Agriculture in srilanka

Botany of coconut plant

The Roots

The palm has adventitious roots continually produced from the base of the trunk, which is the swollen part or what is termed 'bole', in tall types and in some dwarf hybrids.
It has no taproot or root hairs but has lots of primary roots which bear large quantities of rootlets.
The main roots grow out somewhat horizontally from the bole and are mostly found within the topsoil. The main branches grow deeper and may extend laterally to as much as 10 m.
The roots, having no cambium, are noticeably uniform - the main roots reaching a maximum diameter of about 1 cm. The root tip is the actively growing region and behind it is the absorbing area whose epidermis is a single layer of thin-walled cells that gradually thicken and become impervious with age.
In old roots, the epidermis disintegrates and exposes the hard hypodermis which is generally red.
The root centre has a stele surrounded by a single-celled pericycle sheath from which rootlets and aerenchymatous (respiratory exchange) protuberances or pneumatophores arise. The respiratory exchange occurs more abundantly nearer the soil surface to allow easy diffusion of root.

Coconut Root System

Stem

The stem is called as trunk
It is unbranched, erect, stout and cylindrical
The leaf base encircles the stem as they have scars with pit mark on the trunk
The scars are helpful in determining the age of the tree. Based on these 12 to 14 scars, the age can be computed for a year
First few years there is increased growth in the thickness of the stem
The girth remains uniform for a number of years and finally tapers in growth when the tree grows very old
The trunk carries a big crown with large sized leaves and bunches of fruits

Transverse Section of Coconut Stem	Light Micrograph of a Transverse Section of Coconut Stem	Cross Section of Coconut Stem at Breast Height

Cross Section of Coconut Stem with Density Zones	Schematic Density Distribution in Mature Coconut Stem	Use of the Coconut Stem

Leaf

The leaves are crowded together at the top of the trunk in the form of a crown
The young leaf appears in the centre of the crown as a pointed structure having all the leaves closely held together
It takes five months for the complete development of a leaf from the time of initiation to its complete emergence
The crown has 15 open leaves, 15 younger leaves in different stages of development
The leaf consists of many leaflets arranged obliquely on the mid-rib or rachis
Each leaflet is long, linear, has a strong mid-rib with narrow lamina and parallel venation
The petiole is flat, very thick, broad and sheathe with fibre at the base and encircles the stem

Coconut Leaf

Inflorescence

It takes 34 months for the inflorescence to develop from the initiation to the opening of the spathe
The spadix is stout and erect, enclosed by the tough spathe which splits when inflorescence is mature
The axis of the inflorescence is branched, with the branches bearing sessile flowers, both staminate and pistillate
The palm is monoceious with male and female flowers on the same plant
Staminate flowers are small, numerous and are arranged closely on the secondary branches of the inflorescence
They have six perianth lobes in two whorls and the outer perianth are small, the inner perianth is bigger
Stamens are six and plenty of pollen is produced. An abortive psitillate or rudimentary ovary is present in the staminate flower. The pollen grains are spherical in shape and are smooth
Pistillate flowers are at about the base of the branches substened by one or two staminate flowers
They are small spherical structure known as ‘button’
Six perianth lobes in two whorls arranged imbricate and more or less of the same size and shape
The perianth is rounded, concave and whitish, the stigma is found at the base of the ovary

Coconut Inflorescence

Coconut Flower Inside View

Male and Female Flower

Coconut Flower - Close View

fruit

Once pollination and fertilization occur, fruits set and develop to maturity in about 12 months, or less than 1 year for some dwarf cultivars. A count of bunch and fruit set can give a reasonable estimate of yield.
Fruit is drupe, having three regions and one seeded .On the outside is the husk
The fruit is developed from a tricarpellary ovary
The outer layers of pericarp are fibrous called as husk which is initially green but turns brown after being picked and dried.
The endocarp is very hard and forms the shell
Within the endocarp, soft white endosperm enclosing inside a big cavity filled with extra-cellular fluid called as "coconut milk." The seed coat, which is thin, and then the white flesh or copra. Both the copra and the milk are the endosperm of this seed
Initially the milk is fairly sweet and the copra is thin, but as the seed matures, the liquid is converted into solid endosperm rich in oils (triglycerides)
The endosperm or the kernel also contains sucrose, fructose, galactose, glucose and raffinose
The moisture content in the kernel diminishes as the maximum quantity of oil is formed when the nuts are 9-10 months old
Liquid endosperm contains large quantities of cytokinin hormone which is useful to grow plants in test tubes from single cells and this develops into embryos

