VNR Madhur Package of Practice:
Reducing population of fruits by removing extra, damaged or infected, deformed fruits is termed thinning. It is done to get big size and qualitative fruits. Also, if fruit load is more in a given branch than the load may break the branch. When the fruits are close with one another then there is a chance that due to movement by external forces like strong winds, the fruits may get brushes so in order to overcome such problem removing such fruits will provide adequate space to avoid such malady.
Materials required:
Secateur
PP/Gunny bag or Plastic Crate
How to plan thinning?
Growers must keep in mind what is the strength of the plant? What size of fruit does he expect in coming season?
For this, following points should be considered:
- One fruit per branch will give fruit weight of more than 600 gms.
- 2 fruits per branch will give fruits weight of 500-600 gms.
- More than 2 fruits per branch will give fruits of 300-500 gms
- Branch that is bearing fruit must be at least of pencil thickness. Branches less than pencil thickness are prone to breakage due to fruit load.
- Fruits closer to stem give fruits of better quality. This is because it put minimum pressure on branch and hence chances of branch cracking / breakage are minimum.
- Keep the fruits on branches which are in slanting position instead of downward facing because it will not allow the water stagnation in fruit stalk area.
- Fruits having their stylar end towards sky are hard to bag. Slanting facing is easy to bag and is of better quality. The stalk of fruits facing towards sky may get cracks when this fruit will start gaining weight.
How to do thinning of VNR Madhur Fruits in the plant?
Once planned how many fruits to take in this season, farmer can now remove the undesired fruits. Farmer must keep 10-15% more fruits in plant than target.
Fruit to be removed should be 2-2.5 inches.
Removal is done by secateur and cut is made close to the fruit (not close to the stem bearing it).
Removed fruits must be put in gunny bags/crates and then taken out of the orchard.
DOs and DONTs:
- DOs >Always use sharp secateurs to remove undesired fruits.
- DONTs >Do not pull the fruit forcibly as it may break or crack the fruit bearing branch.
- DOs > Collect all the removed fruits in a gunny bag/crate and dispose them out of the orchard.
- DONTs >Do not keep removed fruits in orchard after thinning.
- DOs > Always keep fruits in branches, that are originating at least 2 ft from ground level
- DONTs >Do not allow fruits in branches that are below 2 ft height.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Q Why to wait for fruit to become 2-2.5 inch size, can we remove extra flowers?
Answer: No, we must wait for flowers to become fruits of 2-2.5 inch size when thinned. Sometimes due to heavy wind selected fruits may drop causing full crop loss.
Q What if all fruits are not of 2-2.5 inch size when thinning is to be done?
Answer: Thinning of fruits is done when most of the fruits are 2-2.5 inch size. Fruits smaller to this size or flowers should be removed.
