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Banana (Musa sp); Musaceae Varieties – Virupakshi, Sirumalai, Namarai, Red Banana, Manoranjitham (Santhana vazhai) and Ladan. Soil and Climate – Well drained loamy soil is suitable.  Soils with more humus content would be preferable. Hill bananas can be grown at an altitude of 1200 – 1500 m above MSL. A well distributed annual rainfall of […]

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.); Zingiberaceae Varieties – Rio de Janeiro, Maran, Nadan, Suruchi, Suravi, Suprabha, IISR Varada, IISR Rejatha, IISR Mahima, Athira, Karthika Soil and Climate – A friable well drained loamy soil rich in humus with warm and humid conditions with 150cm of annual rainfall are preferable. The optimum soil pH is 5.0 to […]

Garlic (Allium sativum); Alliaceae Varieties – Ooty -2, Bhima Purple, Kodaikanal local Soil – Well drained friable soil rich in organic matter with a pH range of 6 – 7 is ideal. Extreme acidic soils as well as heavy soils are not suited Climate – Garlic can be grown at an elevation of 1200 – […]

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum L.); Zingiberaceae Varieties Malabar types – Mudigere-1 and Mudigere-2, PV 1, PV 2, ICRI 1, ICRI 3, TKD 4, IISR Suvasini, IISR Vijetha, IISR Avinash, Appangala-2 Mysore type – ICRI 2 Vazhukka types – Njallani Green Gold, Panikulangara – 1 Soil and Climate Cardamom is generally grown in forest loam soil with […]

Black Pepper (Piper nigrum L.) ; Piperaceae Varieties Panniyur 1, Panniyur 2, Panniyur 3, Panniyur 4, Panniyur 5, Panniyur 6, Panniyur 7, Panniyur 8, Karimunda,  Sreekara, Subhakara, Panchami, Pournami, IISR Thevam, IISR Malabar Excel, IISR Girimunda, IISR Sakthi, PLD-2. Lower elevation and less shady areas- Panniyur 1 Higher elevation and more shady areas – Karimunda […]

French Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.); Fabaceae Bush type Varieties –  Anup, Malgudi, Belli, Chamadkar, NZ superking, Hero, Asha Soil and Climate – Well drained loamy soils with pH range of 5.5-6.0 is required. The optimum temperature is 15-21°C.  Season – February – March and July – August. Sowing Treat the seeds with Trichoderma viride @ 4 […]

Palak (Beta vulgaris var. bengalensis); Amaranthaceae Varieties  :  Ooty 1 Seed rate :  20 – 25 kg/ha Spacing    : 20 x 10 cm Application of Manures Basal application of 25 t of FYM and 2 kg each of Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria along with 3 t of vermicompost / ha + NEOC @ ½ t […]

Tapioca (Manihot esculenta crantz.) ; Euphorbiaceae Varieties – CO 2, CO 3, CO (TP) 4, MVD 1, H 165, H 226, Sree Visakham (H.1687), Sree Sahya (H.2304), Sree Prakash (S. 856), Sree Vijaya, Sree Jaya, Sree Rekha and Sree Prabha, Sree Athulya, Sree Raksha (CMD resistant), Yethapur 1(YTP 1) Soil and Climate – Well drained soil, […]

Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.); Chenopodiaceae Varieties – Ruby Green Hybrids – Castelo, Crystal, Kestrel, Fortune Soil – It comes up well in all types of friable soils. The suitable soil pH is 6.0-7.0.  Season and Sowing – July – August. Seed rate – 6 kg of seeds are required for an area of one hectare when […]

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.); Solanaceae Varieties – Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Muthu, Kufri Swarna, Kufri Thangam, Kufri Malar, Kufri Giriraj, Kufri Giridari Soil and Climate – The soil should be friable, porous and well drained. The optimum pH range is 4.8 to 5.4. It is a cool weather crop. Potato is mostly grown as a rainfed […]