Cultivation practices of Phalsa

Cultivation

Planting

      Phalsa plants can be planted at a distance of 2.5–3.0m from plant-to-plant and 3–4m from row-to-row. Phalsa is well-suited for close planting. The yield may be increased by increasing the plant density. The plants can be planted at 2m × 2m apart in a square system, accommodating 250 plants/ha. Pits of 60cm × 60cm × 60cm size are filled with top soil and farmyard manure(10kg/pit). Plants can be planted in January–February or in July–August. February is ideal time for planting if season is good for lifting the plants with bare roots.

Training and pruning

         Phalsa plant is allowed to develop as a bush hence no initial training is practised. Pruning is an essential annual operation for obtaining better quality fruits. Both severe (cutting closure to ground level) and very light pruning affect the crop yield. The desirable height of pruning varies from 50–100cm from the ground level. In north India, plants shed their leaves slowly after the middle of winter (December–January) and they should be pruned at this stage.In south India, plants are allowed to grow taller and light pruning is done. Pruned phalsa canes can be utilized for making of baskets to transport fruits and vegetables and as stakes for support of vegetables or fruit plants.

Manuring and fertilization

       Being a hardy crop, phalsa is hardly fertilized. The fruits are borne on new growth hence application of fertilizer definitely encourages vegetative growth. In Punjab, application of 1kg N/ plant is ideal, whereas for Haryana, 15kg farmyard manure if applied after pruning followed by 25kg N/ plant after sprouting is optimum for high yield. In Rajasthan, application of N, P, K, at 100, 40 and 25kg/ha respectively give higher yield. In Uttar Pradesh, 50:25:25g N, P and K/plant is better for yield and fruit quality. Of the micronutrents, Zn and Fe are beneficial for juice content and berry size. Spraying of ZnSo₄ (0.5%) and FeSo₄ (0.4%) can be done at prebloom and post-bloom stages.

Irrigation

        Phalsa is a drought resistant tolerant crop but irrigation is essential for high yield of quality fruits. First irrigation is needed in February after application of fertilizers. Irrigation during summer (March–April) at 2–3 weeks interval is desirable.

Aftercare

        Phalsa plants do not require any staking normally. Some growers practise green manuring with moong or cowpea in early years of plantation.One ploughing after pruning of plant is necessary to control weeds.

Harvesting and Postharvest management

       Phalsa fruits begin to ripe in hot summer during March–April in south and May-end in north India. Fruits are small-sized and ripen over a period of about a month. Therefore a number of pickings are required at 2–3 days intervals which are very expensive. Preharvest application of Ethephon or Etherel (500ppm) when few fruits start to change their colour reduces the number of pickings from 7 to 3 and improves fruit quality in terms of total soluble solids, vitamin C content and colour development due to an increase in anthocyanin pigment.

         Fruits should be picked at right stage of maturity. Phalsa fruits become fully mature 55 days after fruit set. Maturity is judged by colour. The ground colour which is green in the beginning should be turning red. Fruits should neither be under-ripe nor over-ripe. It should be firm at the time of ripening. Fruits for storage and transport should be harvested at colour turning stage, whereas for local market they should be harvested at red ripe stage. Fruits are individually picked by hand and collected in bamboo/pigeonpea/plant baskets cushioned with polythene sheet or newspaper cuttings. 

      On an average a mature plant provides 2–4kg of fruits.Phalsa is the most perishable fruit. Therefore it must be constantly protected during handling. No management programme can improve the quality of phalsa after it is harvested, but careful management can prevent loss of quality. Physical injuries—bruising,skin punctures and cuts caused by rough handling—can be avoided. Injured areas on fruits may serve as points of entry for rot-causing organisms. At normal field temperature, physiological activity is so high that fruit begins to destroy itself soon after harvesting. Therefore, prompt cooling of fruits is essential if the potential shelf-life of phalsa is to be realised.Grading is not practised in phalsa. It can be graded according to size (large and small) and colour(turning stage and red ripe stage). Fruits (2–4kg) should be packed in bamboo or mulbery baskets cushioned with gunny cloth or paper cuttings for distant markets. Hard board corrugated boxes can also be used for packing.

         Pre-packaging of fruits can be done for local sale. For this fruits can be prepacked in leaf cup and covered with perforated polythene bag for local sale. Handling of fruits during transit from market to home is easier and also causes less damage as compared with conventional prepacking in green leaf.

 
             Storage life of fruits depends upon the stage of harvest. Fruits harvested at turning stage can be stored for 2–3 days at room temperature and about 7 days in cold store at 7°C. Fruits harvested at red ripe stage can be stored only for a day, hence, they are marketed immediately in local markets. Fruits can be processed into quality  beverages—ready-to-serve, nectar, squash and syrup