Information on chestnut

1. CHESTNUT

2. TAXONOMY
• Scientific name : Castanea sativa
• Family : Fagaceae
• Ch No : 2n=12
• Native to the temperate region of the Northern Hemisphere

3. • Chestnut trees are growing
in temperate climate of the
world for more than 4000
years for beauty, fuel and
shelter
• Its wood is durable and
used for timber and furniture
work

4. • Sweet chestnut is nutritious. Low in fat and rich in vitamin B.
• Freshly harvested nuts contains 50% moisture, 40-42 %
carbohydrates, 2.9% proteins and 1.5 % fats
• Chestnut contain little oil and are high in carbohydrate
particularly in starch

6. Morphology
LEAF
• The American chestnut has long canoe
shaped leaves with a prominent lance-shaped
tip, with a coarse, forward hooked teeth at the
edge of the leaf.
• The leaf is dull or “matte” rather than shiny or
waxy in texture.

7. FLOWER
• The flowers of the chestnut tree are long,
drooping catkins that appear on the trees in
spring.
• Each tree bears both male and female flowers,
but they cannot self-pollinate.
• The potent fragrance of the flowers attracts
insect pollinators.

8. TREE

9. FRUIT

11. Species of chestnut

12. COMMON NAME BOTANICAL NAME
Chinese chestnut Castanea mollissium
Japanese chestnut Castanea crenata
European chestnut Castanea sativa
Seguin chestnut Castanea seguinii
Castanea devidii
Allegany chinkapin Castanea pumila
Ozark chinkapin Castanea ozarkenin
Ashe chinkapin Castanea ashei
Florida chinkapin Castanea floridana
Henry chinkapin Castanea henryi

13. chinkapin
• Chinkapin have only one small , pointed nut per bur(versus up to 3 nuts per bur
for chestnut).
• Chinkapin burs open into two sections whereas chestnut burs open into 4
sections.

14. AMERICAN CHESTNUT

15. EUROPEAN CHESTNUT /sweet CHESTNUT

16. JAPANESE CHESTNUT

17. CHINESE CHESTNUT

18. Horse chestnut –poisonous chestnut

21. VARIETIES

22. ABUNDANCE
• It is a seedling selection of Chinese chestnut . Nut size reduced with
increase of plant age.
NANKING
• Nuts are dark brown ,plants are heavy and regular bearer.
BELLE EPINE
• This is European type of pollinizer variety , resistant to root rot.

23. BORRA
• This is European type with high quality large size of nut.
CRANE
• This is Chinese type variety .The nuts are larger in size , shell is dark red.
CASTLE DEL RIO
• It is European type , praised for large sized , high quality nut.

24. SOIL
• Chestnut require a deep , well drained soil , with sandy loam texture.
• Soil pH should be acidic , between 5 and 6.5
• Chestnut won’t tolerate calcareous soils.
• Does not thrive with waterlogged soil.

25. CLIMATE
• The species of chestnut grows in a wide range of climate.
• Chinese chestnut can withstand temperature upto -32 degree Celsius without
injury at dormant conditions.
• The optimum rainfall for chestnut trees is 800mm or more , ideally even
distribution throughout the year.

26. PROPAGATION
• Sexual and Asexual methods are used for chestnut propagation.
• Chestnut is propagated by seed for seedling production for rootstock or producing
the hybrids.
• For commercial production it is propagated by grafting , budding , layering , or
micro propagation.

28. ROOTSTOCK
• The seedling of the same species should be used as rootstock in chestnut.
• Chinese chestnut seedlings are used as rootstock due to their resistance to
chestnut blight and cold injury.
• Most popular clonal root stocks are Euro-Japanese hybrids .

29. NUT STRATIFICATION
• After harvest seeds are stratified for 50-60 days in moist sand at 0-2.2 degree
Celsius to break dormancy and ensure uniform germination.
• Stratification in moist sand kept in wooden boxes at cool shady place is better
than in refrigerator – fluctuating temperature under field condition promote seed
germination.
• Stratified seeds are sown in nursery beds in march.

31. MANURES and fertilization
• Chestnut trees are mostly planted on eroded upland soils , so it is important to
fertilize trees regularly.
• 15:15:15 NPK mixture per year age of tree should be applied before sprouting or
in early spring.
• Full bearing trees should be supplied with 100kg FYM and 6-8 kg of NPK mixture
during December – January.

32. Irrigation
•Well established trees can withstand moderate amount of drought
•Chestnut is generally grown under rain-fed conditions but needs adequate
moisture for at least 2 months after blooming.
• Irrigation at fortnightly intervals afterblooming is desirable for better fruit size,
yield and nut quality.

33. Inter culture:
• Row crops such as corn, soyabean or other pulses can be grown between the
trees for the first few years.
• Filler trees of stone fruits can be planted for supplementing income in the early
years and should be removed later on after chestnut plants start bearing full
crops.

34. Pollination:
• All cultivars and species of chestnut are self sterile.Two or more cultivars and
seedling must be planted in the orchard to ensure cross pollination.
• Young orchard trees may not set nuts when the first flowers are formed because
of lack of pollination.
• When young trees start flowering the few staminate catkins apparently do not
produce enough pollen to fertilize the pistillate flowers.
• Chestnut is wind pollinated as well as insect

36. Maturity and Harvesting
• The chestnut mature in the first fortnight of october in Himachal conditions.
• The bur colour changes from green to lightbrownish and split open during maturity
releasing the nuts.
• Chestnut are very perishable crop that require prompt harvesting every third days.
• Traditionally, chestnut are hand gathered fromground after falling naturally.
• In USA and other developed countries the chestnut are harvested mechanically by
shaking the burs from the trees and using mechanical pick up device together the
nuts.

37. HARVESTING

38. • Nuts are highly perishable because it loose moisture rapidly at
room temperature.
• Fresh chest nuts,stil in their shells,we will keep for about a
week in a cool, dry place.
• To store them longer period, place them in a plastic bag-
perforated to allow for air circulation and refrigerate them for a
month.
• Fresh nuts 8 weeks @ 4-5°C
• Dry nuts (10% moisture) 12 months at 4-5°C.
STORAGE
Yield : Average 20-25 Kg /plant

39. DISEASES OF
CHESTNUT

40. Chestnut Bligh

41. Phytophthora root rot

42. Nut rot

43. PESTS OF CHESTNUT

44. GALL WASP

45. NUT WEEVIL

46. VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS

47. Thank you