TECHNOLOGY PACKAGE FOR BRINJAL By Lim Lee Lee, Megir Gumbek & Dr. Lily Eng Department of Agriculture, Sarawak 1 CONTENTS PAGE 1. Introduction ................................................................................ 3 2. Plant Botany .............................................................................. 4 3. Crop Requirement ..................................................................... 5 4. Recommended Variety .............................................................. 5 5. Cultural Practices ...................................................................... 6 6. Pest and Disease Management ................................................ 7 7. Harvesting ................................................................................. 13 8. Post-harvest Handling ............................................................... 13 9. Production Economics ............................................................... 13 10. References for Further Reading .................................................................................. 16 11. Acknowledgement ..................................................................... 17 2 1. INTRODUCTION Brinjal originated from India is now extensively grown in many tropical and sub- tropical areas. It is a popular fruit vegetable among the Malaysians. The fruits can be cooked in many ways – steamed, boiled, grilled or fried. The acreage of brinjal grown in Sarawak is shown in Table 1. Table 1 : Estimated area of brinjal planted in Sarawak. Estimated area (ha) Division 2002 2003 2004 Kuching 15.8 17.0 9.9 Sri Aman 7.0 5.2 12.4 Sibu 7.5 10.1 8.3 Miri 10.6 8.8 6.9 Limbang 4.5 3.0 3.1 Sarikei 10.0 13.0 21.1 Kapit 2.2 1.9 0 Samarahan 21.1 19.1 37.5 Bintulu 2.0 1.8 5.2 Mukah 1.7 0.7 0.3 Betong 4.4 3.9 6.4 Total 86.8 84.5 111.1 Source : DOA, Sarawak (2004, 2005, 2006) 3 The food value of brinjal is tabulated in Table 2. Table 2 : Food value per 100g Edible Portion Nutrient composition Amount Energy (cal) 32.0 Moisture (g) 91.2 Protein (g) 1.7 Fat (g) 0.1 Fibre (g) 1.0 Carbohydrate (g) 5.6 Calcium (mg) 15.0 Phosphorus (mg) 20.0 Beta-carotene (µg) 90.0 Vitamin C (mg) 18.4 Source : Sahadevan (1987) 2. PLANT BOTANY Brinjal belongs to Solanaceae family and is known under the botanical name of Solanum melongena L. It is locally called 'Terung cina'. The plant characteristics of a brinjal plant are: Root - strong with long tap root system. Stem - erect, branching, very polymorphous, covered with tormentum. Leaves - alternate, simple, densely stellate, hairy. Flowers - solitary or in 2-5 flowered cymes, white or purplish- violet Fruits - green, white, purple, black or mixed coloured, long, round or elongated oval. Seeds - numerous, small and light brown in colour. Pollination - self-pollination 3. CROP REQUIREMENT 4 3.1. Climatic factor Brinjal plants can tolerate drought and excessive rainfall, but under adverse conditions, fruit set and production are decreased. The optimum temperature for brinjal cultivation is 25 – 35 ºC. It is commonly grown in the lowlands. 3.2 Soil factor Brinjal plants thrive on many soil types. It grows best on well drained, fairly fertile soils with an ideal soil pH of 5.5 to 6.8. 4. RECOMMENDED VARIETY The recommended brinjal variety is 'Terung Unggul' or ARC-BJ 105. It is a consistently high yielder with good sized fruits of good eating quality and highly resistant to bacterial wilt. Attractive fruits of 'Terung Unggul' The major characteristics of 'Terung Unggul' are as follows: 5 Root - strong with long tap root system. Growth habit - erect and branching. Stem and leaves - green with tinge of purple and covered with fine hairs. Flower - opposite the leaves, purplish violet, 5-6 stellate corolla, usually solitary, occasionally 2-3 flowered cymes. Fruit - long and slender, purple black in colour with greenish flesh, weighing 130g, average yield of 3 kg/plant. 5. CULTURAL PRACTICES 5.1 Nursery The seeds are either sown in small polybags filled with potting mixture of 3 parts soil : 2 parts sand : 1 part rotted chicken dung or in germinating trays filled with peat moss. Germinating seedlings are watered daily, given a few granules of fertilizer and some sprays of insecticides. After 4 – 5 weeks, the plants are ready for field planting. 5.2 Land preparation The field is prepared by removing all existing vegetation followed by ploughing. Beds measuring 1.2 m wide, 20 – 30 cm high and of any suitable length are constructed. The beds are basal dressed with 10 mt/ha chicken dung, 1.0 mt/ha dolomite and 15g/plant of compound fertilizer 12:12:17:2 + TE one week before planting. The beds are also covered with silvery plastic mulch to control weed growth and reduce aphids infestation. 5.3 Planting The seedlings are planted in a single row on the bed. They are spaced at 60 cm x 150 cm apart giving a planting density of 11,000 plants/ha. One week after field planting, the weak and dead seedlings are replaced. 