Immature Coconut Fruit	Young Coconut	Tender Coconut
Mature Coconut Fruit	Raw Coconut Cross	Section of a Coconut

Coconut Endosperm	Comparison of Early and Late Germination
Photo Illustration of a Germinated Coconut

Varieties

List of Tall Varieties

List of Dwarf Varieties (Tender coconut)

List of Hybrid Varieties

Variety	Main Characteristics	Germination	Examples
Talls	Thick stem with swollen base (bole). Late flowering (5–6 year from out planting). Little or no overlapping of male and female phases of an inflorescence encouraging out crossing	Early	‘Malayan Tall’, ‘Bali Tall’, ‘Tagnanan Tall’, ‘San Ramon Tall
Talls		Late	‘West African Tall’, ‘Rennel Tall’, ‘Samoan Tall’, ‘Polynesian Tall’, ‘Solomon Tall’, ‘Vanuatu Tall’, ‘Gazelle (PNG) Tall’, ‘Jamaica Tall’, ‘Panama Tall’
Dwarfs	Slender stem with short internodes. Bole slight or absent. Early flowering (3 year from out planting). Considerable overlapping of male and female phases of an inflorescence resulting in self-pollination	Intermediate	‘Malayan Red’, ‘Yellow’ and ‘Green’ Dwarfs, ‘Cameroon Red’ Dwarf, ‘Nias Green’ and ‘Nias Yellow’ Dwarfs, ‘PNG Brown’ Dwarf, ‘Samoan Yellow’ Dwarf’
Dwarfs		Intermediate	‘Niu Leka’, also known as ‘Fiji Dwarf ’ and ‘Samoan Dwarf’

Soil

Light sandy soils to heavy soils with a pH - 5.2 to 8.0. Proper drainage, good water-holding capacity, presence of water table within 3 m and absence of rock or any hard substratum within 2 m of the surface.
Altitude: 600 to 900 m
Rainfall: 200 cm per year.

Planting seasons
June - July, December - January
The planting can also be taken up in other seasons wherever irrigation and drainage facilities are available.

Planting Material
Selection of Seed Gardens

Gardens should have palms with a high proportion of heavy bearers but it should be kept in mind that this must not be from very favourable conditions Garden should be free from the pest and disease incidence.
Trees growing closer to households, cattle shed, compost pits should be avoided.
Certain centres are well known for good quality seed nuts and seedlings, e.g., in Kerala, Kuttiadi in Kozhikode and Chavakkad in Thrissur districts.

Mother Palm Selection
For production of quality planting materials it is essential to have good quality mother palms of the desired varieties. In the absence of commercially viable vegetative propagation techniques only seed propagation is possible. Therefore mother palm selection is a key factor in planting material production of coconut.
The important features of superior mother palms are:

Regular bearer : A good regular bearing mother palm produces on an average one leaf and an inflorescence in its axil every month. So, there will be twelve bunches of varying stages of maturity at any one time with strong bunch stalks. Avoid trees producing habitually barren nuts.
Straight stout trunk with even growth and closely spaced leaf scars.
Spherical or semi spherical crown,
High rate of leaf (more than 30 fully opened leaves) and spathe production (12 inflorescences)
Short and stout petiole and wide leaf base firmly attached to the stem,
Short and stout inflorescence stalk with bunches, preferably resting on the leaf petioles of the lower whorl and more number of female flowers (25 or more)
The age of the palm chosen be middle age i.e., from 25 to 40 years. Even trees with 15 years age can be selected, if it is high yielding and has stabilized yield.(e.g., Chowghat dwarf). Avoid palms that are above 60 years.
High yielding mother palms giving not less than 100 nuts/palm/annum under irrigated condition (70-80 nuts/annum under rain fed conditions) should be chosen for collecting seednuts
Husked nuts should weigh not less than 600 g.
Mean copra content of 150 g per nut or more
Free from pest and diseases.

