Fig 1.1
Crop: Sapota
Scientific name : Achyrus zapota syn Manilkhara achras
Common / Local Name : Chiku
Fig 1.2
Fig 1.3
Sapota or chikku or sapodilla is an important fruit crop native to tropical America. It is a crop of tropical regions and in warm (15-38 o C) and humid (70% RH) climate, it flowers and fruits throughout the year. In subtropics or higher elevation, it gives only one crop from summer flowering in April and May.
Field should be ploughed thoroughly and pits of size 60 cu.cm should be dug out. After weathering, pits should be filled with top dug out soil along with 10kg FYM + 1kg Neem cake + 5 kg Rock phosphate + 1.5 kg MOP and 100g Lindane per pit.
Planting is normally done at the onset of monsoon and due care should be taken so that the graft joint is at least 15 cm above the ground level. After planting, the soil around the roots is firmly pressed and the grafts have to be staked using two strong pegs and a rope. Grafts should be planted at a spacing of 7-8 m between plants and rows. The plants should be trained properly up to 3-4 years. The lower most branches up to a height of 60cm to 1 m should be removed. For better fruit set and yield, planting of more than one variety or tree is advocated.
Cricket ball: also known as Calcutta large, fruits are large and round, pulp is gritty, granular and moderately sweet. The variety performs well in both arid and humid climate
Kalipatti: it is leading variety of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Northern Karnataka. Fruits are oval shaped, less seeded with a sweet mellow flesh of excellent quality and mild flavour.
PKM-1: A clonal selection from variety Guthi, dwarf statured tree, popular variety in Tamil Nadu with thin skin, buttery and very sweet pulp.
DHS-1: A hybrid between Kalipatti and Cricket Ball. Tree is vigorous, bearing round to slightly oblong fruits, with very sweet, soft granular and mellowing flesh.
DHS-2: A hybrid between Kalipatti and Cricket Ball. High yielder, yielding 25 to 30 % more than cricket ball and kalipatti, with very sweet, soft, granular and mellowing, light orange brown pulp.
Other varieties: CO 1, CO 2 and CO 3, PKM 2 and 3, Pala, Kirthibarthi, Baramasi and Dwarapudi.
Recommendation: DHS1,DHS 2A dose of FYM @ 20-25 kg and NPK as given below should be applied in two split doses. Full dose of FYM and half of chemical fertilizers should be applied at the beginning of monsoon season (April-May) and remaining half towards the end of the monsoon (October). In case of appearance of deficiency symptoms, foliar sprays of ZnSO4 and FeSO4 @ 0.5% are recommended.
Table 1
Age of tree |
N |
Urea |
P2O5 |
Rock Phosphate |
K2O |
MOP |
g/plant/year |
g/plant/year |
g/plant/year |
||||
1-3 |
50 |
110 |
20 |
65 |
75 |
120 |
4-6 |
100 |
220 |
40 |
135 |
150 |
240 |
7-10 |
200 |
440 |
80 |
265 |
300 |
480 |
11 and above |
400 |
880 |
160 |
525 |
450 |
720 |
Irrigate once in 5-6 days
Weeding as and when required to keep field clean
Removal of rootstock sprouts, water shoots, criss cross and lower branches should be undertaken periodically. Short duration fruits like papaya, pine apple, vegetable crops and legumes can be raised as intercrop during pre bearing stage.
Sapota grafts start yielding from third to fourth year of planting. A mature fruit is dull brown in colour and the colour immediately below the skin when scratched is on lighter shade, whereas in the immature fruit it is green. The brown scaly material disappears from fruit surface, the milky latex content gets reduced and the dried stigma persisting at the tip of the fruit falls off easily as fruit approaches full maturity. A seven year old tree yields 700 fruits and a 10 year old tree yields 1000 to 1100 fruits per year. The fruits are available in two seasons ie from February to June and September to October.
Dessert, Leather, Flakes, Cheese etc
Input availability |
Address/Contact details |
| Plant | UAS, Dharwad |
Fertilizers |
For detailed list kindly click here |
Pesticides |
For detailed list kindly click here |
| Machineries | Goa Bagayatdar Stores |
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