Brinjal plants are easy to grow and maintain in a garden as these plants are hardy and can be grown in any type of soils. However for commercial scale production of brinjals, optimum growing conditions should be followed. A detailed account of commercial growing practices for brinjals is given below:

Climate and Soil: Brinjal is a warm-season crop with optimum temperature requirement of 15 to 200C for healthy growth. Plant prefers direct sunlight and open spaces. Brinjal plant is highly sensitive to frosts. Well-drained, deep and fertile soils like silt loams, sandy loams and clay loams are desirable for growing brinjal. Optimum soil pH is about 6.5 to 7.5.

Propagation: Plants are propagated by seeds. Seedlings are raised in nursery beds. Seeds are sown in raised nursery beds 10 mm deep in rows and 5cm apart. Nursery beds should have a good drainage and shade for protecting seedlings. Immediately after sowing, the nursery-bed is covered with a biomulch like leaf moulds or straw or dry grass until seed germination. Soon after mulching, a light watering is done. Nursery beds are kept moist throughout the germination period as presence of moisture facilitates seed germination. Seeds germinate within few weeks.

Planting Seasons: Brinjals can be grown throughout the year and may be grown during all three seasons; three major crops of brinjals are as follows:

  • Autumn-winter crop: Seed is sown in June and one-month old seedlings are transplanted in July
  • Spring-summer crop: Seed is sown in December and one month old seedlings are transplanted during January
  • Rainy season crop: Seed is sown in March and one month old seedlings are transplanted in April

Seed Rate and Transplanting: In one gram of brinjal seeds, there are approximately 250 seeds. As a standard, 500 grams of seeds are taken for raising seedlings for one hectare area. (Note: 1 ha = 10,000 square meter.)

One month old seedlings are generally transplanted in the well-prepared growing fields. For the bushy, non-spreading type of brinjal plants, recommended spacing is 60 cm from row to row as well as from plant to plant while for spreading varieties, the row to row distance should be 75 to 90cm and that for plant to plant 60 to 75cm. The crop matures in 100 – 120 days.

Manures and Fertilizers: Organic manures like compost or farm yard manure @25-30 tons/hectare may be mixed with the top soil at the time of field preparation to replenish soil fertility. Brinjal plants are hardy and heavy feeders and need lots of manures and fertilizers for healthy growth and maximum fruit production.

It is estimated that 100 kg of nitrogen, 50 kg of phosphate and 50 kg of potash may be sufficient for one hectare area. Among these, half of nitrogen and full doses of phosphate and potash are applied as basal dressing at the time of transplanting. Remaining nitrogen fertilizers are given as a top-dressing during the active vegetative growth phase of the plant.

Irrigation: First irrigation is done soon after transplanting. Thereafter irrigations are given at weekly intervals for growing plants until plants get established in the soil. Once plants are strong and hardy, need-based irrigations are given depending upon dryness of the soil, climatic conditions, and growth phase of the plants.

Flowering and Fruiting: Brinjal plants produce four types of flowers: long-styled, medium-styled, pseudo short-styled and true short-styled. Among these, only long and medium-styled flowers (with a swollen ovary at the base) bear fruits. Fruit set can be increased with regular spraying of plant growth regulators such as 2, 4-D.

Disease Management: Brinjal is attacked by a number of diseases; however only some important diseases are mentioned here for a quick reference. Major diseases of brinjal plants are damping off, phomopsis blight, wilt, sclerotinia wilt, bacterial wilt, mosaic, little leaf, root-knot nematode disease, etc.

Damping Off: Damping off is a soil-borne fungal disease caused by Phytophthora spp. or Pythium spp. This disease mainly affects seedlings in nursery beds and the infected seedlings dry up and collapse. Control measures include soil sterilization seed treatment with recommended fungicides.

Phomopsis Blight: This is a fungal disease caused by Phomopsis vexans. This disease mainly affects the fruits and major symptom is the presence of brown, circular spots on the fruits. Control measures include use of disease-free seeds and seed treatment with a recommended fungicide, use of resistant varieties, and hot water treatment of seeds at 500C for half an hour before sowing seeds.

