PEACH

Peach is an important stone fruit crop of the temperate zone. It is juicy, delicious and high palatable fruits. It is usually consumed as fresh fruits but delightful squash can also be prepared from its varieties. Some varieties like Shan-i-Punjab, flordared are suitable for canning purpose. From peach kernels essential oil can be obtained which is used in producing of plenty of cosmetic products as well as medicinal products. It is a rich source of proteins, sugar, minerals and vitamins.

North eastern states, J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (hilly areas) are major peach growing states of India.

Peach requires deep sandy loam soil rich in organic matter with good drainage. The pH of the soil should be between 5.8 and 6.8. Acidic and saline soils are unfit for peach cultivation. The land with gentle slope is ideal for peach cultivation. The fruit thrives best in foothills, high hills and mid hills situation.

Early Candor: Early season variety suitable for Uttar Pradesh.
 
Red Heaven: Fruit is medium round, yellow hard peel, good quality, matures in June month.

Sunhaven: Early season variety suitable for Uttar Pradesh. 

Safeda Early Cream: Suitable for cultivation in Tarai region of Uttar Pradesh.

SRE 6 : Suitable for cultivation in Tarai region of Uttar Pradesh.

July Albert: Fruits are medium sized; peel is light red in color, knot flesh which is yellow in color, soft flesh, fruits are of high quality, matures in second week of July, suitable for packing purposes.

Alexander: Mid-season variety suitable for Uttar Pradesh.

Crawford early: Mid-season variety suitable for Uttar Pradesh.

Parrot Delux: Late season variety.

J.H.Hale: Late season variety.

Other States Variety

Alton: Medium sized fruits, round in shape; flesh is stick with kernel, barium yellow color, peel is slightly bitter, matures in third week of June.

Worlds Earliest: Fruit is small to medium sized; flesh is light brown in color, juicy, stick with kernel, bitter, matures in third week of June.

Early White Giant: Fruit is small to medium sized; sweet flesh, matures in second week of June, flesh gets easily separated from kernel, attractive and aromatic.

Stark Red Gold: Fruit is medium is size, peel is yellow orange which has yellow flesh, medium sticked with flesh, total T.S.S. content is 12.4%, early maturing, matures in last week of May, long plant, spreading and more fruitful.

Snow Queen (Nectarine): Fruit is small to medium sized which is shiny white in color, fruit matures in mid-June, spreading plant, good yield giving variety, suitable for cultivation in the areas at the height of 6000 ft.

Sharbati: - Fruits are large, greenish-yellow colored having rosy patches, very juicy nice flavored, fruits ripen in end-June.

Shan-e- Punjab: It ripens in the 2nd week of May.  Fresh fruits are quite big, yellow-colored with radish blush, superb in flavour, as well as free stone.  As fruit are rigid in quality, it can tolerate transportation.  They are suited to canning; the regular fruit yield is 125kg/tree.

Summer Set: Fruit is medium sized which is yellow-orange in color, sticky flesh, medium spreading variety and is medium yield giving, ripens in End week of June, total T.S.S. content is 12%.

JH HALE.: Fruit is medium sized, round shape, red-purple in color, less sour, ripens in Third week of July.

Silver King (Nectarine): Suitable for cultivation in Kullu hills (1100-1500m), fruit ripens in end week of May to mid-June, greenish-white in color, 3/4th fruit is deep red in color, flesh is creamish-white, sweet in taste, total soluble content is 8-10% and acidic content is 0.6%. 

Venus Misoori (Nectarine): Mid-season variety, matures in first week of July, fruit are extra-large in size, green-yellow in color, rough fruit surface, the 3/4th part of fruit is Mahroon-red in color, hard flesh which is crispy and yellow in color, sweet in taste, fruit is beneficial, medium growing tree, high fruiting variety.

Suncrest (Nectarine): Fruit has 102.25gm weight, medium sized long fruits, peel are yellow-orange in color, flesh is orange in color, long kernel having 4.61gm weight, the flesh/kernel is 22.84, T.S.S. brix is 18.4o, acidic content is 0.5%, sucrose content is 14.46% and insoluble sugar content is 8.34%.

Early Grande: Fruit has 82.67gm weight, fruit is medium sized and are long, peel is yellow-green in color, flesh is yellow in color, long kernel having 5.44gm weight, contains 13.36o brix T.S.S. content,  acidic content is 0.5%, sucrose content is 14.46% insoluble sugar content is 8.81%.

Suncrest: Mid-season variety ripens in last week of June, large sized fruits having weight of 175gm, round, hard, yellow peel, fruit is sweet and juicy, contains 10.5o brix T.S.S. content.

Glow Heaven: Mid-season variety, fruit are large sized, 190gm weight, round in shape, fruit is sweet and juicy, yellow flesh, contains 11.2o brix T.S.S. content, matures in first week of July.

Prabhat, Pratap, Flordasun, Shan-e- Punjab, Florda red sun, Red (Nectarine), Khurmani, Sharbati, Flordaprince.

Khurmani: - Fruits are large, attractive with red coloration, cling stone with white soft juicy flesh.

