Spices and Condiments (1+1)

Cultivation

Propagation
Curry leaf is propagated through seeds. Raising seedlings in the nursery and then planting them in the main field is the normal practice that is being followed. For raising seedlings, good and well-ripened fruits should be harvested from high yielding mother trees. Though there is stray flowering and fruit set throughout the year, the main season of availability of curry leaf fruits is July-August. Within 3-4 days of the collection of fruits, the seeds should be pulped and sown in nursery beds or polybags filled with soil and FYM. If seed sowing is delayed there will be a drastic deterioration in the germination of the seeds. Each fruit contains about 2-3 seeds.
The nursery beds should be prepared in a well-drained area since water stagnation will severely affect germination. Beds of 1 m x 1 m size with 30 cm height are formed. Adequate FYM should be applied before preparing the beds. Lines are drawn at a spacing of 10 cm and seeds are sown in these lines. The seeds will germinate in about three weeks' time. The seedlings can also be raised in polybags. One-year-old seedlings are best suited for planting. Even young seedlings of about 3 months of age (20 cm in height) are planted in 15 cm3 pits. A protocol has been developed for the in vitro propagation of curry leaf.