GINGELLY ( Seasamum indicum )

1.SEASON AND VARIETIES

II. PARTICULARS OF GINGELLY STRAINS

III.MANAGEMENT OF FIELD OPERATIONS

1.FIELD PREPARATION

a) Plough the field with tractor plough twice or thrice with a mould board ploughorfive times with a country plough

b) Break the clods inbetween the ploughings and bring the soil to a fine tilth to facilitate quick germination as the seeds are small

c) Chiselling for soils with hard pan: Chisel the soils having hard panformation at shallow depth with chisel plough at 0.5 m interval first inone directionand then inthe direction perpendicular to the previous one once inthree years. Apply12.5 t FYM/composted coir pith besides chiselling.

d) For irrigated gingelly, form beds of size 10m2 or 20 m2 depending upon the availability and inflow of water and the sloped of the land. Level the beds perfectly without any depressions to prevent water stagnation,which will affect the germination adversely.

e) In rice fallows the field is ploughed once with optimum moisture and seed is sown immediately and covered with one more ploughing.

2.APPLICATION OF FERTILIZERS

i) Spread FYM or composted coir pith or compost @ 12.5 t/ha evenly on the unploughed land and plough it in.

ii. If the manure is not applied before commencement of ploughing, spread 12.5 t/ha opf FYM or compost evenly on the field before thelast ploughing and incorporate in the soil.

iii. Apply NPK fertilizers as per soil test recommendation. If soil tests are not available, follow the blanket recommendations.

Rainfed: Apply 23:13:13 kg NPK/ha or 17:13:13 kf NPK/ha + 3 packets of Azospirillum (600 g). Irrigated:Apply 35:23:23 kg NPK/ha or 21:23:23 kg NPK/ha + 3 packets of Azospirillum.

iv. Apply full dose of N, P and K basally. Add 5 kg ofManganese sulphate per hectare. Apply 50% of the recommended P2O5 and K2O with full recommended dose of N to irrigated gingelly, raised after groundnut fertilized with 100% of recommended NPK.

v. Open furrows to a depth of 5 cm and 30 cm apart and place the fertilizer mixture alongthe furrows and cover to a depth of 3 cm with soil before sowing.

vi. If furrow application is notdone,broadcastthe fertilizer mixture evenly on the beds before sowing.

3.APPLICATION OF Azospirillum

25% of the N can be substituted by3 packets (600 g)of Azospirillum by seed treatment and 10 packets (2000 g)of Azospirillum/ha as soil application.

Azospirillum and biocontrol agent Trichoderma viride (4g/kg) are compatible for seed treatment and hence can be applied as a single treatment.

4.NUTRITIONAL DISORDERS

a) Manganese deficiency: Leaves develop interveinal chlorosis, chlorotic tissue, later develop light brown or husk coloured necrotic lesions.

b)Zinc deficiency: Middle leaves develop chlorosis in the interveinal areas and necrosis along the apical leaf margins. Mix 5 kg/ha of Zinc sulphate with 45 kg of soil and broadcast evenly in the beds after sowing.

NOTE: Do not incorporate the micronutrient in the soil.

5.SEED RATE

Adopt a seed rate of 5 kg/ha

6.SPACING

a. Give a spacing of 30 cm between rows and 30 cm between plants. b) For rice fallows, seeds are broadcasted and thinned to maintain11 plants/m2

7.QUALITY OF SEEDS

Select mature, good quality seeds free from pest and fungal damage.

8. SEED TREATMENT

Treat the seed with Trichoderma @ 4g/kg. This canbe done just before sowing. It is compatible with biofertilizers. SUCH SEEDS SHOULD NOT BE TREATED WITH FUNGICIDES

9.SOWING

a) Sowing the seeds preferably in lines

b. Mix the seeds with 4t times its volume of dry sand and drop the mixture evenly along the furrows inwhich fertilizers are applied.

c) Sow the seeds to a depth of 3 cm and cover with soil.

d) The optimum time ofsowing for VRI1 sesame is 2nd fortnight of February to first fortnight of March under Summer irrigated conditions.

10.WATER MANAGEMENT

i. Irrigate at sowing and give life irrigation 7 days after sowing depending on the soil and climatic condition and allow excess water to percolate.

ii. Give one pre-flowering irrigation (25 days): One at flowering and one or two at pod setting. An irrigation at flowering period if critical.

