Plum Farming (Cultivation)
Introduction to Plum: Plum belongs to the family Rosacea. Peaches
and pears also belong to the same family. Plum is a famous fruit. It is also
eaten fresh and is used to make jams and squash. The best combination of
acidity with sugar is helpful in making jams and squash. Plum fruit is also
dried, but not all types of fruit can be dried. There are many health benefits
of dried Plum. It is planted as a filler fruit plant in mango, litchi and pear
orchards.
Filler Fruit Plants: Filler fruit plants are fruit trees
that are planted between the main fruit trees in a garden. Filler fruit plants
have the ability to grow faster than main trees. The purpose of planting these filler
plants is to generate additional income from the garden until the main trees of
the garden start yielding. As these filler fruit plants start generating quick
and extra income so, the farmer does not have to wait.
Plum Plant Size: Plum Plant size is small in
mountainous areas and medium in plain areas.
PlumProduction: Plum trees have a lot of flowers due to which they bear a lot
of fruit that ripen quickly. A tree bears an average of 50 to 60 kg of fruit.
Suitable Temperature for Plum Cultivation:
Plum cultivation
requires mild climate. A mild climate means that the temperature is below 7.2 oC.
But some varieties can also be grown in the plains where the summer temperature
is up to 47 oC. One type of plum, Santa Rosa can only be grown in
mountainous areas.
Origin of Plum: Although Plum is originally from
China, it has become a commercial fruit of Japan and the United States. Due to
its cultivation in Japan, it is known as Japanese Plum. Plum cultivation spread
from Japan to other countries. At present, Plum is grown in all the temperate
countries of the world.
Plum Cultivation Areas in Pakistan:
High quality aloe vera is being cultivated in the northern hilly areas of
Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and Swat. Varieties are grown in the plains that
require less cold weather.
Different Varieties of Plum: The following are the different
varieties of plum.
Farmusa, Red Beauty, Ruby Red, Grand
Duke, Stanley, Maithili, Fazil Minai.
Suitable Soil for Plum plants: Plum thrives in soils with very high
pH, even in soils where peach trees have failed. That is why, plum trees are
preferred for planting in the garden as filler fruit plants. Good drainage
sandy soil is suitable for good tree performance and good fruit production. Plum
plants that are bred from the cuttings of Plum plants preferably require heavy
soil, while Plum plants that are grafted on peach plants rootstocks, grow well
in sandy soils. Plum plants grafted on peach plants should not be planted as
filler plants in litchi orchards as litchi plants need a lot of water.
Growing Plum Plants from Seeds: Ripe Plum fruits are used to get seeds
in the month of May. To remove the pulp from the seeds, they are washed and
after drying, they are put in sack bags (jute gunny bags) and placed in a shady
place. These seeds are sown in rows in the nursery in the month of November.
The seeds are covered with a layer of sand 4 to 5 cm thick. After a few days
the seeds will start to germinate.
Like peach seeds, plum seeds can also
be grown in wooden boxes. When small plants begin to emerge from the kernels,
these tiny plants are transferred in the beds. The beds have a spacing of 10 cm
between each plant and 30 cm between the rows. After every 4 rows a distance of
45 cm is left so that they can be given water through flood irrigation. These
young plants are ready for grafting within 1 year.
Plum seedlings in the nursery drop
their leaves in January. Therefore, while planting these plants in pits, the
lowest branches should be cut off. Leave only 3 to 4 branches and pinch off the
new leaves from the top of the branches so that more branches can come out.
Place the plant in a pit and fill it with soil to the ground level. Gently
press the soil around the newly planted plants. Water the plants lightly to
allow the soil to settle. Then lightly water the plants at appropriate
intervals until the rainy season starts. Drip-irrigation system is very
suitable for this purpose.
20 days after planting, mix 10 ml of
Chloropyriphos in 1 liter of water and apply to the roots of each plant to
protect them from white ants.
Plum plants are usually planted as
filler plants in the garden, so the distance between them should be according
to the main fruit plants. This distance can range from 3.5 to 5.0 meters. But
if only Plum plants are being planted in the garden, then the distance between
them is 6 x 6 meters. Thus, in Square System, 256 plants and in Hexagonal
System, 305 plants per acre are planted.
Propagation of Plum plants by Cutting:
For Propagation of
plum by cuttings, branches are selected whose thickness is not more than the
thickness of a pencil. The length of the cuttings should be 18 to 20 cm. Plum cuttings
are planted in the month of December. To speed up the process of rooting on the
cuttings, the lower ends should be dipped in 100 ppm of IBA solution for 24
hours before planting.
For preparation of IBA solution,
first dissolve 100 mg IBA in 20 ml Absolute Alcohol then increase its volume to
1 liter. Thus, the success rate of these cutting will be 70 to 80%.
The plants obtained from these
cuttings will be ready for transplanting in the garden next winter.
Pruning of Plum Plants: Plants start producing new leaves in
February and continue their growth till October. The plum trees bear fruit on 1
year old branches. Usually pruning is not done in the first year of fruiting.
