2. Introduction
ā¢ Known as king of nut
ā¢ Most traded dry fruit across globe
ā¢ Origin āsouthwest and central asia
ā¢ Producers- USA, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, India
ā¢ Producing states- Jammu& Kashmir
2
3. Taxonomy
ā¢ Order :Rosales
ā¢ Family :Rosaceae
ā¢ Genus :Prunus
ā¢ Subgenus :Amygdalus
ā¢ Species :P. communis (2n=28)
ā¢ Synonymes: ā¢ Prunus dulcis
ā¢ Amygdalus communis
ā¢ Amygdalus dulcis
ā¢ Prunus amygdalus
3
4. Varieties
ā¢ Varieties for J & K :- Makhdoom, Parbat, Waris,
Shalimar, Afghanistan Seedling, IXL, Merced, Non
Pareil
ā¢ Himachal Pradesh
ā¢ High and mid hills :- Merced, Non Pareil, IXL
ā¢ Valley areas:- :- Drake, Katha, Peerless, Ne Plus
Ultra
ā¢ Dry temperate zone :- Ne Plus āUltra, Texas, IXL
4
5. Climate and soil
ā¢ Temperate fruit crops
ā¢ Site with good soil and air drainage
ā¢ Free from hailstorm and frost in spring
ā¢ require cool winter, frost free spring and warm dry
summers
ā¢ South facing slopes are best for almond growing
5
6. Contdā¦
ā¢ Altitude- 750- 3210 m above msl
ā¢ Unopen flower withstand temperature of -2.2Ā°C
ā¢ Blossoms at petal fall damaged by .5 to -1.1Ā°C
ā¢ Chilling requirement- 200 to 700 hrs below 7.2Ā°C
ā¢ Deep, well drained, loamy soil is ideal
ā¢ pH- 5.5 to 6.8
6
7. Propagation
ā¢ āTā budding :July- August
ā¢ Wedge grafting :February- March
ā¢ Rootstocks
ā¢ Dry areas- bitter almond, wild peach, behmi
ā¢ Irrigated area- peach seedling, Lovell, Halford,
Nemaguard, Nemared,
ā¢ Clonal rootstocks-GF 677, GF 557, Marianna 2624,
Myrobalan 2032 and Marianna GF 8/1
ā¢ Root stocks of 8- 10 month old or pencil thickness are
used
7
8. Planting
ā¢ Pit of 1m3 size dig during September- October
ā¢ Planting done during February- March
ā¢ Spacing
ā¢ Normal - 6x6 m
ā¢ Medium HDP -4x4 m
ā¢ HDP -3.5x 2.5-3.5 m
ā¢ Pollinizer planted in every third row
ā¢ Pollinizers- IXL, Jordanalo, Nee-Plus-Ultra, Waris
8
9. Training and pruning
ā¢ Open center system
ā¢ At time of planting- headed back plant at 70 cm
height
ā¢ First branch allowed only above 0.6m
ā¢ 3-4 scaffold branches selected (croch angle- 45-60)
ā¢ Primary branches are headed back to Ā½ to 1/3 of
the growth
ā¢ Summer pruning in second year to form secondary
framework scaffold
9
10. Contdā¦
ā¢ Third year dormant pruning
ā¢ 2-3 secondary branches on each main branches are
selected
ā¢ Shoots growing inward and interfering with the
main branches are pruned off
ā¢ Almond bears fruits on spurs which remain fruitful
for about 5 years
ā¢ Pruning should be done in such a manner that one
fifth of fruiting wood is removed every year
ā¢ Unwanted water sprouts and suckers should be
removed
10
12. Contā¦
ā¢ It is heavy feeder, require proper nutrition
ā¢ N applied in 2-3 split dose
ā¢ Half N and full P& K applied one fort night before
expected bloom
ā¢ 1/4th N- 3 weeks after fruit set
ā¢ 1/4th N- June/July
12
13. Irrigation
ā¢ Irrigation done in an interval of 10-15 days
ā¢ Critical stages
ā¢ Flowering :February - March
ā¢ Fruit development: April- June
ā¢ Drip irrigation- 4L/hr for 5 hr at an interval of 4-5
days
13
14. Flowering and fruiting
ā¢ Flowering: January- April ,depending on cultivars
ā¢ Bud differentiation: August- September, continue
up to February
ā¢ Inflorescence form on shoot and spur
ā¢ Flower-perigynous, self incompatible
ā¢ Pollination: cross pollination by bees
14
15. contdā¦
ā¢ Pollinizers in orchard -33%
ā¢ 4-6 beehives/ha placed in orchard- 12-15% higher
yield
ā¢ Fruit growth in 3 stages
ā¢ Stage 1-pericarp, seed, nucellus develops
ā¢ Stage 2 endosperm and embryo enlarge
ā¢ Stage 3-dry weight of embryo increases
ā¢ Fruit is drupe
15
16. Harvest
ā¢ Bearing start from 3-4 year
ā¢ Optimum yield obtained from 8-10
years
ā¢ Harvesting time: August- September
ā¢ Indices: hull split of 95% nuts
ā¢ Harvested manually
ā¢ Yield: 10-20q/ha shelled almond
16
17. Post harvest management
ā¢ Hulling- removal of hull from seeds
ā¢ Done immediately after harvest manually or
mechanically
ā¢ Drying- to reduce mould growth during storage
ā¢ Can be store more than 1 year at 0-7Ā°C
17
18. ā¢ Pest
ā¢ Chaffer beetle
ā¢ Brown mite
ā¢ Navel orange worm
ā¢ Diseases
ā¢ Shot hole
ā¢ Almond decline
ā¢ Crown gall
18