DILL SEEDS

Dill is annual herbaceous crop having leaves with pleasant smell and warm taste and yellow attractive flowers. The Indian dill is native of Northern India. It looks like fennel plant grows from 2 to 2.5 feet. Its seed and leaves are used as spice. They are used in soups, salads, sausages and pickling. Dill seeds and oil have medicinal property and used for preparing medicine. Oil is extracted from seeds, leaves and stems. India and Pakistan are major dill seed producing countries. In India major dill seeds cultivating states are Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam and West Bengal.

Any fertile soil is suitable for dill cultivation. For good growth, it required well drained and rich organic content soils. Ideal pH range for optimum growth is about 5 to 7, and average pH of 6.2.

Local: Its average height is about 160cm along with yellow flower. It is ready for harvesting in 190 days. Its flowers are light yellow while fruits are long and oval shape.

For good growth and yield it required fine beds. To bring soil to fine tilth, plough land for two three times. Carry out planking operation after every ploughing.

Time of sowing
August-September is best time for dill sowing.

Spacing
For Indian dillseed variety, use row spacing of 50cm and plant spacing of 20cm.

Sowing Depth
Sow the seed at depth of 3-4cm.

Method of sowing
For sowing generally broadcasting method is used but line sowing is more efficient way of dill seed sowing.
 

Seed Rate
Use 2-4 kg of seeds for sowing one acre land.

Seed treatment
To protect crop from Alternaria Leaf spot, before sowing dip seed in hot water@50°C for 25-30 minutes.
 

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Nutrient Requirement (kg/acre)

Use 60-80qtl/acre of FYM and mix well in the soil at the time of land preparation. Apply Nitogen@23kg in form of Urea @50kg/acre, phosphorus 9kg/acre in the form of SSP @50kg/acre and Potash @6kg/acre in the form of MOP @10kg/acre.

For good germination, apply pre-sowing irrigation. Apply second irrigation 10-15days after sowing. Depending upon requirement provide subsequent irrigation. Flowering stage is crucial stage for irrigation. Avoid moisture stress during this period.

If dill is cultivated for culinary purpose, avoid use of weedicides. Hand weeding is done to keep field weed free. 30-40days after sowing carry out first weeding operation.  

• Pest and their control;
  

Horn Worm: These are bluish green caterpillar, 4 inch long, feeds on dill leaves. If horn worm is observed and infestation is low, then remove it by hand picking.

White fly: if infestation is observed spray of Malathion 5% @10kg/acre or Malathion 50EC or Dimethoate 30 EC @300ml/acre is done to get rid of white fly.

• Disease and their control:
  

Alternaria blight: Leaves get discolored and drop from plant. Some time they are seed borne. Seedling and older leaves are more susceptible to this disease.

To avoid its infestation, do crop rotation, don’t sow dill crop continuously on same field. Use clean seeds. Before sowing, dip seed in hot water@50°C for 25-30min. If infestation is observed, do foliar application of Mancozeb@3gm/Ltr of water.

Powdery mildew: If infestation is observed then Carbendazim 50WP or Calixin (0.1%) @3gm/ltr is sprayed to get rid of powdery mildew.
 

The crop is ready for harvest in the first week of May. When its umbel color changes to light yellow, plant is ready for harvesting. Harvesting is usually carried out in morning, it will gives better flavor to seed also minimize shattering loss. After harvesting, threshing is carried out. It gives an average yield of 2-3qtl/acre.