KISSAN - Kerala

Brinjal is a tropical vegetable believed to be a native of India. The varieties of Solanum melongena L. display a wide range of fruit shapes and colors, ranging from oval or egg-shaped to long club-shaped; and from white, yellow, green through degrees of purple pigmentation to almost black. Eggplant is a warm season crop. It requires a long and warm growing season for successful production. It is more susceptible to lower temperatures than tomato and pepper. A day temperature of 25-32 °C and a night temperature of 21-27 °C are ideal for plant growth and fruit development. Eggplant can be grown on different kinds of soil but does best on well-drained silt loams or clay loams with a pH of 5.5-6.5. The flowers are borne solitarily or in clusters of two or more. In the solitary flowering type, flower drop is very low, whereas in the clustered flowering type, flower drop may be as high as 80%. The flower is normally perfect, having functional male (anthers) and female (pistil) parts. It has been reported that long styled flowers (defined as the stigma is either above or on the same level as the stamen) are always more appreciable in number than short-styled flowers (defined as the stigma is below the stamen). Fruit set rates are higher for long-styled flowers compared with short-styled flowers

Surya, Swetha and Haritha (bacterial wilt resistant open pollinated varieties), Neelima (bacterial wilt resistant F1 hybrid), Pusa Purple Cluster.

Seed rate: 370-500 g/ha
Raising seedlings
Brinjal is a transplanted vegetable. Seeds are sown in the nursery and one-month-old seedlings are transplanted to the main field. For sowing the seeds, raised seed beds of 90 to 100 cm width and convenient length are prepared in open space with fertile topsoil to which well decomposed organic matter has been incorporated. After sowing the seeds, mulch with green leaves and irrigate with a rose-can daily in the morning. Remove the mulch immediately after germination of the seeds. Restrict irrigation one week before transplanting and irrigate heavily on the previous day of transplanting.
Time of planting
For rainfed crop, transplant the seedlings during May-June before the onset of southwest monsoon. Planting can also be done during September-October for irrigated crop.
Land preparation and transplanting
Land is prepared to a fine tilth by thorough ploughing or digging. Well rotten organic manure is incorporated in the soil and seedlings are transplanted in shallow trenches / pits during May or on ridges / levelled lands during rainy season. Transplanted seedlings may be given temporary shade for 3-4 days during summer.
Spacing
Transplant less spreading varieties like Swetha and Surya at 60 x 60 cm. For spreading varieties Haritha and Neelima, provide wider spacing of 75-90 x 60 cm.

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Apply well rotten FYM / compost @ 20-25 t/ha at the time of land preparation and mix well with the soil.
A fertilizer dose of 75:40:25 kg N:P2O5: K2O / ha may be given. Half the dose of nitrogen, full phosphorus and half of potash may be applied as basal dose before transplanting. One fourth of nitrogen and half of potash may be applied 20-30 days after planting. The remaining quantities may be applied two months after planting.
Application of 75:25:25 kg N:P2O5:K2O / ha is optimum for getting maximum yield of fruits for the variety Swetha in the reclaimed alluvial soils of Kuttanad. However, the economic optimum dose was found to be 60:20:25 kg of N:P2O5:K2O / ha.

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Follow mechanical removal and destruction of pest / disease affected portions for control of fruit and shoot borer and Phomopsis fruit rot. Spray carbaryl 0.15% at an interval of 15-20 days to control fruit and shoot borer under large-scale cultivation.
The root knot nematode can be managed by the application of Bacillus macerans or B. circulans 1.2 x 106 cells per m2 in nursery bed two days before sowing (ad hoc recommendation).
For the control of pests, application of granules of carbofuran at the rate of 0.5 kg ai/ha or phorate at the rate of 1 kg ai/ha at seeding followed by need based application of foliar insecticides has been recommended. The application of granules is recommended only at the time of seeding.
In general, insecticides of plant origin may be used, as far as possible.

For avoiding damping off of the seedlings in the nursery, sow the seeds as thin as possible in the raised beds prepared in the open area during summer months. Uproot plants affected by little leaf and spray insecticides for further control.
Cultivate resistant varieties like Surya, Swetha and Haritha and the hybrid Neelima in bacterial wilt prone areas.

The first harvest starts from 55-60 days after transplanting. Harvest can be done at an interval of 5 days.