Black Pepper Cultivation – Calendar of Operations from October to December
Nursery
- Mark and label selected mother plants
- Select mother vines of only varieties which are proven to be highly productive and tolerant to biotic and abiotic stress.
- Select mother plants of the age group of 5-12 years, which give consistently regular high yields and are free from diseases including viral diseases.
- Runner shoots from selected mother vines are coiled and raised on a stake to prevent it from soil contamination and striking roots in the soil.
Plantation
- Tie growing shoots of young vines to the standards.
- Remove hanging shoots in older plants.
- Undertake slash-weeding of the interspaces.
- Undertake hand-weeding at the basins of the vines and mulch the basins with dry leaves.
- Inspect and remove plants showing symptoms of phyllody and stunt diseases (viral).
- If monsoon is prolonged, drench the basins of the vines with Potassium phosphonate 3 ml/litre @ 2-5 litre per vine, depending on the size of the vine.
- In case infestation of root mealy bugs are noticed, drench chlorpyriphos 0.075% on affected vines; repeat drenching after 21 days in case the infestation persists.
- In case infestation of scale insects are noticed, spray neem oil 0.3% or neem-based insecticide 0.3% on affected vines; repeat spraying after 15 days in case the infestation persists.
- In case the infestation is severe, clip off severely infested branches and spray dimethoate 0.1%; repeat spray after 21 days.
- In case berries are available on the vine, the spray has to be given only after harvest of berries.
- Root mealybug infestations can be controlled by drenching with chlorpyriphos 0.075%.
