King of nuts- ALMOND

SUBMITTED TO:DR. D.K. DORA

PROF.HEAD DEPT. OF FSC.HORT.TECH

SUBMITTED BY:Manas kumar patel

SCIENTIFIC NAME : Prunus communis Prunus dulcis FAMILY: RosaceaeCHROMOSOME NUMBER: 2n= 28

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION:Originated from south west and central Asia Major Growing Countries: California, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, India California is the leading producer of almond in world with 489,879,76 ton India’s production : 1,179,34 ton major states in India : •Jammu and Kashmir (Almond is the state tree of Jammu and Kashmir)• sub tropical varieties of almond is grown in North Indian conditions.

ALMOND•Almonds are highly valued for its distinctive taste and its pleasant flavour and extensively used in baking products, candies, ice-creams , confectionary products.•Principal flavinoids present in almond are catechin, and epicatechin

HEALTH BENEFITS:Lower LDL-Cholesterol and Reduce Your Risk of Heart DiseaseProvide Double-Barreled Protection against Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease

Nutritional ProfileAlmonds are a very good source of vitamin E, manganese, biotin, and copper. Almonds are a good source of magnesium, molydenum, riboflavin (vitamin B2), and phosphorus. Fortunately, although one-quarter cup of almonds contains about 11 grams of fat, a sizable portion of it (7 grams) is heart-healthy monounsaturated fat.

Almonds and OxalatesAlmonds are among a small number of foods that contain measurable amounts of oxalates, naturally-occurring substances found in plants, animals, and human beings. When oxalates become too concentrated in body fluids, they can crystallize and cause health problems. For this reason, individuals with already existing and untreated kidney or gallbladder problems may want to avoid eating almonds

BOTANY

•Botanically Almond is a Drupe•Edible part is nut•Inflorescence come laterally on current season growth which bear fruit in following season.

Sometimes flower bud comes both terminally and laterally which is advantageous. Shoot bearing promotes PRECOCIOUS bearing while spur bearing increase bearing surface.

CONTD……

•Almond produces peryginous self-incompatible flowers.•It is cross pollinated mainly by Honey bee•Flower differentiation takes place during summer and floral development continues into autum to winter.•Flowering is determined by the chilling and subsequent heat requirement.•Bloosm opening in almond is a typical sigmoid response curve.

INFLORESCENCE OF TEMPERATE ALMOND

INFLORESCENCE OF SUB-TROPICAL ALMOND

CONTD……

•Fruit Growth occur in three stages•STAGE 1: Pericarp, seed, nucellus develops•STAGE 2: Endosperm and embryo enlrage•STAGE 3: Dry weight of embryo increases•Physiological process which accompanies fruit ripening includes :•dehiscence of hull or mesocarp • Hull split • Fruit abscission• Dehydration

SL NO.

NAME OF CULTIVAR DESCRIPTION

1 Cailfornia Papershell It ripens in the last week of June. The thin-shelled nuts are bold, weighing about 2.1 g each and the average yield being 3.8 kg/t

2 Hybrid 15 The thin-shelled variety with bold nuts ripens in the first week of July. On an average, a nut weight 1.7 g, the average yield being 3.7 kg/tree.

3 Pethick’s Wonder Thin shelled nuts of this variety are bigger than all other varieties. On an average, a nut weights 2.5g, the average yield being 3.7 kg/tree.

4 J K 55 Earliest ripening variety, its nuts are harvested in the first week of June. The nuts are semi-hard, small –sized, the average yield being 3.5kg dry nuts/tree.

SUBTROPICAL ALMOND

Fruit and nut trees that originate in cold-winter climates fall dormant in winter, enabling them to tolerate freezing temperatures in their native habitats . During plant dormancy, visible growth is suspended and all physiological processes are halted or slowed. They must be reactivated in spring for trees to produce leaves and flowers, and ultimately bear fruit . In order to avoid frost damage, it is crucial for trees to only resume growth when the cold season is over. For determining this moment, trees have evolved mechanisms to sense temperature, and they appear to be able to integrate over phases of cold and phases of warm temperatures . In other words, they can sense ‘how long it has been how cold’ (chilling) and ‘how long it has been how warm’ (heat). Trees must fulfill their chilling and heat requirements in order to break dormancy .

