Some Agronomic practice for castor seeds farming 1

1. Preparation of the field

      Plough two-three times with country or mould board plough.

2. Application of Organic Manures

      Spread 12.5 t/ha of FYM or compost evenly on the main field before last ploughing and incorporate in to soil by working a country plough. Apply 30 kg sulphur/ ha through gypsum at the time of last ploughing for higher castor yield.

NOTE: Do not leave FYM or compost exposed to sunlight as nutrients will be lost.

3. SEED RATE

      Adopt a seed rate of 10 kg/ha for varieties and 5 kg/ha for hybrid.

4. SPACING

 Adopt the following spacing.

	Rainfed situation	Irrigated situation
Varieties	90 cm x 60 cm	90 cm x 90 cm
Hybrids	120 cm x 90 cm	150 cm x 120 cm

In irrigated conditions, for clay soils wider spacing of 150 x 150 cm can also be adopted. For TMV 5 short duration variety 60 x 30 cm may be adopted.

5. APPLICATION OF FERTILIZERS

Apply NPK fertilizers basally as per soil test recommendations as far as possible.
If soil test recommendations are not available, follow the blanket recommendation as follows

	Recommended  NPK kg/ ha
Rainfed conditions
Varieties	45 : 15 : 15 NPK kg / ha
Hybrids	60 : 30 : 30 NPK kg / ha
Irrigated condition
Varieties	60 : 30 : 30 NPK kg / ha
Hybrids	90 : 45 : 45 NPK kg / ha

• In rainfed situations apply 100% P & 50% N&K basally & remaining quantity may be applied in one or two top dressings based on the soil moisture availability.
• In irrigated situations apply 100% P & 50% N&K as basal & remaining quantity N&K may be applied in two equal splits at 30th & 60th DAS.
• Apply 12.5 kg ZnSO4 ha-1 (if the soil available Zn is < 1.2 ppm) and 25 kg FeSO 4 ha-1 (if the soil available Fe is < 3.7 ppm for non calcareous soil and < 6.3 ppm for calcareous soil )

6. PRE TREATMENT OF SEEDS

• Treat the seeds with Carbendazim @ 2 g/kg of seed.
• Soak the seeds in water for 20 hours.
• In rainfed situations, seed priming with 1% Kcl for 3 hours and sowing a week before onset of monsoon is recommended.

7. SOWING

• Sow the seeds adopting the recommended spacing.
• Place the seeds at depth 4 - 6 cm.
• Put one seed in each hole.

8. GAP FILLING

Gap fill on the 15th day of sowing and simultaneously thinning may be done leaving one healthy plant.

9. WEED MANAGEMENT

Apply pre emergence herbicide Pendimethalin @ 3 lit/ha or Fluchloralin @ 2 lit/ha on 3 DAS followed by hand weeding twice on 20th & 40th DAS.

10. INTERCROPPING

      Raise one row of castor for every six rows of groundnut. In the case of late receipt of monsoon blackgram + castor at 6:1 ratio is recommended. Or Intercropping of castor with Blackgram or Greengram in 1:2 ratio is recommended for rainfed situation. Intercropping of castor with onion in 1:2 ratio by adopting 1.5 m x 1.0 m spacing is recommended for irrigated situation.

11. HARVESTING THE CROP

      Observe the crop considering the average duration of the variety.

• One or more capsules show sign of drying.
• Cut the matured racemes without damaging the secondaries.
• Dry the capsule in the sun without heaping it in the shade.
• Use castor sheller to separate the seeds or beat the dried capsule with wooden planks, winnow and collect the seeds.

As culled from Tinau Agritech Portal, India.

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