Cherry: Crop Stage-Wise IPM

Pre-planting*

Common cultural practices:

• Timely planting should be done.
• Use resistant and non–infected planting material
• Proper field selection should be made for raising the orchards of cherry.
• Avoid planting of saplings infected with scales, borer and disease
• Make use of balanced dose of chemical fertilizers and avoid excessive use of nitrogen which should be used in split doses only.
• Grow the attractant, repellent, and trap crops around the orchard bunds.
• Plant tall border crops like maize, sorghum for the management of aphids and thrips.
• French bean acts as an attractant plant for predatory thrips.
• Grow ecological engineering plants.

Nutrients

• Nutrient should be applied on the basis of soil test report and recommendation for the particular agro-climatic zone.
• Prepare land by ploughing and harrowing.
• Pits of 1m x 1m x 1m size are dug at a distance of 6 m on contour lines or in square system of planting.
• Pits are filled with a mixture of top soil, 35-40 Kg farmyard manure and half Kg super phosphate one month before planting.

Weeds

• Deep summer ploughing

Soil borne fungus, resting stages of insects and weeds

Cultural control:

• Soil solarization: Cover the beds with polythene sheet of 45 gauge (0.45 mm) thickness for three weeks before sowing for soil solarization which will help in reducing the soil-borne pests.

Biological control:

• Apply neem cake @ 100 Kg/acre at the time of transplanting for reducing borer damage as well as to reduce the soil borne diseases while preparing the nurseries.

Planting*

Nutrients

• Planting is done in December-January in pits already filled with farm yard manure.
• Add mycorrhiza culture @ 50 g/pit or a basket of soil taken from old cherry orchard to ensure mycorrhiza association with seedling roots.

Weeds

• Plough the field before the planting
• Use weed free seedlings for planting.
• Remove weeds from the pits before planting.

Diseases and insect pests

• Select resistant varieties.

Vegetable stage

Common cultural practices:

• Collect and destroy diseased and insect infected plant parts.
• Apply white wash impregnated with glue regularly on the tree trunks to avoid sun burn and winter injury.
• 2-3 bee colonies/ha should be provided on each orchard at the time of bloom.
• Proper irrigation should be adopted.
• Trees should neither be forced to drought nor water lodging conditions.
• Rogue out infected plants
• Avoid water lodging at tree base and improve drainage of the orchards.
• Maintain vigour of the tree to keep away shot hole/pin hole borers, bark beetles and other pest infestation.
• Keep the trees as free as possible from mechanical wounds, winter injury, crotch separation and canker.
• Proper pruning of the trees be made for obtaining quality fruits and good yield.
• Pruning cuts should be made close to the branches leaving no stubs.
• Cut wound should be covered with superior white lead pants.
• Solarization of nursery beds should be under taken to destroy soil pests.
• Enhance parasitic activity by avoiding chemical spray, when 1-2 larval parasitoids are observed.

Common mechanical practices:

• Collection and destruction of eggs and early stage larvae
• Handpick the older larvae during early stages of plant
• The infested shoots and seed capsules may be collected and destroyed
• Handpick the gregarious caterpillars and the cocoons which are found on stem and destroy them in kerosene mixed water.
• Use yellow sticky traps for aphids and blue for thrips @ 4-5 trap/acre.
• Use light trap @ 1/acre and operate between 6 pm and 10 pm
• Erect bird perches @ 20/acre for encouraging predatory birds such as King crow, common mynah etc.
• Set up bonfire during evening hours at 7-8 pm

Common biological practices:

• Conserve natural enemies through ecological engineering
• Augmentative release of natural enemies.
• Ladybird beetle, Adalia sp, Synharmonia sp, Exochomus sp, Stethorus sp @ 30-50 adults/infested tree.
• Lacewing and Syrphus sp. @ 10-20 first instar larvae/tree

Nutrients

• Since fruit development and vegetative growth occurs simultaneously, it has high demand for mineral nutrients.
• The amount of manure and fertilizer to be applied is influenced by the age or size of tree, soil types, fertility, cultural practices and anticipated fruit yield.
• For achieving higher yields of quality product, generally nutrients should be applied according to the age of plant using organic and inorganic sources as mentioned below;

• Farmyard manure should be applied in December along with a full dose of super phosphate and muriate of potash.
• Nitrogen is applied in 2 splits, first half at 2-3 weeks before flowering and the remaining half a month later.
• The fertilizers should be applied in 20-30 cm deep and 30cms wide trench along the drip line of the tree.

Weeds

• Mulch the tree basin in April with 10 to 15 cm thick dry grass or hey to reduce weeds and conserve the soil moisture
• Grow green mannuring crops e.g. bean, pea, red clover or white clover in the tree basins to manage the weed and improve soil texture and fertility.
• Us slashing and mowing between the rows to control the weeds.

Root borer**

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.

Cultural control:

• Avoid growing Malvaceous crops in sequence.
• For others follow common cultural practices.

Mechanical control:

• Collect and destroy the grubs of root borer while preparing basin.
• Destroy the affected seedlings.

Biological control:

• Spray NSKE 5%

Stem borer/ round headed borer

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.

Cultural control:

• Follow common cultural control.

Mechanical control:

• Clean the stem borer hole with flexible wire and plug the hole with 25 mud/cow
• Cover the exposed part of the stem with dry grass or gunny bag once a month from March to October.

Biological control:

• Spray NSKE 5%

Shot hole borer/pin head borer

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.

Cultural control:

• Maintaining trees in a sound and vigorous condition with sufficient fertilizers, water, and sunburn prevention will keep uninfested tree limbs from becoming damaged and prevent attack by this beetle.
• Pruning can be helpful in eliminating areas in older trees infested with shot hole borer.
• Severely infested trees should be removed.
• Burn or remove all infested wood from the orchard before the growing season starts.
• Do not leave pruned limbs or stumps (healthy or infested) near orchards (for example, woodpiles) as beetles can emerge from these materials before they dry out and then migrate into orchards.