Florida Red: - An excellent, mid-season fruits, it matures in the early of June. Fruits are large, almost red at maturity, juicy, with free stone.  Its average yield is 100 kg/tree.
 

Land must be free of weeds and bushes. In steep slope areas, contour method of planting is used whereas in plains, square system of planting is used. Dig pits of 1mx1mx1m at distance of 4.5 m X 4.5 m apart. Filled 30 cm of soils of pits with 20 kg of FYM or well decomposed cowdung, 125 g of urea, 250 gram of SSP and 25 g of chlorpyriphos.

Time of sowing
Winter season is optimum time for planting.

Spacing
For planting, square system is used with spacing of 4.5 m X 4.5 m.

Sowing Depth
The seed of peach tree must be sown in beds which are 5 cm in depth with 12-16 cm apart from each other.

Method of sowing
In the starting, budding/grafting is done and then transplanting method is used for growing the plants in the main field.
 

Seed Rate
With spacing of 5mx1m, near about 800plants accommodates in one acre. Whereas 2000plants accommodates per acre with spacing of 2mx1m.
 
Seed Treatment
To increased germination percentage and seedling growth, treat seed with Thiourea@5 gram per Litre of water or GA@ 200 mg/Litre of water.
 

For propagation, grafting or budding method is used. For raising rootstock Sharbati, Khurmani are used. Before sowing, treat seed with thiourea and then sow them in bed of 5cm deep. Use plant to plant spacing of 15cm and row to row spacing of 20cm. Then cover them with 6-10cm dry thick grass. They are graftable in following winter. January- February is optimum time for tongue grafting whereas T-Budding is done in May-June. 

Peach tree needs heavy and regular pruning. Pruning must be done in last week of October. Water sprouts and other shoots must be eradicated. The newly peach tree should be planted about 35 inches height.
 

Fertilizer Requirement (gm/tree)

Under irrigated conditions, apply half of Nitrogen in spring season and apply remaining one month later. Give whole quantity of P and K in month of December-January. Provide light irrigation after fertilizer use.

If iron deficiency is observed, take foliar spray of 0.5 to 1% of Ferrous Sulphate. Or do soil application of  chelated Ferrous@50-250gm at 20-30 spots around tree in small holes. 
 

It required regular and heavy pruning. Carried out pruning in last week of October. Pruning should be done to produce 25-50cm of growth annually to maintain optimum productivity. Mid-winter is optimum time for pruning. In training, keep main stem cleared up to 45cm above ground level. Remove unwanted, diseased, weak branches in second year.

After planting the trees, irrigation should be given immediately. In rainy season, these plants may not require watering. Drip irrigation is the best method for effective use of water. Irrigation should be given at some critical stages, in case of dry spell. Watering is important at flowering/budding stage and fruit development stage.

These are regulated by manual weeding however it is tiring as well as expensive.  As peach roots are irregular, they can be often damaged by continual ploughing. Thus, usage of herbicides is excellent substitute.  A pre-emergence applying Diuron @ 800 gm-1 kg/acre or even post-emergence use of Glyphosate @ 6 ml/acre in 200 liters of water throughout February-March efficiently manages broad-leave weeds as well as usual grasses in new orchards.

• Pest and their control:
  

Shot hole: The symptoms are dark brown color lesions on leaves.

Treatment: Spraying with Captan or Ziram or Thiram@0.2% should be done at the time of leaf fall or bud swelling stage.
 

Bacterial canker and gummosis: It attacks on main trunk, shoots, branches, spurs, blossoms, dormant buds, leaves and even fruits.

Treatment: Ensure that a suitable peach variety and rootstock is chosen based on geographic location and environmental conditions to prevent stress to tree which predisposes tree to canker disease, apply protective copper spray to trees before flowering, prune trees in early summer to decrease likelihood of infection.

Brown rot: It causes wilting of plant and killing of petals and young twigs.

Treatment: Spraying with Captan@0.2% before 3 weeks of harvesting.
 

• Pest and their contrl:
  

Peach leaf curl aphid: The pest is active in March to May month. The pest results in curling and yellowing of leaves.

Treatment: Spraying of Rogor 30 EC@800ml/acre in 500ltr water should be done. Do spraying after 15 days if required.
 

Peach black aphid: The pest is active in April-June month.

Treatment: Spraying of Malathion 50EC @800ml/acre in 500ltr water.

Flat headed borer: It is a serious pest which is active in mid-March month. They feed on foliage.

Treatment: Drenching with Durmet 20 EC@1000ml/acre in 500ltr should be done in June month after harvesting for the prevention of this pest.

 

Beetles: The beetles feed on leaves during night time.

Treatment: Spraying of Hexavin 50 WP@1kg/acre in 500ltr water is done at the evening time. If damage continues repeat the spray after 5-6 days.
 

April to May is the peak month of harvesting peach crop. They reach good color and hard flesh that shows they are ready to harvest. Harvesting of peach crop is carried by twisting the fruit.

After harvesting they are stored in moderate temperature and can be used in processing squash.