Indian jujube or Ber also know as poor man fruit is hardy fruit crop suitable for arid region. Ber is rich source of Protein, Vitamin C and minerals. Ber tree is used for rearing of lac insects also its leaves are used for fodder purpose. Ber fruit is dried in sun and used in off season. Ber fruit is eaten as fresh also used for making murabbaa, candy etc. It is a cultivated throught out the country. Madhy Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarata, Maharashtra, Tamil nadu and Andhra Pradesh are major Ber growing states.

Dhule, Jalgaon, Nandurbar and Solapur are major ber growing districts of Maharashtra.  

It can cultivated on wide range of soil like from shallow to deep, from gravely and sandy to clay soil. It can also grown on marginal and soil that are unfit for cultivation. It can withstand in saline, alkaline soil also in waterlogging soil to some extent. Deep sandy loam soils with good drainage capacity is ideal soil for ber cultivation.

Gola: High yielding, early maturing variety suitable for dry areas. Fruits are round, greenish yellow in color. Suitable for cultivation in extremely dry areas. 

Banarasi Kadaka: Mid season variety. 

Mehrun, Chuhara, Parbhani

Umran: Fruits are of oval shape with smooth and glossy skin. Fruits are of golden yellow color and on maturity it changes to chocolate brown. Gets mature in March end to Mid April. Gives average yield of 150-200kg per tree. 

Other States Variety:

Reshmi: It is a mid season variety. Fruits are of this variety are oblong shape with round tip. Fruits are greenish yellow. Its pulp is soft and creamy white. 

Murie: Mid season variety with excellent bearing capacity. Fruits are oval shape with yellow color. Its pulp is soft and sweet. 

Seo: Fruits are light pinkish yellow color. 

Seb: Early maturing variety. Fruits are round shape with yellow colored. 

Kaithli: Fruits are of medium size, oblong, with smooth skin and of greenish yellow color. Ready to harvest in March End. Fruits are of sweet in test. It gives average yield of 75kg per Tree. Get affected with Powdery Mildew disease.

ZG 2: Trees are of spreading type. Fruits are of medium size, oblong and of bright green color on ripening. Sweet in test. It is resistive to Powdery Mildew disease. Ready to harvest in March End. It gives average yield of 150kg per tree. 

Wallaiti: Medium to large size fruits with oval shape. On maturity, color of fruit changes to golden yellow color. Pulp is soft with TSS from 13.8 to 15%. It give average yield of 114kg fruits per tree. 

Sanaur 2: Fruits are of large size, skin is smooth with golden yellow color. Sweet in test having TSS 19%. Resistant to Powdery Mildew. Ready to harvest in second fortnight of March. It gives average yield of 150kg per tree.

Prepare land by ploughing, harrowing and then levelling. Remove weeds from field. 

It is generally propagated by budding. Katha ber is generally used for raising rootstock. Dip ber seeds in 17-18% salt solution for 24hour. Then sow seeds in nursery during April month at distance of 15cm in row and 30cm between two plants. In 3-4 week germination started and then plant is ready for budding in August month. T budding is done in June-September Month. 

Time of sowing

June - July is optimum time for ber cultivation.

Spacing

For ber planting in rainfed areas use spacing of 6mx6m.  

Sowing Depth

Before planting dig pit of 60x60x60cm and kept open in sun for 15days. Then fill this pit with mixture of soil and Cowdung. Apply fertilizers Nitrogen@250gm, Phosphorus@250gm and Potash@100gm per Pit. Then transplant budded plant in it.

Method of sowing

Transplanting of grafts.

Proper and regular annual training and prunning is necessary. Start it from Nursery stage. In nursery, ensure that plant having single stem. After transplantation, keep head clean upto 30-45cm with 4-5stronge branches. Prune lower branches and prevent them from spreading on ground. Remove disease, thin, dry and broken branches of previous season. Prunning is carried out when plants are in dormant state i.e from second fortnight of May. 

 Fertilizer Requirements (gm/tree/year)

Fertilizer dose vary from place to place. Apply fertilizer depending upon soil test. Apply Nitrogen dose in two equal parts, First dose should be given in July-August and second dose is applied after fruit set stage. 

Spray with Diuron@1.2kg/acre as pre-emergence herbicide in first forthnight of August. The weeds can be controlled as post emergence by Glyphosate@1.2Ltr/acre or Paraquat@1.2Ltr/acre in 200Ltr of water when weeds are 15-20cm in height

Established trees generally not required frequent irrigation. When plant is in dormant stage, no irrigation is required. At fruit development stage irrigation is essential. At this stage apply irrigation with interval of 3-4weeks depending upon weather condition.

Drip irrigation along with fertigation to ber crop is prove to be beneficial and saves about 50-60% water and 20-30% fertilizer. 

Inter crops can be taken during first three - four years. Crops like Gram, Moong and Mash can be taken as intercrop during initial years. These crop give extra income also enriched soil by fixing atmospheric nitrogen.  

• Pests and their control:

Fruit Fly: Serious pest of ber. Females lay eggs below epidermis of young fruits. Later on maggots feed on pulp afterward fruits starts rotting and get drop.

Grow fruit fly tolerant varieties. Remove and destroyed infected fruits away from field. Keep field clean. Take spray of Dimethoate@500ml/300ltr of water in February-March month. 15days before picking, stop spraying of Dimethoate

Leaf Eating Caterpiilar: They feed on leaves and tender fruits and thus affect fruit quality.

At initial stage of infestation, collect caterpillar with hand and destroyed them. Take spray of Carbaryl@750gm/200Ltr of water.

• Diseases and their control:

Powdery Mildew: White powdery growth is observed on young leaves and also on fruits. In severe condition premature defoliation and fruit drop is observed. Fruit quality get deteriorated and they remain small in size.

Take spray of wettable Sulphur @ 250gm/100ltr of water during flowering stage. If necessary repeat the spray.

Leaf Mould: Blackish growth and sooty mould is seen underside of leaves. They give yellow appearance and severe infection they get fall off.

If infestation is observed, take spray of Copper Oxychloride @ 300gm in 100Ltr of water.

Black Fruit spot: Small, irregular, black spots observed on ber fruits. Symptoms of disease are seen in February month. In severe infection fruits get drop off.

Start spraying of Mancozeb 75WP @ 250gm per 100 Ltr of water from January month upto mid-February with interval of 10-15days.

First harvest is done within 2 - 3years after planting. Harvesting should be done at right stage of maturity. Avoid over ripening stage, as it decreases quality and taste of fruits. Picking is done when they are of normal size and give ripening color depending upon variety.

Remove damaged and under ripe fruits and do grading depending upon size. After grading do proper packing in Corrugated Fibre Board cartoons or wooden baskets, gunny bags of convenient size.