MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC CROPS (2+1)

Cultivation

Soil and climate
Jasmine can be grown in a variety of climate and soils. Generally, it prefers mild tropical climate for proper growth and flowering. Mild winter, warm summer, moderate rainfall and sunny days are ideal climatic requirement. Loamy garden soils are best-suited for cultivation of all species and varieties. With liberal appli¬cation of manure and assured water supply, jasmines can also be grown suitably in sandy soils. In clayey soil, flower production is hampered to a great extent. It is highly susceptible to water logging. This type of soil can be improved by adding lime and applying organic manures. A mild climate with well-distributed rainfall of 80-100 cm and sunshine all-round the year is desirable.

Propagation
Easy means of propagation is by stem cuttings. High percentage of rooting and increased number of long roots is obtained when cuttings are taken during April-September. The 15cm long shoot tip cuttings having 4 leaves are treated with 4000ppm IBA and planted in vermiculite or sand under mist give best performance in rooting and survival of rooted cuttings. A large number of Jasminum species, can be propagated from stem cuttings under mist in a sand medium with the treatment of 4, 000ppm IBA.

Planting
The land preparation is done by deep ploughing (2 times). The plants are raised through rooting of 20 cm long stem-cuttings, prepared from near mature wood and planted in pits during rainy season, Pits of 30 cmx30 cm size are dug at 1.8 x 1.5m or 2 x 2 m spacing, and connected by a irrigation channel. It is filled with a mixture of top soil and dry leaf powder mixed with farmyard manure to which 15g Aldrex is added to protect the plants from termite attack.

Pruning
The vines are pruned from late-December till mid-January at 90cm length, maintaining 9-11 shoots to obtain maximum flower yield. After pruning, soil around bushes should be dug out to facilitate aeration and induce growth. Sometimes, when vegetative growth is large, a light pruning in July may be done to induce lateral branching and flowering. The plantation needs fortnightly irrigation during dry season.

Manures and fertilizers
The application of 100, 150 and 100g of N, P and K per bush annually produces maximum flower yield. The plantation should be kept weed-free. Spraying of Gramoxone at monthly interval controls weeds. Usually, January-April is ideal season for intercropping to obtain additional income.

Irrigation
Moderate watering is good for jasmine. It is more essential in flowering season. During blossoming, the water should be applied twice a week if there is no rain and once a week during rest of the months. Soon after the cessation of flowering, watering is to be completely stopped until pruning and fertilizer application. With the advancement of cold weather, the plants begin to shed leaves. After pruning and manuring, watering is resumed. With the close of each flowering phase, watering is completely stopped for weeks together till the appearance of fresh flowering buds.