BER

Indian jujube or Ber also known as poor man fruit is hardy fruit crop suitable for arid region. Ber is rich source of Protein, Vitamin C and minerals. It is cultivated throughout the country. Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil nadu and Andhra Pradesh are major Ber growing states. It is a common and fourth important fruit crop (after kinnow, mango, gauva) of Punjab state. 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 murabba, candy etc.

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 loamy soils with good drainage capacity is ideal soil for ber cultivation.

Seb: Early maturing variety. Fruits are round shape with yellow color.
 
Seo: Fruits are light pinkish yellow color.
 
Murie: Mid-season variety with excellent bearing capacity. Fruits are oval shape with yellow color. Its pulp is soft and sweet.
 
Reshmi: It is a mid-season variety. Fruits of this variety are oblong shape with round tip. Fruits are greenish yellow. Its pulp is soft and creamy white.
 

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
Transplanting is carried out in February-March or August-September. Defoliate the plant while lifting from nursery for transplantation purpose.
 
Spacing
For irrigated areas, use spacing of 8 x 8 m and for rainfed areas, use spacing of 6 m x 6 m for planting.

Sowing Depth
Before planting dig pit of 60 x 60 x 60 cm and kept open in sun for 15 days. They fill this pit with mixture of soil and cowdung. Then transplant budded plant in it.

Proper and regular annual training and pruning is necessary. Start it from Nursery stage. In nursery, ensure that plant having single stem. After transplanting, in field 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. Pruning is carried out when plants are in dormant state i.e. from second fortnight of May.

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 crops give extra income also enriched soil by fixing atmospheric nitrogen.

Fertilizer dose varies from place to place. Apply fertilizer depending upon soil test. Apply the whole amount of Cow dung in May month. Apply fertilizer in two equal parts, first dose should be given in July-August and second dose is applied when the fruit start developing. 

Spray with Diuron @ 1.2kg/acre as pre-emergence herbicide in first fortnight 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. Stop irrigation in second fortnight of March.

• Pest 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 Caterpillar: 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.

• Disease 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 detoriated 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 @ 300 gm in 100 Ltr 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 10-15 days.

First harvest is done within 2 - 3 years after planting. Harvesting should be done at right stage of maturity. Avoid over ripening stage, as it decreases quality and test of fruits. Picked 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.