Coconut

In coconut, seedling vigour is highly correlated with adult palm characters such as early flowering, nut yield and copra production. Coconut, being a cross-fertilized palm, does not breed to true to type. Through a series of selections made at different stages, it is possible to obtain quality seed nuts and seedlings.

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 incidence of diseases and not prone to severe attacks of pests.

  Selection of Mother palms  

Palms should be regular bearers with annual yield of greater than 80 nuts and copra content not less than 150g/nut under rain fed condition (Irrigation-120 nuts/year). Palms should have reached full bearing stage and have been giving consistently high yields for at least four years. Avoid very old palms of above 60 years age. Palms which produce barren nuts or those shedding large number of immature nuts should be discarded.

  Collection of seed nuts

• Collect seed nuts from January to April on the West Coast region.

• Only fully matured nuts i.e. about 12 months old should be harvested.

• Nuts should not be damaged while harvesting.

• Discard nuts having irregular shape and size.

  Raising nursery

• Select well-drained, coarse-textured soil near dependable water source for irrigation.

• Prepare raised beds if water stagnation is a problem during rainy season.

• Soil may be treated with chlordane 5% dust @ 120 kg/ha in place where nursery is taken for the first time as a precaution against white grubs and termites.

• Nursery can be raised either in the open with artificial shade or in gardens where the palms are tall and the ground is not completely shaded.

• The seed nuts should be planted in long and narrow beds at a spacing of 40 x 30cm during May-June, either vertically or horizontally in 20-25cm deep trenches. Advantage in vertical planting is less damage during transit. However, in delayed planting when the nut water goes down considerably it is good to go for horizontal sowing for better germination.

  Maintenance

• Mulching and shading should be done immediately after the monsoon ends, when the nursery is raised in the open space.

• Keep nursery free of weeds.

• Regular surveillance for any incidence of pests and disease.

• Remove those nuts that have not sprouted even after five months of sowing.

  Irrigation

 Nursery requires light and frequent irrigation (once in 3 or 4 days). About 10 mm of water should be applied with every irrigation

  Selection of seedlings

• Every coconut nursery contains some plants which are deformed or whose development is stunted, which must be eliminated.

• Select seedlings, which have germinated early.

• From the one- year- old nursery, select vigorous seedlings having minimum of six leaves and girth of 10cm at the collar.

• Early splitting of leaves is a good indicator of the rapid developers and early bearing.

• The recovery of good seedlings will be 60 to 65% of total seed nuts sown.

  Arecanut

Arecanut is propagated only by seeds.  There are four steps in selection and raising of arecanut seedlings viz., selection of mother palms, selection of seed nuts, germination and raising the seedlings and selection of seedlings.

  Selection of mother palm

The criteria for the selection of mother palm are; early bearing, regular bearing habit, large number of leaves on the crown, shorter internodes and high fruit set.

  Selection of seed nut

Fully ripened nuts having weight of above 35 g should be selected.  The nuts selected should float vertically with calyx-end pointing upwards when allowed to float on water.  These nuts produce the seedlings of greater vigour.

  Primary and secondary nurseries

For obtaining good germination, the seed nuts should be sown as whole fruits.  The nuts should be sown immediately after the harvest in soil or sand and watered daily to get early and good germination.  The nuts should be sown at 15 cm distance in vertical position with calyx end just covered.  The beds may be mulched lightly using areca leaf or paddy straw. 

After six months in primary nursery, the seedlings are to be transplanted to secondary nursery beds of 150 cm width, 15 cm height and convenient length.  A spacing of 30 cm between the seedlings is considered to be optimum for a growth period of one year in the nursery.  Polythene bags (25x15cm, 150 gauge) filled with potting mixture (top soil : FYM : sand = 7:3:2) can also be used to raise secondary nursery. Sprouts of 3 months old should be used.  The secondary nursery should be given a basal dose of decomposed farm yard manure@ 5 tonnes per ha.  Areca sprouts and seedlings are very delicate and do not withstand exposure to direct sunlight.  Hence, proper shade should be provided to the nursery. 

The nursery should be watered regularly in the summer and proper drainage should be provided in rainy season.  The nursery should be kept clean by periodical weeding.

  Selection of seedlings

Twelve to eighteen-month-old seedlings are to be selected and transplanted in the main field. Seedlings with maximum number of leaves (five or above), minimum height and maximum girth are to be selected for planting.  The selected seedlings should be removed with a ball of earth adhering to the roots for planting.

  Cocoa

Vegetative propagation is followed in cocoa to produce  true to type trees.Vegetative propagation is mainly through soft wood grafting.

  Soft wood grafting

Soft wood grafting is a more preferred vegetative method for production of planting material.  The material consists of cleft grafting of scions to 2-3 month old seedlings root stocks.  The scion sticks should be 12-14 cm long and secured to root stock cleft by 1.5 cm wide polythene tape.  Graft union takes place within one month .  The grafts will be ready after 3 months for planting.

  Spacing and planting

Cocoa is planted either under forest trees or other crops.  It can be established under forests by thinning the forest to desirable shade levels. Cocoa seedlings are planted in pits of 50 cm³ filled with compost.

  Management

The pot mixture should consist of top soil, sand and FYM in the ratio of 2:1:1 for good growth of seedlings or grafts.  Fertilizers can be applied if required which enhances vigour of seedlings.  Application of urea at the rate of 0.5 – 2.0 g per plant is practiced.   Foliar application of urea at 1.5% concentration can also be adopted.  Need based spraying of insecticides and fungicides has to be taken up depending on the out break of specific pest or disease incidence.

Cocoa nursery requires adequate shade, irrigation and wind protection.     It is ideal to have 50% shade in the nursery.  The land should be leveled and free from rodents and pathogens. Irrigation is given through micro sprinkler.