Avoid palms which have the following characteristics

Palms have long, thin and pendulous inflorescence stalks
Palms produce long, narrow, small sized or barren nuts
Palms showing alternate bearing tendency also should be avoided.
Palms show shedding of immature nuts in large numbers and
Palms are grown under favorable environmental conditions. E.g. Trees near manure pits.

Ideal Mother Palm

Healthy Coconut Palm

Regular Bearer

Unhealthy Coconut Palm

High Rate Leaves

Spherical Crown

Straight Stout Trunk

Strategies for Root Wilt Diseased Tracts
In the root wilt disease prevalent tracts, in the midst of heavily diseased palms, high yielding disease free West Coast Tall (WCT), Chowghat green dwarf (CGD) and Chowghat Orange Dwarf (COD) palms are found. Such palms can be selected as mother palms and open pollinated nuts of those palms can be used for large scale planting material production. Seedlings produced from these palms are expected to be high yielding and disease free.

Maturity of Seed Nut
The mature nuts are harvested when at least one nut in the oldest bunch starts becoming dry. In Tall varieties, it takes 11-12 months to become a matured seed nut whereas in dwarfs, nuts will mature in 10-11 months after emergence of the inflorescence. They produce a resonant and ringing sound when hit with the harvesting knife or tapped by finger indicating that the husk is dry. Immature nuts will produce a dull sound. Harvest the bunches intended for seed nut by lowering them to the ground using a rope to avoid injury to seed nuts when palms are tall and ground is hard. The seed nuts should be medium sized, round or oblong in shape.

Selection of Seed Nuts
Harvest seed nuts during the months of February - August in Tamil Nadu, December to May in Kerala to get maximum germination and good quality seedlings. Tall varieties are sown one or two months after collection whereas dwarfs should be sown immediately after harvest (within 10 to 15 days).

Healthy Coconut Fruits	Selected Healthy Nuts	Ideal Seed Nut

Immature and Disease Affected Coconut Fruits	Disease Infested Coconut Fruits	Discarded Seed Nuts

Storage of Seed Nuts
To get more quality seedlings, the seed nuts of tall and hybrid are to be air cured for one month followed by sand curing for two months. For dwarf varieties, the air curing should be lesser than one month followed by sand curing for two months. In general seed nuts of tall variety are stored up to two months after harvest and dwarfs are sown within 15 days. For storing, arrange the seed nuts with the stalk-end up over an 8 cm layer of sand in a shed and cover with sand to prevent drying of nut water. Up to five layers of nuts can be arranged one over the other. The nuts can also be stored in plots, provided the soil is sandy and the ground is sufficiently shaded. In the case of nuts harvested in May, heap them in partial shade, till husk is well dried and then sow them in the nursery. Nuts without splashing sound indicate that the nut water has become dry and hence they should not be used for sowing.

Shaded with Coconut Tree

Good Storage of Nuts

Seed Nut Dipping - Dipping in Copperoxychloride (COC)

Seed Nut Dipping

Nursery management
Nursery Area

Select nursery area in a well drained plot with coarse texture soil near water source for irrigation. Nursery can be raised in the open space with artificial shade or in the adult coconut garden.

Nursery Bed Preparation
1.5 m Width with Convenient Length	75 cm Space Between Beds		Levelled Beds

Small Length Sized Beds		Well Prepared Nursery Beds

Nursery Structure
Nursery Area between Coconut	Raised Nursery Bed		50 % Shaded Nursery	Nursery under Partial Shade in Coconut Plantation

Seed Nut Planting

Plant seed nuts in a long and narrow bed at a spacing of 30 x 30 cm either horizontally or vertically in deep trenches with 20-25 cm depth. Five rows of nuts may be planted in each bed accommodating 50 nuts per row.

