CHAPTER - 5
CROSSANDRA
Scientific
Name: Crossandra infundibuliformis L.
Family: Acanthaceae
Crossandra flowers are very popular for their
bright orange colour, light weight and keeping quality. The deep orange coloured
flowers are of great demand for garlands and hair adornments. They are usually
used as loose flowers.
Varieties
Tetraploid types
- Yellow Orange,
Seaculis red, Lutea Yellow
Tripolid types - Delhi crossandra
Climate
It requires a temperature of 30 - 35°C for growth. It is shade tolerant to some extent.
Soil
Crossandra can be cultivated in a wide range
of soils. Fertile, red loamy soils with pH range of 6.0 to 7.5 are ideal.
Propagation
Propagation is
by seeds or stem cuttings.
Seedlings are ready for transplanting when
they have four or five pairs of leaves.
Tetraploids:
Propagated through seeds. Seed rate is
5kg/ha. 60 days old seedlings are transplanted in the main field.
Triploids:
Propagated through terminal cuttings of 10 -
15 cm length (41,700 cuttings/ha)
Seeds and sowing
Fresh seeds are sown during July - October in
raised beds at 15 cm apart in lines. Watering should be done daily. The
seedlings will be ready for transplanting in 60 days.
Seed rate
The required seed rate is 5 kg/ha for optimum
plant population. For Delhi Crossandra, rooted cuttings have to be used for
planting.
Land preparation and planting
Ø The land has to
be ploughed three or four times.
Ø FYM @ 25 t
/ha is incorporated and mixed well in the soil.
Ø Ridges are prepared 60 cm apart.
Ø Recommended
dose of fertilizer for Crossandra is 100:60:60 Kg N: P2O5:K2O/ha
Ø A fertilizer
dose of 33.3:60:60 kg/ ha N: P2O5:K2O is applied as basal.
Ø The seedlings
or cuttings are transplanted at a spacing of 30 cm.
Ø The crop is
topdressed twice with 33.3 kg N per ha each time, the first at 3 months after
transplanting and the second 8-9 months after transplanting.
Ø The application
of fertilizers is to be necessarily followed by irrigation.
After
cultivation
Weeding, application of fertilizer and earthing up
are combined together for easy maintenance of the crop.
For both Tetraploids& Delhi Crossandra:
Biofertilizers: Soil application of 2 kg each of Azospirillum and
Phosphobacteria per ha at the time of planting. It is to be mixed with 100kg of
FYM and applied.
Growth regulators: Spray Ascorbic acid 1000 ppm (1 g/lit
of water) before flowering.
Plant protection
Scales, plant bugs and white flies are the
important insect pests, which can be controlled by Phosalone (0.07 per cent).
Wilt
caused by Fusarium solani will result in yellowing of leaves
and death of the plants. The incidence of the disease is found to be more in
the presence of root lesion nematode.
Crop duration
3 years including ratoon crop.
Harvest and yield
Ø Crossandra
flowers within two to three months after planting and continues to bear flowers
throughout the year with a lean production season during rainy months.
Ø Fully opened
flowers are picked once in two days.
Ø Flowers are to
be picked early in the morning by pulling the corolla out of the calyx.
Ø Harvesting of
flowers is to be done on alternate days. The yield of flowers is about 5 t/ha.
.
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