LEMON PLANTATION AND MANAGEMENT

lemon is the most important fruit crop . it ranks sixth in the value of production all over the world. lemon is known for its flavor and taste along with midicinal and nutritious values. lemons are rich source of minerals , antioxidant and phytonutrients. they contain folate, pottasium, molybdenus, flavonoida and compounds, which is recommended by many dieticians for daily intake, which boosts immune system.

soil requirement:

Citrus trees grow in almost any soil that is well-drained, sufficiently aerated and allows tap root to penetrate to the desired depth. Citrus can be grown in a wide range of soil types provided they are well drained. Fertile, well-aerated soils with a pH of between 6 and 6.5 are ideal.
The growth, development and production of a plant depend on the physical characteristics of the soil such as drainage, density, texture, water-holding capacity, structure, soil depth, the homogeneity of the profile, readability, and the
degree to which water can infiltrate the soil. These characteristics differ in the various soil types.

CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS:
Citrus trees are subtropical in origin and cannot tolerate severe frosts. Moisture is also a limiting factor in citrus production, when rainfall is poorly distributed and, it is necessary to supplement moisture by irrigation to ensure that moisture stress do not suppress growth and production. Citrus (except lemons) require shorter days and cooler temperatures in winter for a normal production rhythm.Flowering should occur almost exclusively in spring, and these spring flowers should produce a large fruit crop 7 to 12 months later, depending on the climate.

varities and their yelid:

Punjab Baramasi: Shoots dropping are usually ground touching. Lemon has yellow fruits, round shaped with tapering base. Seedless fruits and are juicy in nature. The average fruit yield is 84 kg per tree.

Eureka: Semi-vigorous tree. Lemon-yellow skin color, juice is strongly acidic having excellent flavor. Fruit ripens in the month of August.

Punjab Galgal: Vigorous trees with light green foliage color. Medium size, oval shaped fruit. Juice is very acidic with 8-10 seeds per fruit. Fruits mature in the months of November-December. The average fruit yield is 80-100 kg per tree.


Rasraj: Developed by IIHR. Yellow colored fruits content 70% juice and 12 seeds. Its acidity is 6% and TSS content is about 8 brix. It is resistant to bacterial blight and canker disease.

Lisbon lemon: It is resistant to frost and high wind velocity. Fruit are of medium size, having lemon yellow color with smooth surface.

Lucknow seedless: Fruits are of medium size with yellow color.

Pant Lemon: Dwarf variety having medium size juicy fruits. It is resistant to scab, canker and gummosis

Assam Lemon, Italian Lemon, Eureka lemon, Malta lemon.

LAND PREPARATION

Land should be ploughed, cross ploughed and leveled properly. Planting is done on terraces against slopes in hilly areas. High density planting is also possible in such areas.

Time of sowing
The best season for planting is July-August.

Intercropping: Intercropping with cowpeas, vegetables, french beans can be done in initial two to three years.

Spacing
Spacing between plants should be kept between 4.5×4.5. Pits of size 60×60×60cm should be dug for planting seedlings. 10Kg of Farmyard Manure and 500g of single superphosphate should be applied to pits while planting.

Sowing Depth
Pits of size 60×60×60cm should be dug for planting seedlings.

Manures and Fertilizers

When age of crop is 1-3year, apply well decomposed cow dung@5-20kg per Tree and Urea@100-300gm per Tree. For 4-6year old crop, apply well decomposed cowdung@25-50kg and Urea@100-300gm per Tree. For 7-9year old crop, apply Urea@600-800gm per tree and well decomposed cow dung@60-90kg per Tree. When crop is 10year old or above, apply cowdung@100kg or Urea@800-1600gm per tree.

Apply whole amount of cow dung during December month whereas apply Urea in two parts; apply first of Urea in February, and second dose in April-May month. At time of applying first dose of Urea, apply whole dose of SSP fertilizer.

If fruit drop is observed, to control excessive fruit drop, take spray of 2,4-D@10gm in 500Ltr of water. Take first spray in March end, then in April end. Repeat the spray in August and September end. If cotton is planted in nearby field of citrus, avoid spraying of 2,4-D, instead take spray of GA3.

