Methods of Cultivate Brinjal

Brinjal is a well-known vegetable. Brinjal is available all-round the year. Besides this country, it is cultivated in India, China, Japan, Pakistan, Philippines, United States, south- European countries.

Varieties: The remarkable varieties are Islampuri, Shingnath, Uttara, Nayankajol, Muktakeshi, Khatkhatia, Taherpuri, Nayantara. There are year round black and white colored varieties (egg brinjal). Among the foreign varieties, Black beauty, Florida beauties are remarkable.

Seed Sowing and Raising Seedlings: Raising seedlings is an important work for the cultivation of brinjal. Seeds can be sown from mid Shravon to mid Ashwin for the cultivation of winter brinjal and up to Chaitra for the cultivation of summer brinjal. Seed bed is to be prepared by mixing sand, compost and soil in equal proportion.

Seedlings should be uprooted at 8-10 days after emergence and planted in the second seed bed.

Land Selection: Loamy and sandy-loam soils are the most suitable for the cultivation of brinjal. But brinjal can also be cultivated in clayey and loamy soil if there are good facilities to drain out excess water.

Land Preparation: Land should be made well pulverized by 4- 5 ploughing and laddering. To get good yield, the land should be deeply ploughed.

Rules for Fertilizer Application:

Name of Fertilizer	Per Decimal
Cow dung	40 kg
Urea	1 kg
TSP	500 gm.
MP	500 gm.

1. All fertilizers except urea should be applied during final ploughing. But it is better to applied cow dung at earlier ploughing.
2. Urea fertilizer should be applied in 2-3 installments starting from 8- 10 days after seedling emergence by 10-12 day�s intervals.

Seedling Transplanting: One month old seedlings should be up rooted with the help of stick. Care should be taken not to injure the roots of seedlings. Thereafter, seedlings should be transplanted maintaining distances between lines 75 cm and between seedlings in lines 60 cm.

Cultural Operations: Irrigation water should be supplied at 10-15 days intervals if there is deficit moisture in soil or the soil becomes dry. The soil should be made friable with the help of nirani after irrigation. Weeds have to be removed regularly.

Pest Management: In this country, about 16 species of insects and one species of mite are harmful to brinjal. Among them, the main enemy of brinjal is the brinjal shoot and fruit borer. The insects bore the twigs and fruits of brinjal. The infested twigs and fruits should be collected and be destroyed. Beside, Malathion or Sumithion is to be sprayed by mixing 10 ml chemical with 10 liter water. Beside these, pests of brinjal can be controlled by adopting the following technologies:

1. The wilt disease of brinjal controlled by using seedlings prepared from cuttings.
2. Cucurbit fruit fly can be controlled by using traps of pheromone or sweet gourd.
3. The soil- borne disease of different vegetables like brinjal, tomato, cucumber, cabbage can be controlled by using by decomposed poultry littre or mustard oil cake.
4. Yield increases manifold controlling weeds and adopting mulching at proper time.
5. The brinjal shoot and fruit borer can be controlled by cultivating insect resistant varieties. Such as- BARI brinjal-1 (Uttara), BARI brinjal-5(Nayantara), BARI brinjal-6, BARI brinjal-7 etc. are the insects resistant varieties.
6. Seedlings free from insect infestation should be used.
7. Balanced fertilizers are to be applied.
8. By adopting crop rotation.

Crop Harvesting and Yield: Brinjal plant flowers at 30-40 days after transplanting. Brinjal fruits should be collected before seeds become hard. Generally, per decimal or per 40 square meter yield of brinjal is 140 kg. Uttara brinjal can yield up to 200 kg per decimal area.

Marketing: Brinjal can be preserved in cool and open places for several days. But it is ought to keep brinjal in sac for long time. Thus, brinjal can lost its normal color and be decayed.