A plant quarantine can be defined as a legal restriction on the movement of agricultural commodities for the purpose of exclusion, prevention or delay in the establishment of plant pests and diseases in areas where they are not known to occur.
What is Frenching or Foliocellosis?
It is a disease caused due to deficiency of Zinc in fruit trees (specially belonging to citrus family) in which new leaves develop interveinal chlorosis, get reduced in size and branches are also not properly developed. The plant has a bushy appearance and the branches show die-back symptoms. It is also called leaf mottle disease.
What are the damage symptoms of yellow stem borer and how it can be managed?
The damage is caused by caterpillars as a result ‘Dead heart’ formation takes place before flowering and after flowering ‘White Ear head’ develops. The ear heads dry up and no grain formation takes place. Basmati varieties suffer heavy damage than coarse varieties.
It can be managed by clipping of tips of seedling before transplanting, removal and destruction of stubbles at first ploughing. Fields showing more than 5 % ‘dead hearts should be sprayed with 625 ml of phosphamidon or 1.4 liters of monocrotophos or 2.5 liters of chlorpyriphos.
What is pest surveillance?
Pest surveillance is the fundamental tool in IPM for taking management decisions. It requires estimation of changes in the pest distribution and their abundance information about the life history of pests and influence of natural enemies and the effect of climatic factors on pest populations.
What feed is given to the farmed shrimp?
Feed for the shrimp should contain a minimum recommended protein content of 32-45%. The percentage of feed depends on the size of shrimp. The diet should include protein, lipid, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals etc
What is corm rot and how it is treated?
There are many reasons for low corm production, but one of the main reasons for stabilized saffron production is corm rot complex caused because of many soil borne pathogens like Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia crocorum etc. the disease is identified by the yellowing of leaves, wilting, round spots on the corm, leaf dropping and converting corms into black powdery mass. The disease of corm rot can be managed with chemical fungicides like carbendazim or mancozeb etc. Soil solarization and other biological methods are also used for treating the soil and corms before planting.
How should the fertilizer be applied to the saffron plants?
The inorganic fertilizers should be applied as a band around the plants. Initially, half the quantities of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, vermicomposting and FYM are applied as basal dose after second hoeing for the first crop. Another half dose of nitrogen fertilizer is applied after the onset of flowering.
Which type of soil is good for saffron cultivation?
Saffron needs well drained soil with good organic content. Soil with neutral clay content or silty soil is considered good for saffron farming. The pH level of the soil should be around 6 to 8. Too much clay is not needed by the plants and should be improved by adding soil, peat or compost.
How is saffron harvested?
6-8 weeks after planting the corms, the plants are ready for harvest. It is believed that each corm produces 1 flower and 3 stigmas. The flower should be picked when they open completely. Harvesting should be done during the mid-day of a bright sunny day. Manual picking is the most common way of harvesting these flowers. All the flowers are collected and piled on a table and then the stigma is removed from the flowers for further processing.
In which places saffron is grown and which country is the largest producer?
Saffron is considered as an autumn flowering plant, perennial in nature. The eastern Mediterranean climate is believed to be the best for growing saffron because this plant descends from that place. Other places which are suitable for saffron cultivation are Eurasia, Iran, Spain, India and Greece. Iran is considered to be the largest producer of saffron in the world accounting to 94 % of the total production.