Age of plantFertilizers (gm/plant/year)FYM (kg/plant/year)
First yearN- 30 P- 135 K-1300
second yearN- 120 P- 120 K-7830
third yearN- 270 P- 270 K-18025-30
fourth yearN- 400 P- 250 K-40030
fifth yearN- 560 P- 370 K-550
N refers nitrogen, p -phosphorous , k-pottasium

MICRO NUTRIENTS REQUIREMENT
*)Major micro nutrients ,micro nutrients like zinc , magnesium ,manganese , iron and copper are also required .
*)Foliar application of 1.5 kg zinc sulphate , sulphate , 500 magnesium nitrate and 1.5 kg lime in 450 liters of water for one hectare should be given during May.
*)Reported that foliar application of 0.5 percent potassium increasing fruit number , physical and biochemical qualities.

Zinc deficiency

seedling

Rising of seedling:
•Freshly extracted seeds are shown on well prepared nursery bed at the distance of 20 x l0 cm and 1.5 to2cm deep.
•Germination completes within 3 weeks.
•The apogamic seedlings are identical to the parent in growth and production.
•Seedlings are ready for transplanting 6 to 9 months after sowing.
•Seeds are sown in seedbed during July- August

Rootstock characters:
•Must be compatible with the scion variety allowing good growth,long good yield and good fruit qualities.
•Seeds must be readily available, preferably high poly-embryonic to get uniform seedlings and with high percentage and germination.
•Must be adaptable to a wide range of soil depth, texture, structure, pH, salinity, moisture, and nutrient supply. Must be resistant to soilborne diseases, such as Phytophthora gummosis.

T- Budding

In this method of propagation, a bud from desired variety (scion) is
transferred on the rootstock. With an objective of utilizing the
vigorous root system of the rootstock and combining the best
characters of both. A plump, but not too elongated bud is selected from
the middle section of the scion shoot. It is removed by making an
incision around the bud with the help of sharp budding knife. On the
selected rootstock T-shaped incision is made just enough to
accommodate the bud. The bud is inserted in the incision and tied with
a strip of plastic film in such a way that the tip of the eye remains
open. Budding should be preferably done as low as possible on the
rootstock
Bud wood should be taken from parent trees which:
•Hold a record satisfactory production over a period of a t least 5 years.
•Are free from systematic diseases.
•Have true-type fruit characters.

pruning:

Pruning means removing diseased and dead twigs, branches, and leaves which are unproductive and are less exposed
to sunlight. Best time for pruning is during the dry season or after harvest.

Training :

Acid lime–acid lime plants are trained to modified central leader system with a smooth trunk up to 70 to 100 cm height from ground level and with 4-5 well spaced branches. Lemon- Training system followed by open leader system method .Trees are trained to form a low headed open centered crown which can harvest maximum sunlight.

Irrigation:

July-Sept. 30 % in Oct.-Jan. & 10 % in summer. During the first 6 months the trees should be irrigated twice a week and thereafter every 7 days.
The irrigation basin should be gradually enlarged as the tree grows, so that it is always slightly bigger than the drip line of the tree.
Be careful not to damage the fine superficial feeder roots. The water required depends on weather conditions.
Saturated and poorly-drained conditions could result in root rot, which will shorten the life of the trees. A lack of moisture during October to January could result in acid fruit.
If a sprinkler is used, about 30 mm of water must be applied every 7 days, depending on the weather.4th year. Fruit take 6 months to mature 60% in .

Harvest

The fruits mature in six months after flowering. In Gujarat, about 60 per cent of the total crop is harvested during July to September, 30 percent from October to January and 10 percent from February to May.
In north India, the main harvesting seasons in the months of August-September.
Greenish yellow fruits picked by hook.6-8 pickings.

Insects and pests in lemon and management:

Citrus thrips: Thrips nilgiriensis

Symptom of damage:
Nymphs and adults lacerate the leaf tissue and suck the sap from fruits, Leaf curling, Ring like appearance on the fruit Irregular mottled patches on rind

Management:
Collect and destroy the damaged plant parts.
Spraying with systemic insecticides at flush growth periods.
Spray malathion 0.05% or monocrotophos 0.036% or carbaryl 0.1% .
In severe case you can spray Imidacloprid or fipronil or spinosad at recomended dose.
Encourage the activities natural enemies such as Syrphids
and Chrysopid.