Planting Seed Nuts

Prepared Bed for Planting	Nursery Bed	Bed Preparation	Planting Seed Nuts Properly
Placing Seed Nuts Horizontally	Top Portion of Nuts Visible	Seedling Growth from Top Portion of Nuts	Seedling Growth from Visible Portion of Nuts

Intercultural Operations in Nursery

Irrigate the nursery beds once in three days.
Keep the nursery free of weeds. To manage the weed problem in coconut nursery, growing sun hemp 2 times (each harvested at flowering stage) followed by one hand weeding at 6th month was found to be very effective besides yielding green manure for manuring the adult coconut palms.
Provide shade to the nursery by raising Sesbania or Leucaena on the sides of beds.
The seed nuts start germination 6 – 8 weeks after planting and germination continues upto six months. Select seedlings that germinate before 5 months after planting. Remove those nuts which do not germinate 5 months after sowing.
Regularly survey for pest and diseases.

Irrigation Channel	Irrigated after Planting	Irrigated Nursery	Seedling Emergence
Seedling Emergence Field	2 Months Old Seedlings	3 Months Old Seedlings	4 Months Old Seedlings
5 Months Old Seedlings	8 Months Old Seedlings	9 Months Old Seedlings	10 Month Old Seedling
Top Portion of Seedling Husk Visibling	Late Germination	Well Germinated Seedlings	Hand Weeding in Nursery
Seed to Seedling

Selection of Seedlings

Select seedlings 9 to 12 months after planting. Seedlings, which have germinated earlier, having good girth at collar and early splitting of leaflets, should be selected for planting.

Healthy Root System

Pest and Disease Free Seedling

Ideal Well Growth Seedling

Discarded Seedling
Do not select the seed nuts which have just germinated. Eliminate the seedlings which are deformed or having stunted growth.

Bud Rot Affected Seedling

Deformed Seed Nut

Disease Affected Seedling

Stunted Growth Seedling

Stunted Root Growth Seedling

Seedling Harvesting

Remove the seedlings from the nursery by lifting with spade. Do not pull out the seedlings by pulling leaves or stem.
Select quality seedlings with a minimum of 6 leaves and girth of 10 cm at collar.

Spacing
Adopt a spacing of 25' x 25' (7.5 x 7.5 m) with 175 plants/ha. For planting in field border as a single row, adopt 20' spacing between plants.

Planting
Dug pit size of 3’ x 3' x 3'. In the pits, sprinkle Lindane 1.3 % D to prevent white ant damage. Fill the pit to a height of two feet (60 cm) with FYM, red earth and sand mixed in equal proportions. At the center of the pit, remove the soil mixture and plant the seedling after removing all the roots. Press the soil well around the seedling and provide the seedling with shade by using plaited coconut leaves or palmyrah leaves. Keep the pits free from weeds. Remove soil covering the collar region. As the seedlings grow and form stem, fill up the pits gradually by cutting the sides.

Seedling Ready for Planting	Planted Seedling		Basin Formation for Seedling

Shade to Transplanted Seedling		Gap Filling

Water management

From 5th year onwards, adopt the following irrigation schedule based on pan evaporation for drip irrigation and basin irrigation.

Western region of Tamil Nadu

Months	Normal condition (for best yield)	Moderate water scarcity condition	Severe water scarcity condition
A. Drip irrigation
February to May	65 lit / day	45 lit/ day	22 lit / day
January, August and September	55 lit / day	35 lit / day	18 lit/day
June and July, October to December	45 lit / day	30 lit/ day	15 lit / day
B. Basin irrigation
February to May	410 lit / 6 days *
January, August and September	410 lit /7 days*
June and July, October to December	410 lit /9 days*

Eastern region of Tamil Nadu

Months	Normal condition (for best yield)	Moderate water scarcity condition	Severe water scarcity condition
A. Drip irrigation
March - September	80 lit / day	55 lit / day	27 lit/day
October – February	50 lit / day	35 lit/ day	18 lit /day
B. Basin irrigation
March – September	410 lit / 5 days*
October – February	410 lit /8 days*

* Quantity of water to be applied in the basin. Add 30 - 40 % of the above quantity of water (135 -165 litres/palm) to meet the conveyance loss.

