soil mixed with manures and fertilizers @ 20-25 kg FYM, 2 kg

bone meal and 300 g muriate of potash per pit.

Planting • Square system of planting is usually followed.

• A small hole is made at the centre of the pit and the desired material is planted.

Water is applied immediately after planting

Planting

Age of the plant

(in years)

Manure/Fertilizer applied (per plant/year in kg)

FYM CAN (Calcium

ammonium

nitrate)

Super phosphate Muriate of potash

1-3 10 - 20 0.3-1.00 0.2-0.6 0.05-0.15

4-6 25 - 40 1.0-2.0 0.75-1.25 0.20-0.30

7-10 40 – 50 2.0-3.0 1.50-2.0 0.35-0.45

Above 10 60 3.5 2.25 0.60

Methods- Basin or ring system of irrigation is recommended.Two irrigations at an interval of 45 – 60 days during winter

is required for bearing litchi trees.

The trees are irrigated from flowering onwards until the completion of the post-harvest flush.

However, the growers normally irrigate the tree at 7 to 10 days interval from panicle emergence to fruit harvest or until the post-harvest flush appears

Irrigation

Intercultural Operations

Mulching- The farmyardmanure, compost or straw maybe used for soil mulching.

Cutting down of tall growingweeds in the orchard andspreading them over the soil isanother method of mulchingthe soil.

Training & Pruning- Afterplanting, a certain amount ofpruning is often necessary togive proper shape to the litchiplant

Once the desired shape isachieved, no pruning is usuallynecessary, except the removalof dead or diseased branches

Weed control

Weeds compete with the trees for water and nutrients.

Mulches used include wheat, barley or rice straw, hay,

sorghum stubble and similar materials.

Reduce costs by growing mulch material between the rows

for later slashing.

Maturity index

colour change to deep red

flattened of tubercles

smoothening of epicarp

Stages of maturity

Harvesting

Depending on the tree age there are four

growth phases in litchi plants

young non-bearing stage (1-3 years), young bearing stage (6-10 years), junior adult bearing stage (11-20 years) senior adult bearing stage (21 years and above).

Harvesting is usually done in May and June.

The fruits are harvested in bunches along with a portion of the branch

and a few leaves.

80-150 kg fruits/tree.

Storage temp:- 0 -1 °c with 80-85% RH.Storage life:- 3-4 weeks.Grade used in litchi:-extra class, grade-I, grade-II.

Yield and storage

s.r no Disease name Causal organism symptom management

1 Fruit fly Bactocera dorsalis 5 gm. trichloroform with 10 ltrs of water

2 Fruit borer Cryptophlebia illepida fenvolarate @ 0.01%

3 Eriophide mite Acaria litchi Pruning and apply spinosin.

4 Bark eating caterpillar Inderbella tetragonis Plugging the hole with formalin

5 Red rust algae Sulphur spray 3 in autumn and

Pests of litchi

Physiological disorders of litchi

s.R no Disorder name Causing by symptom management

1 Little leaf Zn deficiency Apply ZnSo4

2 Fruit crack Excess water with high temperature Irrigate properly

3 Chicken tongue Embryo abortion Properly pollinate the plant

4 Sun burn Direct exposure of sun light Practice of shade culture

Uses of litchi fruit

T H A N K Y O U

http://WWW.AMN.SITE90.NET

REFERENCES:

Handbook of Horticulture by K. L. Chadha

Management of Horticultural crops by Singh H. P.

Fruit crops by T. Radha and Mathew

Instant Horticulture Edition 11 by S. N. Guptha

Fruits by Ranjeet singh