Oranges

Soil Type:

Deep sandy loam, clay loam or a wide range of soils are suitable for growing citrus trees.

Land Preparation

Pit digging 3x3x3 ft

Plantation Season

Spring: Feb-March

Autumn: and Aug-Sept

Orchard Layout

Square system.

Distance: Plant to plant and row to row 20 ft

Pruning Season

Dec-Jan

Suitable Areas

Peshawar, Charsada, Nowshera, Mardan, Swat, Swabi, Kanpur Haripur, Malakand, Swat, and lower/upper Dir.

Varieties

Red Blood, Morro, Mussami, Succri, Sweet Lime

Fertilizer

NPK: 100: 50: 100 

Harvesting Time

Oct-Feb

Production per tree

400-500 fruit

Diseases

1.Citrus Canker:

Identifications

Young lesions are seen on both leaf surfaces and lower leaf surface. Fruit lesions are of different sizes as the rind is susceptible to be infected for a longer period of time and more than one infection cycle can be expected to occur on the fruit.   

Cultural Control

To control disease on a Citrus tree, use disease-free nursery plants, conduct regular pruning and burning of infected twigs, and develop canker-resistant varieties on your orchard.

Chemical Control

  • 1st spray of Bordeauxe mixture (1%) after fruit harvest
  • 2nd spray during the month of April Copper Oxycholoride @3gm/lit. of water
  • 3rd spray during the month of July-August Copper Hydrooxide @2.5gm/lit. of water

2. Citrus Greening:

Identifications

An early symptom of citrus greening is when an asymmetrical yellowing of the leaves and leaf veins (referred to as “blotchy mottle”) start appearing. However, do not confuse thus mottling with symptoms of mineral deficiencies. Mottling first occurs on a single shoot or branch but eventually spreads throughout the tree over a few years.  

Cultural Control

Removal of infected trees of water. Disease free planting material.

 Chemical Control

Vector control (citrus psylla) by spraying Imidacloprid @1ml/lit.)

3. Citrus Gummosis:

Identifications

Symptoms of this disease include rotted roots, cracked barks accompanied by gumming. You also spot the disease if the tree has a water-soaked, reddish-brown to black bark at the soil line. Yellowing and sparse foliage and death of a tree are a few other signs.  Excess soil moisture favours production and spread of zoospores. 

Cultural Control

Increased drainage and careful irrigation is an important factor in disease management. Resistant Rootstock Plant trees are known to be high enough so that the first lateral roots are just covered with soil; hence budding of the plants should start at the height of 9 inches.

Chemical Control

Copper   3 gm/lit. of water. Fosetyl-AL 2.5 gm/ lit. of water. Metalaxyl+Mancozeb 2.5gm/lit of water.

4. Citrus Scab:

Identifications

The fruit, leaves and twigs are often attacked by citrus scab producing irregular wart-like outgrowths. The color of the scabs is a focal point as it help recognize the age of the scab. At first, scabs are grey or pinkish but become darker with age. They are more commonly found on lemon fruits instead of leaves. 

Cultural Control

Sanitation – pruning – No intercropping & careful irrigation

Chemical Control

  • Ist SPRAY (Before Flowering) Copper Hydrooxide @ 3gm/lit. of water
  • 2nd SPRAY (After Petal Fall) Difenoconazl+Azoxystrobin 1ml/lit. of water.
  • 3rd SPRAY (Moon Soon) Copper Based Fungicides Copper Oxycholoride or Copper Hydrooxide @ 3gm/lit of water.

Insect Pest

1.Citrus Psylla:

Identification

 The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) is 3 to 4 millimetres long with a light brown head and brown mottled body with wings broadest in the apical half and with a dark brown band extending around the periphery of the outer half of the wing.

Biological Control

Following practices help reduce the damage done by citrus psylla:

  • By hanging yellow sticky cards on trees you can catch the adult insects.
  • Prune the trees after harvesting the fruits from last season.
  • In biological control, lady bird beetle and Temarixia radiata are to be used as bio-control agents.

Chemical Control

Bifenthrin, Imidachloprid

2.Citrus Leaf minor:

Identification

Citrus leaf-miner is a very small moth and has silvery-white iridescent forewings with brown and white markings. The hind wings and body are white, with long fringe scales extending from the hindwing margins.

Biological Control

Citrus leaf-miners can be killed by various parasites and predators, including nonstinging wasps such as the species of Cirrospilus and Pnigalio.

Chemical Control

Bifenthrine, Imidacloprid, Acetamiprid

3. White Fly:

Identification

Adult whiteflies have yellow-white, wedge-shaped bodies and white wings. They resemble white mealybugs because of the waxy powder on their wings and bodies.

Biological Control

  • Several parasites and predators attack the citrus whitefly. Lacewing larva (Chrysoperla sp.) feeds on whitefly nymphs and Encarsia is a useful parasitoid of citrus whitefly.
  • Yellow sticky traps are helpful for monitoring and suppressing the adult populations of these whiteflies.

Chemical Control

Buprofezin or Imidacloprid or Acetamiprid

4. Thrips:

 Identification

Most adult Thrips are long, slender and less than 1/20inch long. They have long fringes on the margins of both their wings. Larvae or nymphs are oblong or slender but do not have wings.

Biological Control

A number of natural enemies attack citrus Thrips including predaceous mites, spiders, lacewings, minute pirate bugs etc.

Chemical Control

Chlorfenapyr, Dimethoate

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