Drip irrigation in coconut
Root zone of coconut for moisture absorption is concentrated in a circular area of 200 cm radius around the base of coconut tree up to a depth of 100 cm. Irrigating coconut trees by a set of four drippers set equidistant in a circle 100 cm away from the base of the tree and discharging water at the rate of 30 l/h for 2.5 h with a irrigation frequency of 8 days can maximize the wetting area of soils in the effective root zone of coconut.

Basin system

Drought management and soil moisture conservation

a. Mulching with coconut husks/leaves/coir pith

Apply coconut husks with convex surface facing upwards (100 Nos.) or dried coconut leaves (15 Nos) or coir pith up to a height of 10 cm in the basin of 1.8 m radius around the palms as mulch for soil moisture conservation particularly during summer season.

b. Burial of coconut husk or coir pith

Husk burial can be done in coconut basins or in the interspaces to overcome drought and button shedding. Bury husks @ 100 Nos. with concave surface facing upwards or 25 kg of coir pith /palm in circular trenches, dug 30 cm width and 60 cm depth at 1.5 metres radius. The husk can be also buried in the trenches at a distance of 3 m from the palm with a size of 45 cm deep and 150 cm width in between two rows of coconut. The soaking of the coconut husk or coir pith as the case may be preserves the monsoon rains.

Manuring

Age(Years)	FYM(kg/tree)	Urea(kg/tree)	Super Phosphate(kg/tree)	Muriate of Potash(kg/tree)
1	10	0.308 (140 g N)	0.500 (80 g P2O5)	0.480 (300 g K2O)
2	20	0.616 (280 g N)	1.000 (160 g P2O5)	0.960 (600 g K2O)
3	30	0.924 (420 g N)	1.500 (240 g P2O5)	1.440 (900 g K2O)
4	40	1.23 (560 g N)	2.000 (320 g P2O5)	1.920 (1200 g K2O)
5th year onwards	50	1.23 (560 g N)	2.000 (320 g P2O5)	1.920 (1200 g K2O)

Apply manures and fertilizers in circular basins of 1.8 m from the base of the palm, incorporate and irrigate. The fertilizers may applied in two split doses, in June – July and in December to January.

Green Manure in Coconut

TNAU Coconut tonic
For nut bearing coconut, root feed TNAU coconut tonic @200ml/palm once in six months.

Bio-fertilizer recommendation

Mix 50 g of Azospirillum, 50 g of Phosphobacteria ( or ) 100 g Azophos and 50 g of VAM in sufficient quantity of compost or FYM and apply near feeding roots once in 6 months / palm starting from planting. Don’t mix with chemical fertilizers and pesticides

Organic recycling

Any one of the green manure crops like sunnhemp, Calapagonium or Daincha may be sown and ploughed in situ at the time of flowering as a substitute of compost to be applied. Sow sunnhemp @ 50 g/palm in the basin and incorporate before flowering. Coir pith compost/vermicompost made from coir pith/ coconut leaves/ other wastes from coconut grove can be applied.

Inter-cultural operation weed management

The inter-space in the coconut garden has to be ploughed twice in a year in June - July and December - January. Intercultural operation is essential to keep weed population under check, to enhance the utilisation of the applied plant nutrients by the coconut trees, to facilitate proper aeration to the roots of coconut, to induce fresh root growth.

Weed management

For the broad-leaved weeds, pre-emergence spraying of atrazine @1.0 kg a.i./ ha for the control of grasses and sedges. Post emergence spraying of glyphosate @ 10 ml and 20 g ammonium sulphate/litre of water.

Weed free coconut garden

Inter cropping

Inter/mixed crops may be selected based on the climatic requirement of the inter/mixed crop, irrigation facilities and soil type. The canopy size, age and spacing of the coconut are also to be considered. Market suitability should be taken into consideration before selecting an intercrop.

A. Below 7 years of age: Any suitable annual crop for particular soil type and climatic condition may be raised as intercrops upto 5 years after planting depending upon the canopy coverage. Groundnut, sesamum, sunflower, tapioca, turmeric and banana can be grown. Avoid crops like paddy and sugarcane etc.

