Lemon grass
INTRODUCTION
Botanical Name :- Cymbopogon citratus
Family:- Poaceae
Chromosome number:- 2n= 20(diploid)
Origin:- Africa,central America,Asia,
TAXONOMY
Kingdom:- Plantae
Class:- liliopsida
Order:- poales
Family:- Poaceae
Genus:- Cymbopogon
Species:- citratus
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
tufled perennial C4 grasses with numerous stiff stems arising from a short rhizomatous rootstocks as with citrus flavour. It is a tall growing perennial plant reaching the height of 1.5cm. it has distinct dark green foliage citratus is bulous.
Essential part; stalk and leaves.
Oil extracted from stem distillation.
It possesses various pharmacological characteristics such as:-
-Anti bacterial
-Anti diarrheal
-Anti filarial
-Anti amoebic
IMPORTANCE
Lemon grass used in a perfumes business and also for medicinal purposes.
Lemon grass is also used as a pesticides and preservative.
Lemon grass also help in improving digestion.
SOIL
Rich loams to poor laterite, best on sandy loam.
pH range = 6
CLIMATE
It comes up well under tropical and subtropical conditions with a high rainfall and humidity.
Temperature= 65-85 degree Fahrenheit.
VARIETIES
OD-19,408,RRL-39,PRAMAN, CKP-25.
FIELD PREPARATION
land should be properly prepared to form a weed free field. Ploughing should be done 1-2 times to gain higher yield. Split for old clumps can also be used for propagation.
TIME OF SOWING
Prepare nursery beds in March-april.
SPACING
Depending upon growth habit 60*60cm.spacing for seedlings and 90*60cm spacing for slips is required.
SOWING DEPTH
Depth should be 2-3cm.
METHOD OF SOWING
Two month old seedlings is ready for transplantation in main field.
SEED RATE
1.5kg per acre.
SEED TREATMENT
Seed should be treated with Captan or thiram @3gm per kg of seed to protect seed from various fungal and pathogenic diseases.
Cersan@0.2% .
FERTILIZER
NPK= 25:20:15 kg per hectare.
FYM= 20-25 t per hectare.
WEED MANAGEMENT
Do hand weeding and hoeing to keep field weed free. Mulching is also an effective way to reduce soil temperature along with weed control. Application of organic mulch @1200 kg per acre . 2-3 weeding should be done one years. Some organic control should be done such as UV radiation and flame weeding.
NURSERY MANAGEMENT AND TRANSPLANTING
sow lemon grass seed on raised beds of 1m-1.5m width and of convent length . After sowing cover the beds with cut grass material and then it is covered with thin layer of soil.
Seeds are ready for transplantation in about 2 month when plant reaches the height of about 12-15cm. Field should be prepared first before TRANSPLANTING. The planting should be done at the spacing of 15*20cm. Do not plant seedlings deep into the soil as the may cause root-rot to occur during rainy season.
IRRIGATION
In February-june, apply irrigation with interval of 4-6 irrigations are given. When rains are not in regular pattern then apply irrigation with interval of 3days in 1st month and then with the interval of 7-10 days. 4-6 irrigations are necessary for the crop during summer month.
DISEASE MANAGEMENT
inter cropping.
Grow disease resistant variety.
Spray Dithane M-45@0.2% at the interval of 10-12 days.
Spray Bavistin.
HARVEST
Plant start yielding by 4-6 months after transplantation.harvesting is done at the interval of 60-70days. Sickles are used for harvesting. The harvesting start in May and end in January month with the help of sickle,grass is cut at 10-15cm above from the ground level for harvesting.
YIELD
Herbage:- 20-30 t per hectare.
Oil: 1st year :- 25kg per hectare.
2nd year onwards:- 80-100 kg per hectare.