The date palm is the oldest tree on this earth and is a high source of calcium, sugar, iron and potassium. It is used in many social and religious festivals. Also It has many health benefits, such as relieving constipation, reducing heart disease, controlling diarrhoea, and aiding pregnancy. It is also used to make various products such as chutneys, pickles, jams, juices and other bakery products.
Dates are mainly cultivated in Arab countries, Israel and Africa. The Indian administration has made a lot of efforts in the last decades, under which the area under date palm cultivation has increased significantly. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala are India’s prime producing states of dates.
Get significant information about date palm in this blog. And stay with us till the end.
Soil Requirement for Date Palm
Date Palm can be cultivated in any kind of soil, but good drained, deep sandy loam soil having pH 7-8 is suitable for good yield and good yield. Avoid growing in soil whose surface is demanding up to 2 meters below. Alkaline and salty soils are also ideal for their cultivation, but they have low date palm yield.
Land Preparation
Plough the field two to three times till the soil becomes friable. After the earth is level, dig pits of size 1 m x 1 m x 1 m in summer. Keep these pits open for two weeks. After that, fill the holes with well-decomposed cow dung and productive soil. Chlorpyrifos 50ml Or put phorate 10 g, 200 g and captain 20-25 g each in the pit. Also, you can prepare the land with the farming tools to get efficiency. And Farmtrac 60 is an excellent model for performing land preparation tasks.
Planting Method
The sowing time for date palms is done from February to March and from August to September. And the distance required for it is to dig pits of size 1 m x 1 m x 1 m at an interval of 6 m or 8 m. Moreover, for seed depth, drill holes of length 1 m x 1 m x 1 m for transplanting. Finally, its vegetative part is planted in the main field.
Seed Treatment
Before transplanting the root portion into the pits, the root base should be treated with IBA 1000 ppm and Chlorpyrifos 5 ml. per litre of water for two to five minutes.
Seed Quantity
It requires row to row and plant to plant spacing is 6 m. 112 new plants are used in one acre, while 63 new plants are used per acre at 8 m x 8 m spacing.
Reproduction
Date palm is propagated with the help of the root part. First, take the root part or twig from the main plant. The vegetative part of the plant is obtained 4 or 5 years after transplanting. The appropriate weight of the vegetative part should be 15-20 kg. Apply well-decomposed cow dung, sand and wood dust around the root for six months or a year before separating the root from the main plant. At the time of separation, remove the old leaves and cut.
Intercrops
For the first harvest of date palm, 4 to 5 years are required. Among them, guar, paddy, chilli, peas, brinjal etc., can be taken as intercrops.
Fertiliser
Apply well-decomposed cow dung from September to October at 10-15 kg per mature plant and 30-40 kg per mature plant. In addition, apply 4.4 kg urea to a 1 year old to mature tree. Moreover, you can take the help of adequate farming machines like Farmtrac 60 Powermaxx to spread dry fertilisers or cow dung around the field.
Weed Control
Keep the field clean and weed-free. Weeding should be done depending on the intensity of the weeds. Use mulch to control weeds.
Irrigation
Irrigation is given at 10-15 days intervals in summer, while in winter at 30-40 days intervals. The first irrigation is done after pollen is released. After that, rinse at regular intervals after the fruit set.
Harvesting
Four to five years after transplanting, the date palm tree is ready for the first harvest. There are three stages of fruit harvesting. First, when the fruits are in the ripening stage. When the fruits are fresh, second, when the fruits are soft and ripe, and third, when the fruits become dry in the dry location, complete the harvesting before the onset of the monsoon season.
Post Harvesting
Wash the fruits with clean water after harvesting at the ripening stage. To make dates, they are dried in the sun or dried with a dryer at 40-45 °C for 80-120 hours.
These are some important steps for Healthy Date Palm cultivation. Above mentioned details are informative for you. We hope this blog will guide you in the cultivation process of date palm. So, be with us for such similar blogs.
