Clove Crop Stage-Wise IPM

Nursery

Common cultural practices:

• Timely sowing should be done.
• Field sanitation, rogueing.
• Destroy collateral host Plants (if any)

Nutrients

• Clove requires deep loam soils with high humus content and black loams of semi-forest regions with good drainage.
• Select partially shaded sites having adequate protection from high winds.
• Prepare raised nursery beds with fertile soil rich in humus.
• Sow the seeds at a depth of about 2 cm and a spacing of 2-3 cm. Water the beds regularly. The germinated seedlings are transplanted in polythene bags (25 cm x 15 cm dimension) containing a mixture of soil, sand and well decomposed cow dung in 3:3:1 ratio. The seedlings may again transplanted after 1 year of growth to large polythene bags. The seedlings are ready for transplanting in the field when they are 18 – 24 months old.

Weeds

• Destroy all the weeds from planting area by ploughing during summer (before preparing the nursery beds).
• Remove all the perennial weeds and their rhizomes/suckers before onset of monsoon.

Planting

Common cultural practices:

• Use healthy seedlings
• Do not delay irrigation until the crop exhibits moisture stress symptoms.

Preparation of pits and planting

Select 18 – 24 months old seedlings for planting. Prepare pits of size 75x 75x 75 cm at a spacing of 6 -7 m about a month in advance of planting. Fill the pits partially with compost, green leaf or well decomposed cattle manure and mixed with top soil.

Plant the seedlings during the rainy season, upto September.

Weeds

• Use weed free planting material.

Nematodes

Biological control:

• Application of neem cake @ 80 Kg/acre for nematode control.

Scale insects

Cultural control:

• Removal of affected leaves and branches will prevent the spread.
• Grow attractant plants for natural enemies viz., sunflower family, carrot family plants, buckwheat.

Mechanical control:

• See the common mechanical control

Biological control:

• Apply mixture of manure compost tea, molasses and citrus oil.
• Parasitoids such as Encarsia sp.and Aphytis sp. cause effective parasitization.
• Coccinellids such as Chilocorus sp., Pharoscymnus sp may act as predators

Seedling wilt

Cultural control:

• Avoid damp and low lying areas.

Mechanical control:

• Refer the common mechanical control

Vegetative stage

Common cultural practices:

• Inter-cultural operations and hand weeding.
• Avoid growing in low-lying areas and water stagnation.
• Timely irrigation and irrigation should be done by ring method to reduce possibility of wilt.
• Avoid water stress .
• Enhance parasitic activity by avoiding chemical spray, when 1-2 larval parasitoids are observed.

Common mechanical practices:

• Remove and destroy collateral wild hosts and weeds
• Use of pheromone traps @ 4-5/acre.
• Installation of light trap @ 1/ acre.
• Collect and destroy the damaged twigs

Common biological practices:

• Conserve natural enemies through ecological engineering.
• Augmentative release of biocontrol agents

• Fertilizers should be applied on the basis of soil test report and recommendation for the particular area. In general, fertilizers may be applied as mentioned in Table 1.
• Apply organic manures in May-June with the commencement of south-west monsoon.
• Apply fertilizers in two equal split doses in May-June along with the organic manures and in September-October in shallow trenches dug around the plant about 1 to 1.5 m away from the base.
• If soil is highly acidic 500g lime per plant should be applied in alternate years.
• Apply cattle manure or compost at the rate of 50 kg / tree/year

Nutrient management

Table 1. Fertilizer requirement of clove.

Weeds

• Remove weeds before flowering by 2-3 rounds of hand weeding.
• Slash weeding is a cost-effective method and to keep a cover always over the soil.
• Mulching with dry leaves or organic matter should be practiced to control weed growth.

Stem borer

Cultural control:

• Keep field clean.
• Clean hole and insert cotton wool soaked in emulsion of kerosene or petrol in each hole and plug them with mud.
• Keep the basins free of weeds.

Mechanical control:

• Refer the common mechanical practices

Scale insects

• Same as mentioned in the above planting

Mealy bug

Cultural control:

• Prune affected shoots during winter.
• Destroy ant colonies.
• Grow attractant plants to attract the defenders.

Mechanical control:

• Use sticky barrier on trunk.

Biological control:

• Release parasitoids such as parasitic wasps,
• Release predators such as Cryptolaemus montrouzieri@10 beetles per tree.

Leaf rot

Cultural control:

• Refer the common cultural practices.

Mechanical control:

• Remove the rotten portions from the spear and the two adjacent leaves.

Leaf spot

Cultural control:

• Refer the common cultural practices

Mechanical control:

• Pruning should be done during dry weather.

Maturity/ Fruiting stage

Nutrients

• Apply deficient micronutrient if any.

Weeds

• Keep the field weed free.

Stem borer

Same as mentioned in the above Vegetative stage

Scale insects

Same as mentioned in the above secondary nursery stage.

Mealy bug

Same as mentioned in the above Vegetative stage.

Seedling wilt

Same as mentioned in the above secondary nursery stage.

Leaf rot

Same as mentioned in the above Vegetative stage.

Leaf spot and bud shedding

Same as mentioned in the above Vegetative stage.