CLIMATIC AND SOIL REQUIREMENT:

deep, well-drained, loamy soils are ideal. Soils with had pan, water logging and high water table, should be avoided. 

PROPAGATION:

TIME: Late spring, root stock grown in autumMETHOD: T-Budding

RAISING OF ROOT STOCK:

•Peach, Plum or almond x Peach hybrids are taken as rootstocks•Fruits are collected at hull spilt stage•Seed extraction is done•Seed soaking•Stratification•Sowing• fungicide treatment

CultivationPlanting•Almond plants are planted in 1m x 1mx 1m sized pits at a distance of 4.5 m x 4.5m in January in square system. •Most of the almond varieties are self-unfruitful. Therefore to plant two or more cross-compatible varieties which flower at the same time in alternate rows are essential.

Training and pruning•Almond plants are trained according to modified leader system. •It bears mostly on spurs which live for five years. Thus in young trees, only diseased, dry wood and the branches which are interfering with each other should be removed. •Water sprouts arising on the stem should also be removed as early as possible. •In old bearing trees, pruning is done to remove one-fifth of the growth every year.

FERTILIZATION AND IRRIGATION:

•As mesophytic origin crop it required less water.• Irrigation should be done thoroughly but not so frquently as it is suseptible to water logging conditon•Irrigation should be with holded prior to harvest as the result ing water stress promotes abscission layer• It mainly required Nitrogen application.• Almond removes 45kg of actual N from soil•Leaf analysis should be done during summer to identify deficiencies• Under high yield cropping systems pottasium and zinc may be applied as potassium easilyfixed by clay become unavailable for root uptake•Zinc or foliar spray of zinc sulphite in autumn helps to remove remaining leaves on tree as they go into winter dormancy

Harvesting:

HARVESTING TIME: Early August to Late SeptemberHARVESTING INDICES:

• Hull split of 95% of nuts• Ripened nuts should be prevented from bird

damage

HARVESTING METHOD:Almond tress are knocked and falling nuts are collected in net

HULLING AND DRYING:

Hulling is the method of removal of hull which can be done manually or mechanically To prevant mould growth during storage drying is done under sun bye spreading almonds in thin layer till they make brittle sound.

HULLING

DRYING

STORAGE:

Before going for storage nuts should be treated at -17.8 *c for 48 hours to destroy the eggs and pest of previously applied naval orange pest Almond can be stored for * months under room temperature It can also be stored for more years if kept at 0 to 7 *C

Sl no

NAME OF THE DISEASES and

CAUSAL ORGANISM

SYMPTOMS VECTOR MANAGEMENT

1 Almond Brownline And DeclinePathogens: Peach yellow leafroll phytoplasma

• trees stunted and have leaves that droop and appear wilted.•Current-season shoot growth absent.•If bark is removed from the graft union, brown necrotic areas can be seen

pear psylla (Psylla pyricola)

• Remove and replace stunted trees with replants•use budwood sources tested free of the pathogen.

2 Crown GallPathogen: Agrobacterium tumefaciens

•Rough, abnormal galls on roots or trunk. •Galls are soft and spongy.•The centers of older galls decay. •Young trees become stunted; older trees often develop secondary wood rots.

•careful handling to avoid injury as much as possible•biological control agent Agrobacterium radiobacter-84.

Crown gall on the crown and roots of a young tree.

SL NO

NAME SYMPTOMS MANAGEMENT

1 Brown MiteScientific name: Bryobia rubrioculus

•Feeding by these mites can cause chlorosis, but leaves rarely drop• Less number of these pest are used in spring as mite predator

•monitor for brown mite as part of the dormant spur sample and treat with dormant oil if required.•The western predatory mite and brown lacewing are both effective predators, but alone may not control brown mite populations.

2 Navel OrangewormScientific name: Amyelois transitella

•First-instar larvae bore into the nutmeat, and later instars can consume most of the nut, producing large amounts of webbing and frass.•Navel orangeworm larval damage can also lead to fungal infections

•early harvest—provide the most effective control of navel orangeworm•Parasitic wasps Copidosoma is used.

Brown mite eggs and adults Older navel orangeworm larvae consume most of the nut.

FUTURE THRUST

•As almond has high demand and it can grow well in both temerate and subtropical condition we should consider to cover more area under it• More sub tropical varieties should be improved• Availabilty of planting material should be taken care of.

THANK YOU……..