This document provides information on seed production techniques for drumstick (Moringa oleifera L.). It discusses varietal selection, seed rate and spacing, nutrient and irrigation management, weed control, floral biology and pollination, genetic purity maintenance through rouging, harvesting, yield, grading, storage, and insect pest management. The key aspects covered are that drumstick is an important crop grown for its nutritional leaves and pods. Varieties like PKM-1 and Bhagya are commonly grown. Optimal seed rate is 650g/ha with a spacing of 2.5x2.5m for annuals and 5x5m for perennials. Nutrient management involves basal FYM and foliar or

1. Seed Production Techniques in Drumstick (M. oleifera L)
Division of Vegetable Crops
ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research
Bengaluru- 560089
KARNATAKA
Dr. Raja Shankar
Senior Scientist ( Vegetable Science)
Mail id: rajascientists@gmail.com

2.  Perennial vegetable grown
 Leaves and pods enriched with protein,
minerals and Vitamin A & C.
 Positive effects on growth rate in sheep
and Milk yield in dual purpose cows as
fodder crop.
 Seed oil (42%) used as a lubricant for
fine machinery
 Oil has 70% oleic acid as compared to
other vegetable oil (40%).
 Seed extracts at 75-250 mg/l is used to
clear water to turbidity.
Vitamin A
(4) of
Carrot
Vitamin C
(7) of
Orange
Calcium
(4) of Milk
Pottasium
(3) of
Banana
Fe (3/4) of
Spinach Protein
(2) of
Yogurt
Nutrient richness (times higher on
gram basis)
DRUMSTICK NUTRITIONAL VALUE

3. INTRODUCTION
• India is the top producer (40000ha) and supplier
(80% of global demand
• Andhra Pradesh as the largest producer (19700
ha).
• Global market value -€ 363million in 2016
• Market value expected t to reach € 626 million
by 2020.
• India’s drumstick exports to grow by 26-30%
annually.
• India exported over 16,000 tonnes of drumstick
products (2014-16).
• Major import countries are China, the US,
Germany, Canada, South Korea and European
countries

4. DIVERSITY IN DRUMSTICK
M.Hilderbrandii M.ovalifolia M.concanensis

5. • Predominantly a crop of dry and arid tracts.
• Prefers soil with pH of 6.0-7.5
• Succulent roots, high clay soil cause more
seedling mortality.
• Perennial types are grown on homestead
and boundaries of fields.
• Annuals are grown for intensive cultivation
• The optimum temperature for good growth
is 25-30o C,
• However, higher temperature results in
heavy flower shedding.
SEASON

6. Variety Main features
KM-1 Pods are short (32-37cm) ,weighing 65 to 82.5g. Each tree bears 226-
328 pods.
PKM-1 Pods are 40-50cm, each tree produces at least 200-350 pods. It bears
twice in a year
GKVK-1 Small stemmed varieties with height of 2-2.5m. Each tree yields 120-
200 pods per year
Bhagya Pods are 60-70cm length and 350-400 pods produced in each tree in
a year.
Konkan
Ruchira
Each tree yields 275 pods weighing 30-35kg per year. The pods are
dark green, medium long and best quality
Thar Harsha Pods are longer size (100.2cm), weighing about 155g each pod.
Each tree bears 314 pods in 2nd year (48.6kg/tree)
VARIETAL SELECTION

7. • 650g seed /1.0 ha area.
• Well filled and borer free seeds are ideal.
• Seed germinates at 5 to 10 DAS.
• Seed treatment of Azospirillum cultures @100 g per
625 g of seeds enhances seedling vigor , growth
and yield.
• Ensure adequate sunlight for seedlings vigour
• Seedlings of 20-30cm height are optimum for
transplanting.
• Spacing of 2.5 x 2.5 M (annual types) and 5.0x5.0M
(Perennial) is ideal.
• The seedlings after transplanting is provided with
support using sticks of 1.0 m height.
SEED RATE, SPACING & PLANTING

8. NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
 Basal application of 20Kg FYM per pit
 Fertilizer application in the circular trench method is preferable.
 Application of 100g Urea, 100g SSP and 50g MOP at 3rd and again at 6th month
of planting, and100g urea top dressing increase pod yield.
 Application of 500g poultry manure with neem cake 250g and panchakavya
2% spray combination along with 150:150:100g NPK/tree enhance the yield
up to 35.67 kg per tree and shelf life of the pod
 3 stage of fertigation is recommended
 1st stage (90-145 days after sowing)- 11 times
 2nd stage (146-190 days after sowing) -9 times
 3rd stage (191-235 days after sowing)- 9 times
 I stage : 2.9kg (19-19-19), 0.7kg (13-0-45) and 7.2 kg (urea),
 II state: 3.6 kg(13-0-45) and 13.0kg (urea)
 III stage: 5.9 kg(13-0-45) and 8.8 kg (urea).

