Cultivation

Cultivation

    Soil
    The crop is adapted to wide range of soil types from sandy loam to loam, which are free from water logging, but a well drained, light loam, rich in organic matter, is reported to be the best suited.

    Climate
    A, annua is a short day, temperate plant, which requires a cold winter and a moderate summer. The critical photoperiod lies between 12 and 16 hours. It can also be cultivated in sub tropical areas as a winter crop. The extreme s of too much shade or high temperature reduces the artimisinin content.

    Propagation
    The crop is propagated by seeds. The seeds are very small in size; therefore direct sowing in the main field does not give good results. Hence, the seedlings are raised in nursery beds and then planted in main field. Two crops can be grown under Indian conditions. The first crop during the late rainy season and the second during summer. The seeds can be sown in the nursery during September October for late rainy season crop and during December for summer crop.

    Nursery raising
    Nursery beds of convenient sizes are prepared and well decomposed FYM at the rate of 10 kg/bed is applied and 250-500 g of seeds mixed with sand are spread uniformly over nursery beds and covered with thin layers of soil or sand. The beds are kept moist frequently and the seeds germinate in about 5-8 days. The seedlings could be ready for transplanting after 6 -8 weeks.

    Transplanting
    The beds are irrigated a day prior to transplanting. Transplanting is done at as pacing of 30-40 cm between rows and 45-60 cm between the plants. Gap filling should be done within 8-10 days of planting. It is advisable to plant two seedlings per hill at the time of transplanting.

    Manures and Fertilizers
    About 10tonnes of FYM and inorganic fertilizer dose of 60-80 kg N, 40-60 kg P2O5 and 60 kg K2O/ha may be applied for a good yield. The full dose of P2O5 and K2O and two third of N is incorporated into the soil at the time of land preparation. The remaining one third of N is applied in two equal split doses at 30 and 60 days after transplanting. A basal application of Borax at the rate of 8kg/ha is recommended.

    Interculture
    The crop requires 2-3 weeding and hoeing during the growth period. The herbicides, Metachlor and Chloramben (2.2 kg/ha) as pre emergent and Trifluralin as post emergent treatment have been found useful for chemical weed control.

    Irrigation
    The field is irrigated frequently for establishment of the crop. Once established, only 3 -4 irrigations are required in all.

    Pests and diseases
    The ant menace can be minimized by mixing about 10 kg/ha of carbaryl dust into the soil at the time of land preparation. Damping off disease can be overcome by adjusting the planting time, so that the bright weather prevails during the first few days in the early stages of establishment.

Last modified: Wednesday, 4 April 2012, 9:12 AM