Biological control:

• Spray NSKE 5%

Aphids**, mealy plum aphid, green peach aphid

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.

Hairy caterpillar, case bearer caterpillar**

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.

Mechanical control:

• · Stapling burlap skirts around tree trunks infested with hairy caterpillars and collection of larvae and pupae from May to end of June and ensure their destruction.

Leaf roller/tiger moth**

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.

Pear psylla**

• · Follow common cultural, mechanical, and biological practices.

Defoliating beetles**, chaffer beetle

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices

Cultural control:

• Maintain vigour by providing sufficient and balanced nutrients and avoid water stressing of the trees

Mechanical control:

• Collect and kill the beetles in kerosennized water.
• Shake the non-bearing plants/trees over a cloth sheet at dusk and collect and destroy the beetles.

Blossom thrips

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.
• For resistant/tolerant varieties consult nearest KVKs/SAUs/ICAR Institutes.

Mechanical control:

• Removal and proper disposal and burning the infected leaves

Chemical control:

• Lime sulphur 22% SC @ 0.8-2.0 l/acre
• Captan 50% WP @ 1 Kg in 300-400 l of water/acre
• Captan 75% WP @ 0.67 Kg in 6-8 l of water/acre

Bacterial gummosis

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.
• For resistant/tolerant varieties consult nearest KVKs/SAUs/ICAR Institutes.

Cultural control:

• Ensure that a suitable cherry variety and rootstock is chosen based on geographic location and environmental conditions to prevent stress to tree which predisposes tree to canker disease

Silver leaf canker

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.
• For resistant/tolerant varieties consult nearest KVKs/SAUs/ICAR Institutes.

Mechanical control:

• To control the disease, prune at the first sign of silvering. Make the cut below the diseased area into healthy wood.
• Cover pruning wounds that are larger than 1.5cm with pruning sealer.
• Remove and bury or burn all infected branches, leaves and twigs. This will help to reduce the amount of disease the following year.

White root rot, Fruit/whisker rot

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.
• For resistant/tolerant varieties consult nearest KVKs/SAUs/ICAR Institutes.

Cultural control:

• Establish a dry zone and prevent soil movement or water runoff from that site.

Mechanical control:

• Uproot and dispose of infected trees.
• Remove immediately adjacent trees that may also be infected.
• Remove as many root pieces from soil as possible and trench around the infected site to break root grafts.

Root rot/collar rot

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.
• For resistant/tolerant varieties consult nearest KVKs/SAUs/ICAR Institutes.

Cultural control:

• Cherry trees should be planted in well-draining soil to minimize the frequency and duration of water saturated soil
• Trees should be propagated from resistant rootstock; Rootstocks vary in susceptibility to the different Phytophthora species; none are resistant to all pathogenic species of the fungus.
• Good soil drainage and more frequent but shorter irrigations reduce the risk of root and crown rot.
• Avoid locations with a history of Phytophthora root and crown rot, especially when planting susceptible rootstocks.
• Plant new orchards on berms to improve drainage at the crown area 27 and design the irrigation system so that the trunk and crown of the tree is not wet by sprinklers.
• Be sure to verify that Phytophthora is the causal agent before treating a new planting with fungicides, because a number of factors or pest problems can cause poor growth and death of trees.

Powdery mildew

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.
• For resistant/tolerant varieties consult nearest KVKs/SAUs/ICAR Institutes.

Cultural control:

• Keep proper spacing during sowing which promote good air circulation around tree canopies to lower humidity

Coryneum blight/shot hole

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.
• For resistant/tolerant varieties consult nearest KVKs/SAUs/ICAR Institutes.

Cultural control:

• Diligent sanitation and water management can provide adequate control where the incidence of shot hole is low.

· Avoid overhead sprinklers or use a low angle to avoid wetting foliage.

Mechanical control:

• Prune and dispose of infected tissue as soon as it appears.
• After leaf drop, inspect plants carefully and prune infected buds and twigs with lesions.

Crown rot/gall

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.
• For resistant/tolerant varieties consult nearest KVKs/SAUs/ICAR Institutes

Prunus nectrotic ringspot virus

• Follow common cultural, mechanical and biological practices.
• For resistant/tolerant varieties consult nearest KVKs/SAUs/ICAR Institutes.

Cultural control:

• Use nursery stock that has been tested and found to be free of all known viruses.
• If propagating your own trees, use both virus-indexed bud wood and virus-certified rootstock.
• Infected pollen should not be introduced into healthy orchards during pollination.
• Establish new plantings in blocks, the larger the better,and preferably at some distance from older orchards.
• Rogue infected trees in new virus-indexed orchards, but it is not economical to rogue or replant mature infected orchards unless trees are infected with the rugose strain.
• Complete orchard removal should be considered.
• Thermotherapy (24 to 32 days at 38°C) and/or apical meristem culture have been used to eliminate various viruses.

Reproductive/fruiting stage

Nutrients

• Half dose of N is applied in spring before flowering and the other half dose of N is applied one month later. Fertilizers are applied in tree basin about 30 cm away from the tree trunk.
• The band application of nitrogenous fertilizers should be preferred over broadcasting.
• Apply recommended micronutrients, if deficiency symptoms are observed.

Weeds

• Remove weeds around the plants/tree basin.
• Use straw or plastic mulch to avoid weed growth and to maintain soil moisture for longer period.
• Mulching tree basins with 10-15 cm thick dry grass also checks weed growth.

Borers

• Same as in vegetative stage

Diseases

• Same as in vegetative stage

Cultural control:

• Collect and destroy fallen fruits.