Crop
regulation
Under
equitable climate of south and central India, mandarins bloom thrice a year.
The February flowering is known as ambe bahar; June flowering as mrig
bahar and October flowering as hast bahar. Under such circumstances,
plants give irregular and small crops at indefinite intervals. To overcome this
problem and to get fruitful yield in any of the 3 flowering seasons, treating
mandarin trees has been practised in Deccan which is called resting or root
exposure or bahar treatment.
In
this method, roots of the plant are exposed to sun by removing up to 7–10cm
soil around 40–60cm radius of tree trunk. The water is withheld for a month or
two before flowering. As a result of water stress, leaves show wilting and fall
on the ground. At this stage the roots are again covered with a mixture of soil
and farmyard manure and irrigated immediately. Subsequent irrigations are given
at suitable intervals. Consequently, plants give new vegetative growth, profuse
flowering and fruiting. However, in light sandy and shallow soils, exposure of
roots should not be practised and mere withholding of water for 2–3 weeks is
sufficient for wilting and defoliation of trees.
It
depends upon the choice of the grower as to which of the 3 bahars is to
be taken to get maximum profit. As the availability of water is a problem in
central India during April–May, the farmers prefer mrig bahar so that
the plants are forced for rest in April–May and no water is required during
this period. Plants put forth new vegetative growth, followed by flowering
(July–August) and fruiting during the coming season.
Resting
treatment is not feasible in north India, as mandarin plants normally rest in
winter and flower once a year. It is experienced that resting treatment in
general is a devitalizing process and should be resorted to only under the
advice and direction of a technical expert.
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