The botanical name of Annual moringa: Moringa oleifera L.; it belongs to the family Moringaceae
Varieties: PKM 1, PKM 2 and KM 1.
Soil: Comes up well in a wide range of soil. A deep sandy loam soil with a pH of 6.5 – 8 is optimum.
Season: July – October.
Seed Rate: 500 g/ha
Sow two seeds per pit at a depth of 2.5-3.0 cm. The seeds can also be sown in the poly bags containing pot mixture and transplanted after 35 -40 days of sowing.
Preparatory cultivation: Dig pits of size 45 cm x 45 cm x 45 cm with a spacing of 2.0-2.5 m either way. Apply 15 kg of compost or FYM/pit after mixing with top soil.
After cultivation: Gap filling may be done within a month. Pinch off the seedlings when they are about 75 cm in height to facilitate more branching. Short duration vegetables like Cowpea, Bhendi and Tomato can be grown as intercrop.
Manuring: A fertilizer dose of 45:15:30 g of NPK/pit may be applied 3 months after sowing.
Apply 45 g of N/pit after 6 months when the crop is in bearing.
Irrigation: Irrigate before sowing and on the 3rd day after sowing and subsequently at 10 – 15 days interval according to soil type.
Plant protection against Pests
Fruit fly: Spray dichlorvos (1 ml/lit) or fenthion 1.5 ml/lit to control fruit flies when pods are about 20 – 30 days old. Rake the soil after applying lindane 1.3 D at 25 kg/ha.
Bud worm, leaf caterpillar and leaf webber: Dust carbaryl 10 D at 25 kg/ha or spray carbaryl 50 WP @ 2 g/lit.
Hairy caterpillar
1. Use flame torch when the caterpillars settle on the tree trunk.
2. Spray chlorpyriphos 20 EC or quinalphos 25 EC @ 2 ml/lit.
Ratoon crop: Cut back the trees at 90 cm from ground level after the harvest is over. In another 4 – 5 months, plants will again come for harvest. Ratoon crops can be taken for 3 years. Apply the fertilizer dose of 45:15:30 g NPK/Plant, within a week after cutting back along with 25 kg of FYM or compost every year.
Yield: 50 - 55 tonnes of pods/ha (220 pods/tree/year)