5.4 Staking Staking is important to keep the branches upright and to avoid wind damage. If support is not provided, heavily bearing branches may break. 6 Staking is required to support the productive branches. Plastic mulch is used for weed control. 5.5 Pruning All basal side shoots and excess leaves are removed to enhance a more vigorous growing plant. 5.6 Fertilizing The compound fertilizer 12:12:17:2 + TE at 0.2 t/ha is applied weekly. After the onset of flowering, the fertilizer rate is increased to 0.4 t/ha followed by 0.5 t/ha during production at 10 days interval. 5.7 Weed control Hand weeding is usually practised. Directed post-emergent herbicide sprays may be used for weed control in the furrow. Mulching with dried plant materials or silver reflective plastic sheet helps to reduce weed and moisture loss. 7 6. PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT 6.1 Pests 6.1.1 Brinjal fruit and shoot borer (Leucinodes orbonalis (Lepidoptera : Pyralidae) Life cycle : 23 – 34 days Damage : Larvae bore into the shoots and fruits. Brown frass is seen at the entry point. Control : Collect affected plant parts and destroy. Spray with cypermethrin, deltamethrin or permethrin (Follow instructions as on the label). Fruit borer of brinjal. Note the brown frass at the entry point. 6.1.2 Thrips ( Megalurothrips sp.) (Thysanoptera : Thripidae) Life cycle : 16 - 26 days Damage : Both nymph and adult feed on the young leaves, flowers and fruits, resulting in scars on the fruits and fruit malformation. The plant is stunted. Control : ● Collect affected parts and destroy. ● Mulching with silvery plastic mulch. ● Spray with malathion (Follow instructions as on the label). 8 Thrip damage on the fruit 6.1.3 Whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Life cycle : 14 – 21 days Damage : Both nymph and adult suck sap from the underside of the leaves, resulting in mottling and yellowing of the leaves. In serious infestations, the plants get stunted and produce less fruits. Control : ● Observe a fallow period in between planting. ● Spray with imidacloprid or diafenthiuron (Follow instructions as on the label). 9 Whiteflies on the underside of the leaves 6.2 Diseases The major diseases of brinjal are: 6.2.1 Phomopsis blight and fruit rot Casual organism: A fungus, Phomopsis vexans Symptoms: The disease lesions appear first on the stem and leaves, and then on the fruit. The lesions girdle the stem, causing the bark to crack. Black fungal fruiting structures (pycnidia), which appear as black dots, develop on the lesion. On the leaves, brownish grey lesions with a narrow dark brown margin are formed. Eventually, black dots also develop on the lesions. On the fruit, brownish grey lesions are also formed. As the disease develops, the black dots appear and the fruit becomes soft and starts to rot. Epidemiology: This fungus is seed-borne and it thrives on crop residues from diseased plants between crop seasons. It is spread by rain splash and is more severe during wet weather and high temperatures. 10 Control: Use seeds only from healthy fruits. Clean the fruit before removing the seeds. If healthy fruit is taken from a farm where the disease occurs, apply hot water treatment to the seeds at 50º C for 30 minutes. Practice crop rotation. Use tolerant varieties. Prune off diseased parts of the plant and remove them from the crop area. Phomopsis blight on brinjal Phomopsis stem blight Phomopsis fruit rot 11 6.2.2 Bacterial wilt Casual organism: Ralstonia solanacearum (Pseudomonas solanacearum race 1) Symptoms: The whole plant suddenly wilts. When an infected stem is cut off and the cut end is partially immersed and suspended in a narrow glass of clean water for a couple of minutes, a milky exudate of bacteria can be seen streaming out of the cut end. Browning of the vascular bundles can also be observed when the stem is split longitudinally. Epidemiology: The disease spreads through infected soil. Infected plant debris is a source of inoculums in the field. The disease severity increases where there is continuous cropping of brinjal or other susceptible solanaceous crops. The bacteria may be transmitted through the seeds. Control: Use resistant varieties Carry out crop rotation using other crops that are not susceptible to Ralstonia solanacearum. Do not replant brinjal or other solanaceous plants in the infected area. Remove all infected plants and plant debris from the crop area. Use sterilized/burnt soil for the nursery. The soil fumigant does not kill the bacteria in the soil. Bacterial wilt of brinjal 12 7. HARVESTING The fruit can be harvested 6 weeks from transplanting or 3 weeks from flowering. Harvesting is done every 3 -4 days. The fruits are cut from the stalk with a sharp knife or secateur. Brinjal plants can give an average yield of 25 – 35 mt/ha under a good management. 8. POST-HARVEST HANDLING After harvesting, the fruits are sorted, washed, dried, graded and packed in bags or baskets for marketing. When stored at 10 – 12ºC and 85 – 90 % relative humidity, the brinjal can last for 2 – 3 weeks.