B. 7 – 20 years of age: Green manure crops and fodder crops (Napier grass and guinea grass) alone can be grown.

C. Above 20 years of age (20 years of age has to be adjusted based on the sunlight transmission of above 50% inside the canopy): The following crops can be grown depending on the soil and climatic suitability.
Annuals: Groundnut, bhendi, turmeric, tapioca, sweet potato, sirukizhangu, elephant foot yam, ginger, pineapple
Biennials: Banana varieties Poovan and Monthan are suitable.
Perennials: Cocoa*, pepper*(Panniyur 1 or Panniyur 2 or Panniyur 5 or Karimunda), nutmeg* and vanilla*
*Suitable areas in Pollachi tract of western region and Kanyakumari district. For vanilla, use disease free planting material and maintain high vigilance to maintain a disease free crop.

Multiple cropping system

Coconut + banana + sirukizhangu + bhendi is suitable system for the eastern region. Crops like banana, pepper, cocoa, nutmeg, vanilla can be tried under multiple cropping system in suitable areas in the western region. In all the systems, apply recommended quantity of water and manures and fertilizers to the intercrops separately.

Intercropping with Banana	Intercropping with Turmeric	Intercropping with Arecanut	Intercropping with Tapioca
Intercropping with Onion & Turmeric	Intercropping with Maize	Intercropping with Sorghum

Harvesting

Twelve months old nuts are harvested at the interval of 30-45 days for seed as well as copra making and culinary purposes.
For household use keep the nuts in vertical direction. However, for tender nut purposes 7 to 8 months old nuts are harvested. The nuts can be harvested using coconut climbers.
Nuts which are 11 months old give fiber of good quality. This is suitable for coir fiber.
In case of tall the nuts harvested for seed purpose can be stored for 2 to 3 months period before sowing, whereas in case of dwarfs and hybrids, nuts should be sown with in a period of 10 –15 days of harvest.
On an average, we can have eight harvests, though the coconut palm produces inflorescence every month.

Coconut Harvesting Equipments (Traditional Method)	Coconut Harvest	Collecting of Harvested Coconuts
Tree Climber	Harvesting by Tree Climber	Coconut Dehusker

Marketing

Mobile Marketing

Road Side Market

Regulated Market

Yield

S.No	Variety	Nut yield (Nos / tree / year)	Earlyness (year)
1	Hybrid	100	3 - 5
2	Tall	60 - 80	6 - 7
3	Dwarf (tender coconut)	70 - 90	4 - 5

