Brinjal or eggplant is considering a successful and staple vegetable. It can be grown throughout the year. Brinjal’s scientific name is Solanum melongina. Brinjal or eggplant is also called aubergine which means the egg-shaped purple fruit. Brinjal is grown very commonly in Pakistan. Brinjal is a long warm-season crop. Nutritionally, brinjal contained vitamin A and E. Brinjal have a very vital medicinal importance. In this article, I will discuss the production technology of brinjal or eggplant. There are the following outlines under which the whole article will be discussed,
- Different growing seasons of brinjal
- Land preparation
- Plant protection
- Fertilizer and irrigation
- Harvesting
- Yield
- Conclusions
The growing season of brinjal
There are three different seasons or growing times of brinjal. As it is called a long-season crop, so nursery preparation and its transplantation at various seasons represent specific times. There are following major growing seasons or times,
- Autumn-winter crop
It is a time of preparing a nursery in June and a transplant in July.
- Spring-winter crop
It is a time of preparing the nursery in October or November and transplanting in early January or February.
- Rainy season crop
It is the time of growing the nursery in March and transplant in the April.
Note: It is very important to understand the maturity of the nursery. The nursery which is prepared in the winter season will take more time and mature within 2-2.5 months while the nursery which is prepared in the summer season will be mature within 30-40 days. It is suggested to keep the growth of brinjal around the whole year, then grow nursery from September and transplant in the field in November. There are two different kinds of varieties based on visual observation, one is called rounded in shape and larger in size and the second is thin and longer in size. The earlier type is cultivated very commonly.
Land preparation of brinjal
It is suggested that prepare the soil very well and the soil should be rich organically. For this purpose, apply the well-rotten farmyard manure (FYM) one month earlier. It is also suggested that incorporate the soil with poultry manure also during the land preparation. The soil level should be normal for the flow of water. Before the preparation of furrows and beds, land should be pulverized by 3-4 plowing followed by planking. Then prepare the dimension in this way that bed to bed distance should be 5ft and furrow should not wider enough. On beds plant to plant distance should be maintained 3-4 ft which is recommended.
Note: Most of the farmers keep the plant to plant distance 1ft or less. By doing this practice, later a huge rush of vegetation will create a destructive environment. Due to this thing, fruit formation will be less and other disease and pest attack chances will increase proportionally. So, it is very important to keep the distance wider between plant to plant to incorporate the air circulation. There is 0.5-1 kg of seed is required per acre.
Plant protection
Brinjal plants need a warmer temperature. A crop that is grown as an autumn-winter crop faces many attacks of worms and pests like whitefly. It is very important to keep the brinjal plants safer and healthy environment. One thing is understood half of the expenditure surf in pest and disease attack control by spraying the different pesticides. Always, apply the recommended pesticides. There is another thing which may cause trouble in brinjal plants, that is the weed problem. Weeds should be controlled because due to over-population of green vegetation will be destructive for brinjal plants and create greater competition for food and water. Brinjal plants get 3-4 ft of height so it is necessary to give support from the basal portion by covering the roots this is called earthing up.
Fertilizer and irrigation
Fertilizer and water requirements should be planned very well. During the land preparation, phosphorus and potash fertilizer should be applied. As it is recommended that farmyard manure and poultry manure should be applied as well. When the brinjal plant gets mature it requires more assistance for food which should be fulfilled by applying the plant growth regulators (PGR) and Sulphur and zinc. By applying this just like in tomatoes, similarly, brinjal fruit production gets higher with more size and shining. Irrigation requirements depend upon the soil, climate. The nursery is transplanted in standing water. Irrigation intervals should be between 4-6 days in summer and can be increased from 10-12 days or fortnightly.
Harvesting and yield
It is claimed that after two months of many hybrid varieties, the brinjal plant bears fruit and gives multiple flushes of fruit. It is stated by different experts that brinjal should be cut or harvested before fully ripened. Brinjal fruit can be harvested when its 1/3rd portion is ripened. It can be harvested at the earlier stages but one thing should be kept under consideration that color development should be complete. It is the rough estimation that the average yield is 11,000-12,000 kg per acre.
Note: It is said by a successful grower and farmer of brinjal or eggplant that total expenditure varies between 50-60 thousand per acre in Pakistan. As for profit, it margins from 1.5-3 lakh of income which is more enough. Everything regarding profit depends on the market price.
Conclusions
- Brinjal is also called eggplant and aubergine as a French world.
- Brinjal or eggplant belongs to the family Solanaceae and the scientific name is Solanum melongina.
- Brinjal is a profitable crop with less amount of cost of production.
- There are two types of varieties on the basis of visual observation, one is rounded and medium and the second is thin and longer in size.
- To keep the brinjal round the year, it is suggested that grow your nursery in September or October and transplant it in November.
- In winter, protect the brinjal plants from frost especially.
- Laser leveling is very important and land should be prepared thoroughly and bed to bed distance should be 5ft and 3-4 ft distance between plant to plant.
- Whitefly and bollworm are common pests in the brinjal crop.
- Brinjal plants need extra-ordinary care about diseases, pests.
- The fertilizer and irrigation schedule should be planned very well.
- Total expenditure or cost of production is less and profit margin is higher in this crop.
I hope this article about brinjal or eggplant will be clearer and keep commenting regarding the topic and stay tuned!