INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Taxonomical classification

Family = Juglandaceae
Genus = Juglans
Species = regia
Basic chromosome = 16

INTRODUCTION
  • Walnut is one of the important nut fruit of the world cultivated mostly in semi-cold regions.
  • The wild seedling of walnut have been found in growing in vast regions right from the Carpathian mountains in Eastern Europe across Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Southern USSR and Afghanistan to the North-Western Himalayas.
  • It is e believed to have originated in Iran and the areas surrounding it.
  • The returning army of Alexander brought it to Europe from Iran.
  • Almost all plant parts of walnut are utilized in one way or the other.
  • The fruit has excellent flavor and is mainly consumed as a dry fruit being eaten for table purposes.
  • The Kernels contains about 60-75% fat and oil, 16%carbohydrate, 15% Protein.
  • Wood is used for making valuable furniture.
Area and production
  • It is grown extensively in USA, China, France, Italy, Turkey, Poland, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Iran.
  • In India, it is grown in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, HP and Uttarakhand and occupies an area of 41840 ha. with a production of 32000 MT.
  • In HP the area under walnut is 46282 ha. and production is 1294MT (Annon., 2009-10).

14.1

Climate and Soil:-
  • Walnut is grown in successfully in all parts of the Himalayan region between the elevation of 1200 to 2150 m a m s l.
  • The main climatic limitations for climatic limitations for walnuts are
(a) Spring and fall frosts.
(b) Extreme summer heat and
(c) In- sufficient winter chilling.
  • The plants can tolerate as low as –11oC during deep dormancy with out serious damage but as soon as growth commences after dormancy, the temperature even 2 or 3 oC below freezing point (0oC) kills leaves, shoots and flower thus resulting in crop failure.
  • Like wise the plants which continue to grow till late during fall are subjected to serious foliage damage by frost.
  • High temperature more than 38oC causes sun burning of hulls and shriveling of kernels resulting into blank nuts. The damage are further aggravated if the humidity is low and temperatures exceeds above 40oC.
  • Persistently lower summer temperature is not favorable for proper filling of the nuts.
  • The cool growing season delay harvest. Like other temperate fruits, walnut require certain amount of chilling period to break bud dormancy.
  • In the absence of adequate chilling, the bud opening and blooming are irregular and delayed resulting in poor crop.
  • The chilling requirement varies with the cultivars and ranges from 700 to 1500 hrs.
  • Walnut do well in mild climate with moderate rainfall. An annual rainfall of about 80-90 cm, well distributed throughout the season. is considered sufficient for the cultivation of walnut.
  • Walnut grows well on fertile, well drained sandy loam or silt loam soil with a depth of 5-6 feet.
  • The soil pH should be 5.5 to 6.5.
Varieties
  • The walnuts plantation in India are of seedling origin, however some cultivars introduced from USA and France are under test. The survey of walnut germplasm in the e states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have resulted in identifying potential seedlings which have been released as cultivars.
Exotic varieties
Hartley, Payne, Franquette, Serr, Sunland, Chico, Vina, Howard, Chandler, Tehana, Tulari, Lara

Local selections
Gobind, Pratap selection, Solding selection, Kotkhai Selection, Kashmir budded, Wilson Wonder, Chakrata Selection, Sulaman and Hamdam.
Last modified: Tuesday, 26 June 2012, 9:48 PM