Season and Field preparation

Soil and climate

Red sandy loam soils with good drainage are ideal for better leaf yield. The optimum temperature requirement is 26° to 37°C.

Season of sowing and planting

The main season of availability of curry leaf fruits is July – August. With in 3 - 4 days of collection of fruits, the seeds should be pulped and sown in nursery beds or poly bags.

One year old seedlings are suitable for planting. One seedling is planted at the centre of the pit.

Preparation of field

The field is ploughed 3-4 times to get a fine tilth. Before last ploughing well decomposed FYM is applied @ 20 t/ha. Pit size of 30 x30x30 cm is dug one to two months before planting at a spacing of 1.2 to 1.5 m.

Irrigation

Immediately after planting the pits are irrigated. On the third day the second irrigation is given and then the irrigation is given once in a week.

Application of fertilizers

After each harvest 20 kg of FYM/plant is applied and mixed with soil.

Inter cultivation

Periodical hoeing and in the first year intercrop like pulses can be grown. After attaining 1 m height, the terminal bud is cut off to encourage basal branching. In total 5-6 branches are maintained per bush. Ten to twelve months after planting the first harvest starts.

Harvest and yield

At the end of first year 250-400 kg of leaves/ha can be harvested.

In II year : Once in 4 months every time 1800 kg/ha which would work out to 5400 kg/ha/year

III year : Yield 5400 kg/ha

IV year : 2500 kg/ha once in 3 months which would work out to 10,000 kg/ha/year

V year onwards : 5000 kg/ha once in 3 months which work out to 20,000 kg/ha/year