Cirrus butterfly:

Symptom of damage:
Caterpillars prefers on light green tender leaves.
Feeding voraciously and leaving only the mid-ribs.
Severe infestation the entire tree gets defoliated.

Management:
Hand pick the larvae and destroy.
First instar – Spraying of 1.5ml monocrotophos , 1ml DDVP (Nuvan).
Later stage – Spray profenofos 2ml/lit
Field release of parasitoids Trichogramme .

Citrus aphids


Damage:
Feeding by aphids distorts shoots and can transmit plant viruses.
They produce honeydew, which encourages the growth of sooty mould .
A black fungus (sooty mould) grows on the honeydew, coating leaves, branches and fruit with a black powder. Aphids can be a threat to young trees, but are otherwise regarded to be minor pests.

Management:
Use yellow sticky trap.
Spray with methyl Demeton (Metasystox) or Dimethoate (Rogar) 2ml /lit.

spray with ETHION 50% EC

PROFENOFOS 50% EC + Acetamiprid 20%sp

IMIDACLOPRID 70%wg

lamdacyhalothrin + Thimethaxom https://krishibharat.in/product/dhaak-insectiside/
Use some concinellid beetles and syrphid flies.

Citrus leaf miner:


Symptom of damage
Making silvery appearance presence on the
lower surface of leaves.
Leaves – distorted and crinkled.
Severe attack caused defoliation .
Management

Spray any one of the following insecticides: Dimethoate 30EC, profenofos 50EC, monocrotophos 36WSC, quinalphos 25EC at 2ml/litre of water, acephate 75SP at 2g/litre of water or imidacloprid 200SL at 375ml/ha.

The spray should be aimed at young leaves only. A second spray should be given after 10 days or apply 5 per cent neem seed kernel extract , 3 per cent neem oil suspension or 2.5 per cent neem cake extract. The larvae and pupae are attacked by natural parasitoids that should be encouraged by avoiding frequent application of toxic insecticides.
For higher infected rate spray
CHLORANTRANILIPROLE–6–12 fl oz/acre https://krishibharat.in/product/fmc-coragen-2/
ABAMECTIN– 2.25–4.25 fl oz/acre (OC)
ACETAMIPRID— 1.7–2.9 oz/acre (OC)https://krishibharat.in/product/ipl-support-acetamiprid-20sp/
THIAMETHOXAM

SOIL-APPLIED SYSTEMIC APPLICATIONS
IMIDACLOPRID 2) THIAMETHOXAM

Mealy bugs:


symptoms
Both nymphs and adults suck the sap from the cells of tender branches and fruits turn pale colour Affected plant parts – wilt and dry up. large amounts of honey dew excrete – sooty mould fungus. Fungus covers the foliage and fruits.
In severe infestation the flowers do not form fruits.
Management:
Collect and destroy the damaged leaves, twigs and stems.
Debark branches and apply methyl parathion paste.
Use sticky trap (5cm length) on fruit bearing shoots
spray dichlorvas 0.2% in combination with fish oil rosin soap 25g/lit.
Single soil application of aldicarb 10G at 50g/tree at the time of pruning.
Spraying of trees with methyl parathion 2ml or monocrotophos 1.5ml per /lit of water. Soil treatment with chlorophyriphos apply on the near the tree trunk.
Spraying of trees with acephate, methomyl, or chlorpyriphos.
Field release of Australian lady bird beetle Cryptoleamus montrouizeri 10 per

Diseases of lemon
Sooty Mould :

Lemon sooty mould


sypmtom:
The disease is common in the orchards where mealy bug and scale insects are not controlled efficiently. Black velvety coating on the leaves, twigs and fruits is the characteristic of disease.
The coating is superficial and can be pulled of easily from leaf.

management
1)Spraying of Wetable sulfur (0.2%) in the month of May.

2) propargite + Mancozeb https://krishibharat.in/product/willowood-willo-mite-propargite-57%ec/

3) fenproxymite + ziram

Citrus canker

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