Brinjal Cultivation

Plant name- Brinjal

Scientific Name- Solanum melongena L

Family- Solanaceae

Introduction:

Brinjal is the most common tropical vegetable grown in India.
It is called by many different names like Begun(Bengali), Ringna(Gujarathi), Baingan(Hindi), Badane(Kannada), Waangum(Kashmiri), Vange( Marathi), Baigan(Oriya), Vashuthana ( Malayalam), Kathiri (Tamil), Venkaya (Telugu) and Peethabhala (Sanskrit) .
A big number of cultivars differ in size, shape and colour of fruits grown in India.
The fruits that are not mature or full-grown are used in curries and brinjal is used in many dishes.
Fruits are the common sources of vitamins and minerals like calcium and phosphorus and nutritive values differs from variety to variety.

Major states of India which cultivate Brinjal are West Bengal, Orissa, Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh.
West Bengal is the largest producer of brinjal with a production of 3027.75.

It is grown in warm season and needs a long warm growing season.
It is very vulnerable to Frost.
The most favourable temperature for its successful production on a daily basis is 13°c- 21°c.
Temperature below 17°c can critically affect the growth of the crop.
It can be favourably grown as a summer or rainy season crop and can grow at a height of 1200m above the sea level.

VARIETY	INSTITUTION	PEDIGREE	FEATURES
Pusa Purple Long	IARI	Selection from Batia cultivar of Punjab	20-25cm long purple fruits, favourable for summer and autumn planting,susceptible to bacterial wilt.
PH4	PAU & HAU	Hyderpur*Pusa Purple Long	Bushy Plant, Pigmented stem,flesh light green, fruits are medium to long and thin
Pusa Bhairav	IARI	Complex pedigree	Non-spiny, resistant to phomopsis fruit rot, glossy, 12-15cm long fruits.
Pant Samrat	GBPUT, Pantnagar	Selection in local germplasm	Tall vigorous plants, young leaves publish green, tolerant to shoot and fruit borer, released by UP state variety release committee in 1983 and by the central vriety release committee in 1984

Varying from light sandy to heavy clay, brinjal plants can be grown in all types of soil.
pH range of 6.5-7.5 with well drained soil and rich in organic matter is favourable.
For early yield, light soils are preferred.
But, for higher yield clay loam and silt loam soils are best suited.

Spacing relies upon the type of grown variety and the planting season
Usually the long fruited varieties are implanted at 60 x 45cm, round varieties at 75 x 60cm and high yielding varieties at 90 x90cm spacing.
In case of heavy soils seedlings transplanted in light soils in furrows and in case of heavy soils on side of the ridges.
3-4 days preceding transplanting pre-soaking irrigation is given.
During the time of transplanting seedlings should be dipped in Bavistin (2g/litre of water) solution.
Preferable time of transplanting is evening.

To prevent seed and soil borne infection of fungal diseases seeds should be treated with Trichoderma viridae / T. harzianum @ 2g /100 g of seeds.
Or seeds can be treated with (Carboxin 37.5% + Thiram 37.5%) DS at 1.5g or (Carbendazim 1.0g + Thiram 1.5g)/ kg of seeds.

The field should be ploughed to fine tilth by giving 4-5 ploughing with an adequate interval between 2 ploughing.
Then the field is divided into beds and channels.
At the time of preparing land, well decomposed FYM is thoroughly incorporated.

Around the root zone of the plant continuous supply of moisture should be maintained.
After transplanting, on the first and third day, a light irrigation should be given.
Thereafter irrigation should be given after an interval of 8-10 days in winter and 5-6 days in summer.

The dose of fertilizer relies upon the fertility of soil and the amount of organic manure is applied to the crop. 15-10 tons of decomposed FYM is integrated into the soil.
For optimum yield, application of 150kg N , 100Kg P2O5 and 50Kg K2O is recommended.
At the time of Planting half dose of N and full dose of P and K is given.
The half of N is given in equal 3 split doses.
One and a half month after transplanting first split dose is given
One month after the first application second dose is given.
The final is given three and a half month after transplanting.

Depending on the variety, first picking fruits become ready in about 120-130 days of seed sowing.
The harvesting of the fruits should be done as soon as it takes a good size and colour.
When the fruits become greenish yellow or brown and when their flesh turns dry and tough, they should be harvested.
The maturity of the fruit can be indicated by pressing the thumb against the side of the fruit.
If the fruit springs back to its original shape and size it indicates that the fruit is very immature.
During harvesting, some portion of calyx and the stem end is retained on the fruit.
The fruits are harvested at an interval of 8-10 days, since all the fruits do not mature at the same time.
The average yield of brinjal depending on variety varies from 20-30t/ha.