Strawberry cultivation for the farmers of Odisha and Chattishgarh

**pic.#1 Strawberry cultivation using black polythene mulching.**

Strawberry (Fragaria annanasa Dutch) is an important temperate as well as sub-tropical fruit crop and can be commercially grown in states like Odisha and Chhattisgarh with subtropical climatic condition. The fresh ripe fruits of strawberry with 98% edible portion are rich source of Vitamin C and iron making it a very nutritious fruit. Apart from fresh consumption, these fruits can also be processed into various value-added products like canned strawberry, jam, jelly, ice-cream, wine and other soft drinks. Due to its increasing demand in urban India, its potential area of cultivation is on a hike in plains and southern hills of India. In India it is mostly grown in Haryana, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar. As per NHB data 2016-17, Haryana is having highest area and production of strawberry cultivation in India followed by Mizoram and Meghalaya. But Odisha and Chhattisgarh are the states having great potential for growing such an export oriented and high value fruit crop provided by proper scientific package and practices which are given below. All parts of these two states mostly hilly areas of Odisha (Kandhamal, Koraput, Eastern ghats and other hills) and Chhattisgarh (Ambikapur, Bastar) are very much suitable for cultivation of strawberry.

PACKAGE AND PRACTICES

Climate and Soil:

A temperate to sub-tropical climate is suitable for strawberry cultivation, requiring a temperature range of 15-25^oC for better growth of the plants. Although strawberry grows well under temperate climate but some cultivars are also suitable for growing under sub-tropical climate. Daylight period of 12 hr or less and moderate temperature are important for flower-bud formation. Sandy loam soil with a pH range of 5.7-6.5 is suitable for this cultivation.

Suitable varieties:

Winter Down and Cheema Rosa is the most suitable cultivar of strawberry under the agroclimatic conditions of Odisha and Chattisgarh where as other varieties such as Fortuna, Florida Beauty, Festival, , Sweet Charlie, Sweet Sensation, R-1, R-2, Nabila are some of the suitable varieties can be grown in Odisha and Chhattisgarh under both open field as well as protected cultivation.

Planting material:

Strawberry is commercially propagated by runner plants. For large scale cultivation tissue culture plants can be used. Planting material requirement of strawberry is 20-25 thousands per acre.

Land preparation and Planting:

Soil is ploughed repeatedly during summer to make soil friable followed by removal of weeds and stubbles. Soil fumigation with a mixture of methyl bromide and chloropicrin helps to increase root system, reduce fertilizer requirement and control the weeds. In the climate of Odisha and Chhattisgarh, its commercial cultivation is done in the month of September to March in the open field condition, whereas inside the protected structure it can be grown round the year except from April to July. Within this period, crop can be harvested 5-6 times.

A spacing of 30 cm x 60 cm or 30 cm x 30 cm with a population of 20,000 to 22,000 plants per acre can be adopted. Planting can be done in two rows or three rows on a 1 m wide, 30-35cm raised bed with 90-120 cm spacing between beds. The raised beds are fitted with drip lines for irrigation and covered with polythene or straw mulch. Mulching is very much essential as it conserves the soil moisture, prevents any weed growth ultimately reducing labour cost for weeding and prevents the fruits from touching the ground and getting damaged.

Irrigation and Fertiliser dose:

Strawberry being a shallow-rooted plant requires more frequent but less amount of water in irrigation. Excessive irrigation can lead to growth of leaves and stolon at the expense of fruits & flowers and also increases the incidence of Botrytis rot.

A fertilizer dose of 25-50 tonnes farmyard manure, 75-100 kg N, 40-120 kg P₂O₅ and 40-80 kg K₂O per ha can be applied according to soil type and variety planted.

Flowering and Fruiting:

Flowering occurs at 40-60 days after planting. Gibberellic acid (GA) @ 30-50 mgL^-1 is sprayed 4 days after flowering along with Malic hydrazide@ 0.01-0.03% during flowering for better fruit growth and increase in yield by 31-41%. Morphactin@ 50 mgL^-1 increases the fruit size. Fruiting comes after 60-70 days of planting and takes about 20-22 days for physiological maturity. Albinism (lack of fruit colour during ripening) is a physiological disorder in strawberry where fruits remain irregularly pink or even totally white and sometimes swollen, less firm having acid taste. This is very rare in this climatic condition.

Harvesting and Yield:

Strawberries are generally harvested at a stage of >75% skin colour change (for distant market) and 90% colour change (for local market) from apex to the base of the fruit. Picking is done along with the stalk 1-2 inches from the calyx and collected in small trays or baskets usually in the early morning hours on every second or third day. Fruits should be kept in a shady place to avoid damage due to excessive heat in the open field and pre-cooled at 4^oC within 2 hr of harvesting. After pre-cooling they can be shipped in refrigerated vans for storage or to distant market. Fresh fruits can be stored in cold storage at 0-2^oC and up to 7 days. 90-95% optimum humidity is maintained to prevent water loss and avoid shrivelling. Don’t wash the berries until just before eating or preserving. Average fruit yield is 700-1000 g per plant.

Marketing:

The fruits can be sold in local as well as national and international market in a profitable price. Fruits are washed properly and graded as per their weight, size and colour. For long distance markets fruits are packed in small plastic packets of 200-300g capacity. These fruits generally fetch a market price of Rs. 150-200 per kg in Indian markets.

We offer support in providing planting materials and marketing of the produce except any logistic supports. This is prepared after thorough analysis of research data from different research scholars of India.

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