NOTE: The critical stage, for moisture requirement is the flowering phase i.e., between 35th to 45th days of sowing. During the maturity phase, moisture status should be low. If more water is given during this phase,maturity of seeds is affected and filling up of the capsules will be poor. Therefore, stop irrigation after 65 days of sowing.

11.THINNING

Thin out the seedlings to a spacing of 15 cm betwen the plants onthe 15th dayof sowing and 30 cm on 30th day of sowing.

12.PESTS AND DISEASES

1) Pests:

a) Apply Neem kernal extract 5% solution on the 25th, 35th and 50th day of sowing, if needed, to control shoot webber/pod borer/gall midge.

2.Diseases:

a) Powdery mildew: Apply Psudomonas sp. spray 2gr./lit. of water when the disease reaches grade 3 at 15 day interval.

b) Alternaria blight and Cercospora leaf spot: Apply Psudomonas sp. spray 2gr./lit. of water when the disease reaches grade 3 at 15 day interval.

c) Phyllody: Remove and destry infected plants. Intercropping with Sesamum +redgram (6:1) reduces the incidence of phyllody and root rot.

d) Root rot: Soil application of Pseudomonas fluorescens @ 2.5 kg/ha mixed with 50 kg of well decomposed FYM/sand at 30 days after sowing.

Soil application of Neem cake (150 kg/ha) combined with Trichoderma viride seed treatment (4kg/ha) effectively reduces root rot.

3.Storage pests:

b) Mix 1.0 kg of activated clay with 100 kg of seeds after adequate drying of seeds.

13.WEED MANAGEMENT

Weed and hoe on the 15th and 35th dayof sowing. Apply Alachlor at 1.25 ai/ha on 20th day after sowing and irrigate the crop immediately.

14.HARVESTING

a) Decide when to harvest

i. Observe the crop, considering the average duration of the crop.

ii. Twenty five per cent of the leaves from the bottom are shed and the top leaves loose their colour and turn yellow at maturity.

iii. The colourof the stem turns yellows

iv. The colour of the capsules turns yellow upto the middle.

v. Harvest before the bottom capsules turn brown.

vi. Examine the 10th capsule from the bottom by opening. If thed seeds turn black, harvest may be taken up for the black seeded varieties.

vii. If harvest is delayed, the capsules will dehisce resulting in yield reduction.

b) Harvest

i. Pull out the plants from the bottom

ii. Stack in the ope, one over the other ina circle with the stems pointing out and the top portion pointing inside.

iii. Cover the top with straw, so that humidity and temperature increase.

iv. Cure like this for 3 days, shake the plants. Aboout 75 per cent of the seeds will fall off.

vii. Dry the plants for one more day and again shake the plants. All the mature seeds will fall off.

viii. Winnow the seeds and dry inthe sun for 3 days. Stir once in 3 hours to give uniform drying.

ix. Collect the seeds and store in gunnies.

IV. SEED TECHNOLOGY

1. SEASON

April - May

2.SEEDS AND SOWING

Use seeds retained by 4/64" diameter (1.6 mm) round perforated sieve

3.SEED TREATMENT

Treat the seeds with Thiram at 2 g dissolved in 5 ml of water/kg of seed

4.SPACING

30 x 30 cm

5.FERTILIZER

i. 50:25:25 kg NPK/ha. ii) Manganese sulphate 5 kg/ha.

6.FOLIAR APPLICATION

DAP at 1% at the time of first flowering and again 10 days after first spray

7. HARVEST AND STORAGE

Harvest when 75-80% of the pods start yellowing and bottom 1 ot 2 pods have dehisced. At this stage, the pod moisture content will be 50-60% and seed moisture content will be 25-30% and seeds would hbave attained chocolate brown colour. Stack the stalks vertically and allow them toair dry protecting from moisture, shake the stalks to separate the seeds.

8.SIEVE

Use sieve with 4/64" (1.6 mm) diameter round perforations.

9.DRYING

Dry theseeds to 7-8% moisture content and treat the seeds with Captan or Thiram @ 2 g per kg of seed. Treated seeds can be stored for periods upto 9 months in gada cloth bag.

10. MID-STORAGE CORRECTION

Stored seeds of gingelly showing declining trend in germination should be removed from storage and pre-cleaned. The seeds should be soaked for two hours in double the volume of Disodium phosphate solution (3.60 g/100 lit of water). If the salt is not available, potable salt free water alone can be used. The floaters should be removed. The soaked seeds should be spread over a clean gunny bag and air dried, dressed with Carbendazim @ 2 g/kg of seeds and stored.

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