9. IRRIGATION MANEGEMENT
• Shallow rooted and highly succulent.
• Mounting around trunk keeps away from water contact.
• Irrigation at 7-10 days interval (annual types) and 10-15
days interval ) for perennial types
• Moisture stress for 20 - 30 days, induce flowering.
• Moisture stress during flowering results in flower drop,
pollen dryness, immature fruit drop.
• At peak fruit development and maturation stage,
moderate irrigation is advisable
WEED MANEGEMENT
• Weed infestation during 30-90 days is highly competitive with drumstick .
• 3-4 hoeing are required each after every irrigation during vegetative growth phase.
• The non-selective herbicide, Glyphosate (Roundup or Kleenup) application before
field preparation to control emerged perennial weeds

10. FLORAL BIOLOGY AND POLLINATION
 Anthesis : 4.30 am and continues till 6.30 am.
 Anther dehiscence occurs from 5.00 am to 9.00 am.
 Stigma becomes receptive on the day prior to anthesis
and remain receptive on the next day of anthesis.
 Highly cross pollinated crop and chief pollinators are
honey bees
 Isolation of 1000M (Breeder seed ) and 500M for certified
seeds are required.
 Poor fruit set during rainy season: Pollen grains fails to
disperse freely and washed off (August –September)
 High setting during summer: Pollen become non sticky,
more powdery and spread fast as temperature rises
 Heavy fruit set observed in later crop (Mar-May) than
earlier crop (Aug-Sep).

11. GENETIC PURITY OF SEEDS
• M. oleifera is adapted to mixed mating system,.
• Out crossing rates of 74% and selfing of 26%.
• Single inflorescence have >100 flowers, and produce only 1-4 fruits (1-4%)
• Naturally, drumstick yields 200 - 250 fruits/tree (60 are selfed and genetically
pure &170 fruits are cross.
• Non uniform bearing trees like mother plant retained for >10 years in fields
42
16
32
64
0
47.5
24
36
68
0
N-B N-E but B E, but N-B E,C,B E,B
Fruit set percent of Moringa
PKM-1
PKM-2Selfing Crossing
Natural pollination Assisted crossing

12. ROUGING
 Seedling stage: Plant stem characters are monitored and uprooted off types
 Flowering stage: Pink flower types are rouged.
 Pod development stage: Curling pods are removed.
 Pods with more than 70 cm and cylindrical shape alone should be harvested
in case of PKM 1.
 Pods with tri-faced shape should be rejected.
• The Off types per cent maximum permitted level at Foundation Seed (0.1) and
at Certified Seeds (0.2%).
• Plant affected by seed borne diseases per cent maximum permitted level at
Foundation Seed (0.1%) and at Certified Seed (0.5%).
FIELD STANDARDS

13. HARVESTING & SEED EXTRACTION
 Total duration from seed to seed : 210-240 days.
 Two season pods are harvested : March-June, and
September -October.
 For seed: Pods are harvested at brown maturity before
the pods split open and seed falls
 Brown colored pods are an ideal stage to recover good
quality seeds with high germination potential.
 Seeds collected from the proximal and middle portion of
the fruit are well filled as compared to the distal portion.
 1-2 days harvested pods must be shade dried.
 Seeds are extracted manually
 On opening, the seeds are separated freely.
 Small, shriveled and damaged seeds are removed.
 The opened seeds are dried to the safest level of i.e.8-
10%.

14. YIELD & GRADING , STORAGE
• Yield of drumstick increases as the tree age advances.
• An increment of 8, 24, 38, 56 kg are harvested from 1st to 4th year
@35kg/tree/year
• For seed production: 200 – 250 pods / tree /year are produced.
• Each pod contains 10-13 seeds.
• Seed yield is 2000-3250 seeds per tree per year i.e. 600 g to 1 kg seed per tree.
• On an average 1000-1500kg/ha can be obtained.
• Seeds are graded sung specific gravity separator
• Fraction of 2 and 3 is ideal with good germination per cent
• Seeds can be stored for up to 12 months,
• Freshly harvested seeds are dried to 8 % moisture content and treated with
captan @ 2g/kg of seeds and packed in 700 gauge polythene bags.
• About 84% germination is retained up to 12 months.
• Storage at RH of 75% at 20-25 C ideal

15. Pest Control measure
Bud worm and
Bud Midge
Intercultivation to destroy pupae
Set up light trap @ 1/ha ,
Spray insecticides like Carbaryl 50 WP@ 1gm/ lit or
malathion 50 EC 2 ml/ lit of water.
Leaf eating
catter pillar
Ploughing around trees .
Collection and destruction of silken webs
Setting up of light trap @ 1/ha.
Provision for sitting arrangement for birds.
Spray insecticides like Carbaryl 50 WP@ 1gm/ lit or
malathion 50 EC 2 ml/ lit of water or fenthion (0.05 %).
Pod fly Application of thiamethoxan 25WG @ 200gai/ha on
150, 180, 210 days after sowing,
Use of fermented tomato in a trap,
Spraying of spinosad 45 SC@56gai/ha and
profenofos 50EC@250gai/ha
INSECT PEST MANAGEMENT

16. THANK YOU