Wilt: Wilt may be caused by different types of fungi such as Fusarium spp., Ozonium spp. or Verticillium spp. Major symptoms include yellowing of the foliage followed by browning of leaves which subsequently leads to the stunted growth and death of the plants. Control measures include use of resistant varieties and spraying of the affected plants with a recommended fungicide.

Sclerotinia Wilt: Sclerotinia wilt is a fungal disease caused by Sclerotinia spp. Major symptoms include presence of tiny mass of fungal mycelia on the stem at ground level. This disease is easily spread through irrigational water and the damp soils. Major control measures include treating soils with copper fungicides before planting and spraying of the plants with a recommended fungicide.

Bacterial Wilt: Bacterial Wilt is a bacterial disease of brinjal plants which results in wilting and withering of the affected plants. The disease can be controlled by observing proper field sanitation measures and cultural practices such as long crop rotations with recommended crops.

Little Leaf: Little leaf disease is caused by mycoplasmal infections and major symptoms include formation of numerous small/little leaves (hence the name ‘little leaf’) and deformation of flower parts. This disease is transmitted through vectors such as leaf-hoppers (Cestius spp.) and therefore the best control measure include controlling leaf hoppers in the growing fields. Uprooting and destruction of the affected plants may also be effective.

Root-Knot Nematodes: Root knot nematodes are microscopic worm-like organisms present in the soil. Plants affected by root-knot nematodes become stunted and leaves show chlorotic symptoms. In some cases, roots form galls which adversely affect plant-nutrient absorption from the soils. Control measures include crop rotation with plants that are resistant to root-knot nematodes (e.g. marigolds), soil fumigation with a recommended nematicide (for example, DD or Nemagon7) and use of nematode-resistant varieties.

Insect-Pest Management: Brinjal is attacked by a number of pests and diseases; here a few of the major pests are mentioned with their possible control measures. These are Epilachna beetles, shoot and fruit borers, and red mites. Aphids and jassids also attack brinjal plants but these insects do not cause severe crop losses.

Epilachna Beetle: Epilachna beetles are tiny, red-coloured, dome-shaped winged insects. Both grubs and beetles are dangerous to brinjal plants. Grubs are pale yellow in colour and hairy. Both grubs and adult beetles feed on young foliage thus causing crop losses. Control measures include handpicking and destroying the grubs and beetles (this is practical if the crop is small), and spraying the plants with a recommended organic pesticide such as pyrethrums.

Shoot and Fruit Borer: Shoot and fruit borers are small caterpillars that attack tender shoots and young fruits. Control measures include handpicking and destroying of the affected shoots and fruits and spraying the plants with recommended organic pesticides.

Red Mites: Mites are small sucking insects that suck the sap from the leaves and tender shoots which result in yellowing of the plants. In severe cases, cobweb-like structures are seen on the leaves. Dusting the affected plants with sulphur may control the insects effectively.

Harvesting: Both mature and immature fruits are used for culinary purposes and therefore depending upon the requirements, brinjal fruits may be harvested at different stages of fruit development. However, fruits should not be allowed to be overripe as over ripe fruits are pithy and bitter and are not edible. External glossiness and firmness of the fruits are two indicators for harvesting maturity. When fruits attain desirable size with a smooth glossy skin and sufficient firmness, they can be harvested. Harvesting is done by using a sharp knife to cut the fruit from the stem along with its calyx and stalk. Fruit calyx and stalk are not edible.

Yield: Average yield of brinjal fruits varies from 20 – 25 tons per hectare (i.e. 20, 000 – 25, 000 kg brinjals from 10, 000 square meter area).

Grading: Grading of the fruits for commercial markets is often done based on fruit size, fruit appearance, and fruit firmness.

Optimum Storage and Packing Conditions: Maximum shelf life of brinjal fruits (i.e. two weeks) is obtained when fruits are stored at 10-12°C (50-54°F) at 90% RH (relative humidity).

Fruits are wrapped in paper before they are packed in well-aerated containers such as gunny bags or net bags or wooden crates or bamboo baskets.

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