Rabi & Horticulture Crop Guides
Explore Rabi and horticulture crop guides with practical tips on cultivation, nutrition, pest control, disease management, and better crop growth.
46 articles
11 minPapaya Disease Management: An IDM Guide for Farmers (Ring Spot, Anthracnose, Foot Rot and More)
Papaya has no cure for its two worst diseases, ring spot virus and leaf curl virus. For these, management means clean seedlings, removing sick plants early and keeping aphids and whiteflies away. Foot rot and damping off come from wet soil and are best stopped by drainage, ring irrigation and seed or soil treatment before planting. Anthracnose and powdery mildew show on fruit and leaves and need clean orchards plus timely sprays. Integrated Disease Management (IDM) means doing all of these together, so you spray less and lose fewer plants. Use only products registered for papaya on the label (check CIB&RC), and confirm any dose with your horticulture officer.
13 minCucumber Farming in India: Fertilizer Schedule, Pests, Diseases and Crop Protection
Cucumber is a warm-season crop that gives its first picking about 45 days after sowing. In India it is sown in spring-summer (Jan to Apr) and in the rainy season (June to July). TNAU gives a seed rate of about 2.5 kg per hectare with channels 1.5 m apart and hills 60 cm apart. Add well-rotted farmyard manure before sowing. The NIPHM package gives about 40:32:24 kg N:P:K per acre, with all phosphorus and potash at sowing and nitrogen split at 25 and 45 days. Water every week, trellis the vines, and scout for fruit fly, red pumpkin beetle, aphids and downy mildew from the start. Calcium and boron help fruit set and shape, and uneven water is the most common cause of bitter or crooked fruit.
11 minChana Wilt Disease (Ukhta Rog): How to Spot It, What Causes It and How to Control It
Chana wilt (ukhta rog) is caused by a soil and seed borne fungus, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris. It blocks the water vessels, so leaves droop, turn yellow and the plant dries, often in patches. Cutting the stem near the base shows brown to black streaks inside. The fungus can stay alive in soil or crop residue for up to 6 years, so there is no cure for a plant that has already wilted. Control is prevention: a wilt resistant variety, clean treated seed, a 3 to 4 year gap before chana returns to the same field, deep sowing in light soil and no moisture stress. Always check that it is not dry root rot or collar rot first.
11 minMustard Aphid Control: Threshold, 5 IPM Methods and Safe Sprays for Winter
Control mustard aphid in this order. First sow on time with a tolerant variety. Then check the field every week from the start of December. Look at the top 10 cm of the main shoot, not only the leaves. Remove small infested patches by hand, and keep ladybirds and hover flies alive. Use neem oil 2 percent or neem seed kernel extract 5 percent while numbers are low. Spray an insecticide only when aphids cross the local threshold and natural enemies cannot keep up, use the label dose, and spray in the evening when bees are not active.
12 minIntegrated Disease Management (IDM) in Chilli: Complete Guide to Anthracnose, Damping Off, Wilt, Powdery Mildew and Leaf Curl
Integrated disease management (IDM) in chilli means using several steps together instead of relying on one spray. Start with healthy seed and a clean, well-drained nursery, treat seed with Trichoderma or Pseudomonas, use tolerant varieties, remove sick plants, control whiteflies against leaf curl, and spray a registered fungicide only when symptoms start, following TNAU timings. Anthracnose, damping off, powdery mildew, Cercospora spot, Fusarium wilt, bacterial wilt and leaf curl each need a different mix of these steps.
11 minCauliflower Cultivation in India: Package of Practices, Varieties, Sowing Time, Fertiliser and Disorders
Cauliflower is grown in India from early to late groups by sowing different varieties through the year. Raise seedlings in a nursery for 4 to 5 weeks, transplant at 45 x 30 cm (early) or 60 x 45 cm (mid and late), and give about 250 quintal of FYM per hectare with split nitrogen. Use age-correct seedlings and enough nitrogen to avoid buttoning, and pick a variety that matches your sowing month to avoid riceyness.
11 minDisease Resistant Cotton Varieties and Hybrids in India: CLCuD, Bacterial Blight, Wilt, Grey Mildew and Pink Bollworm
No cotton hybrid sold in India is rated fully resistant to cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD). Desi cotton (Gossypium arboreum) is the exception: ICAR-CICR says desi varieties are immune to CLCuD and tolerant to whitefly. For bacterial blight, grey mildew and root rot, TNAU lists the CICR variety Suraksha as resistant. Only GEAC-approved Bt cotton is legal, so buy sealed Bt seed with a bill, choose short to medium duration, and sow on time.
14 minSugarcane Farming in India: Varieties, Planting, Diseases, Pests and Step-by-Step Management
Sugarcane is a 10 to 12 month crop that is planted from two-budded setts in spring (Feb to Mar) or autumn (Sep to Oct) in north India, and in the main season (Dec to May) in Tamil Nadu. Treat the setts, plant 12 buds per metre of furrow, apply nitrogen and potash in splits, irrigate by growth stage, keep the field weed-free for the first 3 to 4 months and use disease-free seed. Red rot, smut, wilt and grassy shoot spread through seed cane, so clean seed is the cheapest protection. Borers, termites and aphids are best handled by scouting, trash management and natural enemies first.
11 minDisease Resistant Chilli Varieties in India: Leaf Curl, Anthracnose, Powdery Mildew, Wilt and Virus Tolerant Picks
There is no chilli that is fully immune to every disease. What farmers can buy are varieties rated tolerant or moderately resistant to one or two problems. For leaf curl, ICAR-IIHR lists Arka Yashasvi, Arka Gagan and Arka Tanvi, IIVR lists Kashi Garima and Kashi Ratna, and PAU lists Punjab Sindhuri and Punjab Tej. For powdery mildew, look at Arka Harita and Arka Suphal. For bacterial wilt, Kerala's Ujwala and Anugraha. Match the variety to your state and your main disease.
11 minBest Coriander Varieties for High Yield in India: Seed Type, Leaf Type, Sowing Time and Disease Resistance
There is no single best coriander variety for every farm. For seed in the north and west, the ICAR-NRCSS Ajmer varieties ACr-2 (about 1,293 kg per hectare in 25 national trials) and ACr-3 (about 1,689 kg per hectare in 17 trial entries) are the best documented, and ACr-1 is the pick for fields with stem gall. For green leaf, AGCr-1 and Hisar Bhoomit are the leaf-focused releases. In the south, CO and Andhra varieties such as Sadhana and Sindhu fit rainfed land. Sow in October to early November where winters are dry, and treat the seed.
11 minWatermelon Farming in India: Package of Practices, Season, Spacing, Fertiliser, Pollination and Harvest
Watermelon needs warm weather and well-drained sandy loam with pH 6.5 to 7.5. TNAU suggests about 3.5 kg of seed per hectare, channels 2.5 m apart with hills 0.9 m apart, 20 t FYM per hectare and 200:100:100 kg NPK in splits. Bring honey bees at first flowering, irrigate often early and less near ripening, and harvest when the tendril near the fruit dries, the ground spot turns yellow and the sound is dull.
15 minGreenhouse Farming in India: Types, Cost, Subsidy, Crops and Profit
Greenhouse farming is growing crops inside a covered structure where temperature, humidity, light and water are managed, so plants can grow through the year or out of season. In India most structures use UV plastic film on a galvanised pipe frame. Cost ranges from about Rs 300 per sq m for simple designs to Rs 3,500 per sq m for fully automated ones (TNAU).