Pest and disease management

A. Pest management

Pests	Management strategies
Rhinoceros beetle Oryctes rhinoceros	Remove and burn all dead coconut trees in the garden (which are likely to serve as breeding ground) to maintain good sanitation. Collect and destroy the various bio-stages of the beetle from the manure pits (breeding ground of the pest) whenever manure is lifted from the pits. Incorporate the entomopathogen i.e, fungus (Metarrhizium anisopliae) in manure pits to check the perpetuation of the pest. Soak castor cake at 1 kg in 5 l of water in small mud pots and keep them in the coconut gardens to attract and kill the adults. Treat the longitudinally split tender coconut stem and green petiole of fronds with fresh toddy and keep them in the garden to attract and trap the beetles. Examine the crowns of tree at every harvest and hook out and kill the adults. For seedlings, apply 3 naphthalene balls/palm weighing 3.5 g each at the base of inter space in leaf sheath in the 3 inner most leaves of the crown once in 45 days. Set up light traps following the first rains in summer and monsoon period to attract and kill the adult beetles. Field release of Baculovirus inoculated adult rhinoceros beetle @ 15/ha reduces the leaf and crown damage caused by this beetle. Apply mixture of either neem seed powder + sand (1:2) @150 g/palm or neem seed kernel powder + sand (1:2) @150 g per palm in the base of the 3 inner most leaves in the crown Set up Rhinolure pheromone trap @ 1/ 2 ha to trap and kill the beetles.
Black headed caterpillar Opisina arenosella	The incidence of the pest is noticed from the month of November to May and from August to November after rainfall. The coconut trees of all ages are attacked. Release the larval (Bethylid, Braconid and Ichneumonid) and pupal (Eulophid) parasitoids and predators periodically from January, to check the build up of the pest during summer. Among the larval parasitoids, the bethylid Goniozus nephantidis is the most effective in controlling the pest. The optimum level of release is 1:8 of host-parasitoid ratio. The parasitoid should be released @3000/ha under the coconut trees when the pest is in the 2nd or 3rd instar larval stage. Parasitoids should not be released in the crown region since they will be killed by predators like spiders and reduviid bugs. Remove and burn all affected leaves/leaflets. Spray Malathion 50 EC 0.05% (1mi/lit) to cover the undersurface of the leaves thoroughly in case of severe epidemic outbreak of the pest in young palms. Root feeding for the control of coconut Black headed caterpillar: Select a fresh and live root, cut sharply at an angle and insert the root in the insecticidal solution containing Monocrotophos 36 WSC 10 ml + water 10 ml in a 7 x 10 cm polythene bag. Secure the bag tightly to the root with a cotton thread. Twenty four hours later, check whether there is absorption. If there is no absorption select another root. These methods should not be resorted to as a routine practice and it is suggested only for cases of severe epidemic outbreak of the pest and when the survival of the tree is threatened.
Red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus	Remove and burn all wilting or damaged palms in coconut gardens to prevent further perpetuation of the pest. Avoid injuries on stems of palms as the wounds may serve as oviposition sites for the weevil. Fill all holes in the stem with cement. Avoid the cutting of green leaves. If needed, they should be cut about 120 cm away from the stem. Plug all holes and inject Pyrocone E or Carbaryl 1% or 10 ml of Monocrotophos into the stem by drilling a hole above the points of attack. Setting up of attractant traps (mud pots) containing sugarcane molasses 2½ kg or toddy 2½ litres + acetic acid 5 ml + yeast 5 g + longitudinally split tender coconut stem/logs of green petiole of leaves of 30 numbers in one acre to trap adult red palm weevils in large numbers. Root feeding: As under black headed caterpillar
Termites Odontotermes obesus	Locate termite mounds in or near the coconut nursery or garden and destroy. Swabbing with neem oil 5% once on the base and upto 2 m height of the trunk for effective control. Spray Copper sulphate 1 % or Cashew nut shell oil 80 % followed by Copper sulphate 1 % then neem oil 5 % and copper sulphate 1 %, then NSKE 20 % to preserve planted coconut leaves from the termite attack.
Scale insect Aspidiotus destructor	Pluck mature nuts and spray Monocrotophos 36 WSC 1 ml/ha. Do not harvest nuts for 45 days after spraying.
Mealy bugs Pseudococcus longispinus	Remove leaflets harbouring these insects and destroy them Spray any one of the following : Malathion 50 EC 2 ml/lit (or) Dimethoate 30 EC 1 ml/lit (or) Methyl demeton 25 EC 1 ml/lit (or) Phosphamidon 40 SL 1.25 ml/lit (or) Monocrotophos 36 WSC 1 ml/lit (or) Methomyl 25 EC 1 ml/lit (or) Neem oil 3% (or)
Leaf caterpillars Turnaca acuta	Collect and destroy the immature stages of the insects wherever possible and spray Carbaryl 0.1 %. A combined treatment of root feeding of Monocrotophos at 5 ml + 5 ml water, spraying of 0.01% Monocrotophos followed by the release of Parasitoids at every 15 days interval of time effectively control leaf eating caterpillars.
Nut caterpillar
Nut coreid bug
Slug caterpillar Contheyla rotunda	Spray any one of the following: Dichorvos 76 WSC 2 ml/lit Bacillus thuringiensis 2 g/lit, Triazophos 40 EC 5 ml Methyl demeton 25 EC 4 ml/lit Root feeding with monocrotophos 15 ml + 15 ml of water
Scolytid bark borer beetles Xyleborus parvulus	Stem injection through a stove wick soaked in 0.2% fenthion or 0.2% dichlorvos and plugging the hole and repeating the treatment using the same wick and hole a month after.
Palm civet Vivera zibatha	Poison baiting with ripe banana fruit sandwiched with 0.5 g carbofuran 3 G granules.
Rat Rattus rattus wroughtoni	Tree banding with inverted iron cones or Prosophis thorns. Baiting with bromodialone 0.005% at 10 g/tree at crown region twice at an interval of 12 days.

Agriculture in srilanka

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

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