Wood Apple Cultivation

Introduction

in this article, I’m going to tell you about Wood Apple Cultivation.

Origin and Distribution

• The wood apple is native and common in the wild in dry plains of India and Ceylon and cultivated along roads and edges of fields and occasionally in orchards.
• It is also frequently grown throughout Southeast Asia, in northern Malaya and on Penang Island.
• In India, the fruit was traditionally a “poor man’s food” until processing techniques were developed in the mid – 1950’ s.

Classification of wood apple

Order    : Sapindales

Family  : Rutaceae

Genus   : Limonia L.

Species : Limonia acidissima L.

Kingdom : plantae

Common name : wood apple

                           Curd fruit

                           Elephant apple

                           Monkey fruit

 Recommended varieties

There are two forms ,

• One with large, sweetish fruits
• One with small, acid fruits

Cultivation

Climatic requirements

• The tree grows up to an elevation of 1500 ( 450 m ) in the western Himalayas
• It is  said to require a monsoon climatic with a distinct dry season

Soil requirements

• Throughout its ranges, there is a diversity of soil types, but it is best adapted to light soils

Propagation

• The wood – apple is generally grown from seeds through seedlings will not bear fruit until at least is years old.
• Multiplication may also be by root cuttings, air – layers, or by budding on to self – seeding to induce dwarfing and precociousness

    Field preparation and planting

• Wood apple is not planted in fertile or rich soils.
• In wasteland, is mass planting is to be done, then pit lines are drawn across the slope and pits can be dug at a spacing of  8 m * 8m each pit with a size of 1m * 1m * 1m

Training and Pruning

• Wood apple trees are allowed to grow along a central leader with well-spaced branches in all direction.
• The tree requires no pruning except removal of crisis – cross branches.
• At the initial stage, pruning of plants to provide a desired shape is essential when planted as windbreak and shelterbelt the trees are allowed to grow tall.

Season

• The leaves are shed in January.
• Flowering occurs in February and March and the fruit matures in October and November.
• The fruit ripen from early October through March.
• A grown-up tree can bear 200 to 250 fruit per annum

Irrigation

• It is a crop of dry region and once the plants and established, they hardly need any irrigation.
• Never the less, conservation of runoff rainwater in rhizosphere will enhance the productivity of this crop

Pests and Diseases

Pests

Fruit borer –  Dendorix  Isocrates

• Symptoms of damage – Caterpillar bores into young fruits and feed on internal contents ( pulp and seeds )
• Management –  Collect and destroy damaged fruits

                              Clear cultivation as weed plants serve as alternate hosts

Mealybug

Diseases

Oozing

Harvesting

The fruit is tested for maturity by dropping and a hard surface from a height of 1 ft. ( 30 m) immature fruits bounce, while mature fruits do not after harvest, the fruits are kept in the sun for 2 weeks to fully ripen

Marketing

• These fruits can be sold local market and any herbal / Ayurveda companies

check out my other article:Cashew Cultivation (Complete Guide)