ARECANUT

Nutrient management

Apply green leaf and compost, each at the rate of 12 kg per palm per year from first year of planting onwards, during September-October.

Apply N:P2O5:K2O for adult palms @ 100: 40:140 g / palm / year.

Apply 1/3 dose during first year, 2/3 dose during second year and full dose from third year onwards. Under irrigated conditions, apply fertilizers in two split doses, the first during September-October and the second during February. Under rainfed conditions, apply the second dose during March-April after the receipt of summer rains. Apply manures and fertilizers during September-October in circular basins of 15-20 cm depth and with a radius of 0.75-1.0 m from the palm. Apply the second dose of fertilizers around the base of palm after weeding and mix into soil by light forking. In acidic soils, broadcast lime at the rate of 0.5 kg per palm once in two or three years and incorporate into soil by forking during March-April.

Organic matter recycling:

On an average, 5.5 to 6.0 tonnes of wastes are available from one ha of areca garden per year. This can be effectively used as organic source of nutrients for areca palms. But direct application of these wastes in the garden will take long time for decomposition and will not meet the nutrient demand of the crop immediately. Hence, these materials can be composted using earthworms effectively and used as organic manure in areca gardens. To prepare vermicompost, areca wastes are chopped into small pieces of 10 cm and heaped. The heap should be mixed with cow dung slurry @ 10 kg / 100 kg of waste and kept for two weeks with sprinkling water daily. Then the chopped material is arranged in beds of one-meter width and convenient length. Cement tanks or trenches can be used for this purpose. A layer of 10-15 cm waste material is alternated with 2 cm layer of cow dung over which earthworms are released at the rate of 1000 numbers per square meter. The wastes are converted into fine granular, odourless vermicompost within 60 days. During this period, the earthworm population is doubled. About 8 kg /palm/year of vermicompost meets the crop nutrient demand in terms of nitrogen. The two species of earthworms Eudrilus eugeniae and Eisenia foetida can be used.

Last updated: 22-05-2008