If you’re interested in starting an Aonla farming venture, then you’ve come to the right spot. In this post, we’ll take a look at how to get started in Aonla farming. You’ll also learn what kind of resources you’ll require, along with tips on how to market your product.
Aonla or amla is an important minor tree fruit. In addition, fruits have big commercial importance. The scientific name of an only is Phyllanthus Emblica.
The plant is very hardy, productive, and profitable even without much care. Fruit is a capsule (drupes) having a fleshy exocarp.
Economic Importance of Aonla Cultivation
Fruit is a great source of Vitamin C. In addition, the fruit has excellent medical value. It has acrimonious, cooling, diuretic, and laxative properties; dried fruits are useful in hemorrhage, diarrhea, dysentery, anemia, jaundice, and dyspepsia.
Moreover, the common use of this fruit is also as herbal medicine (Ayurvedic systems). For example, Triphala and Chavanprash. Additionally, fruits are important ingredients for preserves (Murabaha), pickles, candies, jellies, and jams. Besides fruits, you may also find the various uses of leaf, bark, and even seed.
Amalaki (also known as Indian gooseberry) is an important ingredient in recipes for making hair wash and hair oils. As a result, Amalaki cultivation is becoming very lucrative.
Health Benefits of Aonla/Amla
- It’s important to start off by eating fruits that contain lots of vitamins. Amla has almost 20 times as much of one particular type of B vitamin as oranges.
- The fruit has more than 80% water; proteins, minerals, carbs, and fiber.
- According to Ayurveda, Amalaki helps you live longer by keeping you fit and strong.
- It also has many vitamins and nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, iron, carotene, and vitamin b complex.
- It is an effective antioxidant.
- It treats skin diseases and clears up pimples and zits.
- Amla nourishes the scalp and strengthens the root of the hair. It helps maintain their color.
- It has been proven that iron deficiency anemia can be cured by consuming spinach.
Thing To Consider In Commercial Aonla Farming
- As far as commercial cultivation goes, the most important thing is calculating costs and making sure they’re profitable. So you need to calculate them first.
- You need enough space for growing plants.
- You need to choose the right variety carefully because it’s crucial.
- in addition, look for what you need to buy. Arrange them either on the purchase or on rent.
- You need to have the right arrangements for plant protection systems for pests and diseases.
Best Varieties For Aonla Cultivation
Popular Indian varieties include Banarasi, Chakayiya, Krishna, Kanchan (or Kancha), Anand-1 (or Anand), and Anand-
Banaras Silk Cotton Tree – Erect, Sprawling, Medium to Tall, Shy, and Slightly Alternate Bearers. Fruits Roundish Weighing About 50 Gm, Whitishly Green, Slightly Fibrous, Scantily to Medium Juicy, Seed To Pulp Ratio Is 1.21.
Francis: A tall erect deciduous broadleaf evergreen coniferous plant native to tropical forests of Asia and Africa. It has large leaves, branches, fruits, and seeds.
Chakaiya: A tree with a spreading habit, growing to about 10 m tall, with 5–6 cm diameter branches. Its leaves are alternate, simple, oblong-elliptic, 2–3.5 × 0.8–1.2 cm, dark green above, paler below, and serrate margin. Flowers are yellowish white, axillary, pedunculate; bracts linear, ovate-oblong, acute, 7 mm long; calyx
Krishna (India) (NA 4): Chance Seedlings of Banarsi. They bear moderately. Their fruit is flat, cone-shaped, angular, basin papillated in shape, their skin is very smooth, yellowish colored with a reddish blush, their flesh has no fibers, hard and semi-transparent.
Chaka (NA – 4): A chance seedling of Chakaya, which has grown into a large tree bearing fruits. It is ideal for making pickles.
Location & Agro Climatic Condition For Aonla Farming
Aonla is an evergreen shrub belonging to the family Rutaceae. Its leaves are dark green in color and grow in clusters. The flowers are white in color and bloom throughout the year. These flowers give off a very pleasant fragrance. In India, the fruits are known as ‘Kesari’. They are small berries and can be eaten raw or cooked. The seeds are also edible.
Mature trees can tolerate freezing temperatures as well as a temperature up to 460 degrees Celsius. After the fruits ripen, they remain dormant throughout the hot season without growing, which makes them an ideal fruiting tree for the desert.
Suitable Soil Condition For Aonla Cultivation
Slightly acid to salty/sodic soils is appropriate for growing Aonla. Aonla does not require a lot of care regarding the type of soil used and can grow successfully in the sand, loamy soils, and clayey soils.
It tolerates high levels of saltiness and sodicity and thrives in a wide pH level ranging from 5.5 to 9.0. Though it produces good yields in deep and fertile soils, it performs poorly in shallow and infertile soils.
Read: How Do You Collect Soil Samples for Testing?
Commercial Aonla Cultivation Basic Steps
Planting
The monsoons begin in June and continue till September. During this period, the ground should be prepared properly before sowing. You may sow seeds directly into the ground in April if the weather conditions permit.
But make sure your seedlings do not get too wet during the rainy season. Watering should be done only once every week.
In case of heavy rains, water should be applied sparingly so that the seedling does not suffer any damage. When the rain stops, you can apply fertilizer along with the soil conditioner.
Training & Pruning
The branches of Anna tree often break off carrying the heavy crop, you must train the plant to modify the leader systems. In addition, you should develop the framework by encouraging to grow 4 to 6 well-spaced branches all around the trunks. You can do the trimming of the bearing plants after ending of the crop every year.
Irrigation
Aonla trees grow well in arid conditions. They need no water for most of their life but need regular water when they’re young.
Manuring
Orchard farming of Aonla is an extremely rare phenomenon, so nutritionists rarely practice it. However, if you want to grow Aonla trees for their nutritional value, you can increase the number of male plants by adding potassium nitrate (KNO3) fertilizer. Potassium nitrate helps increase plant height, leaf size, stem diameter, and overall vigor.
It also improves the quality of the fruits. Phosphorous improves the reproductive potential of the plant, which leads to better yields. Zinc improves the taste of the fruits, and promotes flowering. Manganous improves the color of the leaves and stems. Boron improves the sugar content of fruits.
Intercropping
Aonla trees are very quick-growing types. In the initial three to four-year period, enough land area can be obtained. You can also benefit from intercropping. However, during the rainy season, intercropping is best done. You can select fruit or vegetable crops if adequate irrigation facilities are available.
You may want to read our post on the most profitable cash crops to grow.
Harvesting & Yield In Commercial Aonla Farming
Vegetative propagation takes longer than seedlings but produces fruit earlier. Under good management, you can grow Aonla for up to 60 years. Typically, Aonla fruits start ripening in November/December.
You can tell when they’re ripe simply by looking at them. When they turn dark brownish red, they’re ready to harvest. They’re also good for shipping because they don’t break apart easily.
Depending on the type of fruit, the quality of the fruit changes at different stages during its development. Some varieties produce better fruit when they are fully grown, some when they are half-ripe, and others when they are just beginning to ripen.
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