Japan, New Zealand, Italy, the USA, China, Australia, France, and Spain are the highest production areas of kiwi fruit in the World. It is the best source of vitamin B & C and minerals like Potassium, phosphorus and Calcium. You can eat the kiwi fruit fresh and mixed with other fruits in desserts and salads. It is also used in wine and squash preparation.
Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, J & K, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Kerala are the most grown areas in India for kiwi.
Process of Kiwi Fruits Farming
It is very easy and simple to start a kiwi farming business both on a commercial and small scale. Kiwi trees generally require equipment, So you will probably be able to start and operate this business efficiently with the help of the best tractor and their attachment. However, you can choose the Kubota tractor models and many more renowned brand models. Here in this guide, we describe more details about kiwi cultivation; planting, spacing, nutrition and much more essential information.
Suitable Soil for Kiwi Fruit Farming
Deep, rich, well-drained and deep, rich sandy loam soils are ideal for kiwi cultivation. For maximum yield the soil pH should be less than 6.9 and 7.3 higher pH adversely affects the yield. The harvest may well come in some places of Himachal Pradesh and some parts of Kerala.
Land Preparation for Kiwi Fruit
For planting vines, the steep land is levelled with terraces. You should orient the rows in a north-south direction to obtain maximum sunlight. Because for kiwi plantation, January is the best month. And you should complete the pitting and manuring in December.
Best Season for Planting Kiwi Fruit
Farmers usually do the kiwi planting in January. They must plant the kiwi fruit at the same depth as the plants grown in the nursery. You should place the soil tightly around the roots for kiwi farming. The plants are hard to cut to about 30 cm to foster strong growth.
Spacing for Kiwi Plants
Kiwi planting range varies according to the training method and variety. You can generally adopt a Pergola design and T-bar for planting. Farmers should keep a minimum of 6 metre spacing from plant to plant in the pergola method and you must must hold it from column to line. You disperse the male plants through the orchard to ensure pollination, with the placement ratio between males and females being approximately 1:5.
Nutrition Requirements for Kiwi Plants
Kiwi plants need a fertiliser of 20 kg and 0.5 kg manure from the farmyard. Every year it is recommended to use an NPK mixture containing. This is because Kiwi requires high nutrition as its deficiency adversely affects the production of shoots and roots. On the other hand, excess levels of B and Na are dangerous. Therefore, you should distribute N fertiliser in two equal doses, between half and two-thirds in January–February and the rest in April–May after fruit collection. In young vines, mix the fertiliser into the soil within the periphery of the vine and spread evenly over the entire soil surface for mature vines.
Training of Kiwi Plants
Famers require training to maintain and establish a well-form master brand and fruiting arm framework. The supporting branches are erected as needed, even before planting the vines. It forms three types of supporting structures (fences). First, a wire fence is sometimes implemented using another wire, and then the structure takes the form of a knee fin device.
At the top of the pillars, which are 1.8-2.0 m, a 2.5 mm thick tensile wire hangs. The pillars are made of concrete, wood or iron and are built 6 metres apart and in a row, across from each other. The wire should not be high at the installation time; otherwise, the wire should break in knots due to crop load. A cross arm (1.5 m) also holds two outrigger wires in the end.
Irrigation Requirement
You should provide the irrigation from September to October when the fruit is in the starting stage of growth. For the healthy growth of fruit and plants, irrigation in 10 to 15 day intervals is beneficial.
Pollination and Fruiting
In early summer, the flowers are thinned and pollinated. Kiwifruit does not self-pollinate, so a portion of each garden must be devoted to male vines until the pollen is brought in for artificial pollination. Unlike most other fruits, kiwifruits require a high level of pollination (about 13,000 pollen grains per stigma, compared to only 12 grains for apple flowers). Growers either temporarily or artificially pollinate the flowers in many honey-bee orchards.
Pests and Diseases
Leaf-roller caterpillars, box elder bugs, and root-knot nematodes are some insect pests in Kiwi farming. In addition, Armillaria root rot, Bleeding canker, Bacterial blight, Crown gall, Phytophthora root and crown rot are common diseases found in Kiwi farming. For symptoms and their control measures, contact your local department of horticulture.
Harvesting
Kiwi plants begin bearing fruits after 4 to 5 years, but commercial production starts after 6 to 7 years. Fruits ripen faster at low altitudes than at high elevations due to the temperature difference. Therefore, you should choose the larger fruits for harvesting first and allow the smaller fruits to thrive for a longer duration. Then, you can wrap the hard fruit in a coarse cloth and take it to the market, where it softens and becomes edible after a few days, that is 1 to 2 weeks.
Post-Harvest Management
You should provide the grade of the kiwi fruits by weight. Generally, fruits weighing 70 g and above are considered ‘A’ grade fruits, and 40-70 g fruits are considered ‘B’. You can use cardboard for packing.
What is the Essential in Equipment?
The tractor is an indispensable aspect of kiwi farming. The tractor is used in every segment of farming. Because to start the tillage process in agriculture, you need the tractor. Therefore, a tractor has become the primary factor in farming for handling almost every kind of attachment but choosing the right one is not easy. You can choose the Sonalika tractor models for farming operation and find any other Sonalika tractor price and any other price you check online. You can find Sonalika tractor Price and any other brand price online.
For further information regarding kiwi fruit farming in India, stay tuned with us.