Only branches that are tangled or stuck in each other are cut. Pruning depends
on the distance between the plants. If plum is planted as a filler plant in a
pear orchard, it may soon need more pruning than a litchi or mango orchard due
to its shorter spacing. After pruning, the cut parts should be covered with
Bordeaux paste or paint.
Need of Water for Plum Plants : As plum plants do not have deep roots as
well as they are fast growing plants so, they need a lot of water to grow.
Watering intervals depend on many factors such as soil type, climate and variety
of plants. In April, May and June, plants need plenty of water at weekly
intervals. When the plants have too many flowers or the fruits begin to ripen,
water should not be given to prevent the
flowers and fruits from falling. Similarly, watering is not required in the
rainy season. Watering can be done at intervals of 20 days in September,
October and November. Water should not be given in December and January.
Need of Fertilizer for Plum Plants: As Plum plants grow very fast so,
they need food/fertilizer to continue their growth. Plum plants should be
fertilized according to their age.
In December, manure, superphosphate
and potassium should be used. Nitrogenous fertilizers such as urea should be
given in two halves. The first half should be put in February and the second
half in April.
Spray on Plum Plants: Plum plants can be sprayed with a mixture
of zinc sulphate plus ferrous sulphate. Both should be of chemical grade. Mix
1.5 (one and half) kg zinc sulphate + 1.5 kg ferrous sulphate + 1.5 kg lime in
500 liters of water and spray in the month of March when fruit size is equal to
pea size.
Flowering Season of Plum Plants: In the plains, plum plants flower
during the first 15 days of February, while in the northern areas, plum plants
flower during the last 15 days of February. Hermaphordite flowers of plum begin to bear fruit.
Hermaphordite are such flowers in which both male and female
parts are in the same flower. Plum plants usually bear a lot of fruit. Raw
fruit is very sour. As the fruit ripens, the sourness decreases and sweetness
is produced. The color of the fruit also changes. Raw fruit is green. When
ripe, its color varies according to its specific variety.
Reducing the Number of Plum Fruits Before
Ripening: Usually
plum plants bear so much fruit that all the fruit can’t gain the proper size
till ripening due to lack of space. Smaller fruits get lower prices in the
market. Therefore, excess fruit is picked by hand. This process is done in the
month of April when the fruit stops falling naturally. The following things
should be taken care while picking fruits.
1. The fruit should be plucked from
the bottom to the top.
2. There should be a distance of 5 to
6 cm between each fruit and 15 to 20 leaves for each fruit.
3. There should not be 2 fruits at one
place.
Picking of Plum Fruit: Picking of
fruit means to break the fruit from the tree after preparation. Plum fruit is
picked when it is of suitable size and according to its variety it gets
suitable color. In Punjab, Plum fruit is picked in the second week of May. The
fruit is picked several times. This is because the whole fruit on the plants
does not ripen at a time. While picking the fruit on the small branches, care
should be taken so that the branches do not break.
If the fruit is to be taken to the
local market, pick the fruit when it is ripe, but to take it to a distant
market, pick the fruit after it has changed color by about half so that it does
not spoil. The fruit should be picked with the leaves so that the fruit is not
injured. Plum is a naturally perishable fruit so it should be carefully picked
and packed. It should be packed in wooden, plastic or cardboard boxes with a
layer of straw or dry grass on the bottom and sides and newspaper on top. Fruits
should be graded before packing.
Cultivation of other Crops in Plum Orchard:
If there are only
Plum plants in the garden then other legume crops like peas, gram, peanut or
vegetables can be grown here for the first 5 years and if Plum is planted as
filler plant, then due to lack of space between plants, other legumes or
vegetables can be grown only for the first 1 or 2 years. The water requirement
of these crops should be commensurate with the water requirement of plum plants.
Weeds in Plum Orchard: Many weeds grow in plum orchard.
Cabbage grass, Baro grass, Parthenium and Dub are especially in abundant. These
weeds can be removed by digging. To remove weeds from the space, 10 ml of glysophate
can be mixed in 1 liter of water and sprayed as required, especially in the
rainy season.
Medical Benefits of Plum:
* The use of Plum in summer is
pleasant and soothing.
* Using plum gives the body plenty of
energy and increase appetite.
* To overcome physical weakness,
eating of 10 to 12 Plums every morning and then taking a short walk improves
health in a few days.
* Constipation is relieved by using
dried plum daily at night.
* Plum is also very useful for
patients with high blood pressure.
* Use of dried plum soaked in water is
useful for jaundice and summer heat.
Nutritional Value of Plum:
* Plum is called a capsule of natural
vitamins and minerals due to the presence of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin C,
Thiamine, Riboflavin, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Iron and
Sugar.
* Plum has the highest amount of
vitamin B2. According to modern research, this vitamin is closely related to
human mental health. Therefore, its use is very useful for mental health.
* The iron in plum makes up for the
lack of red-blood-cells.
* Magnesium in plum relieves
irritability and nervous weakness.
Compiled By: Ikram Saeed
WhatsApp: +92 302 4226053
){kind=link}
0 Comments