EGGPLANT PRODUCTION GUIDE

Anyone can plant eggplant anywhere even in your own backyard. It is one of best vegetable needed in the kitchen. They are favorite ingredients at home or in restaurants to make palatable dish. It is healthy food full of vitamins and minerals. It is also good source of income for farmers.

There is demand of eggplant in the wet market or in bigger supermarket. It can be made into different menu. It is money maker for large-scale production.

Eggplant has taste some people don’t want to eat. It is not nutritious but once it is added into various dishes, the taste becomes different. Ordinary household make a dish with eggs a good breakfast menu on the table along with a cup of coffee.

There are many varieties of eggplants, separated in size, form and color. It may be plain or striped.

Eggplant is best suited in deep loam soil. Select an area where there is good soil condition, elevated place, has nearby irrigation source, has drainage around the upraised beds. It should be expose to sunlight.

The field should be plowed and harrowed alternately 3 times to loosen the soil. Start making upraised beds where the seedlings are to be planted.

Procure good seeds from the agricultural supply or to use seeds directly from ripen eggplants intended for seedling purpose. Soak seeds in water for the duration of 24 hours for high percentage of germination. Select a variety that can adapt to both dry and wet season.

The seeds should be treated first with fungicide to prevent damping off in the seedbed. Water the seedbed occasionally if it showed sign of dryness.

The seeds should be planted to the seedbed first until ready to be planted in the upraised beds. Do not expose seedbed from the rain, direct exposure to sun, windy environment to prevent being damaged from weather condition while germinating.

As soon as the seedlings are ready for transplanting, start pulling out the seedlings in the seedbeds for transfer to the field. Be sure that the height of the seedlings is 10 centimeters. The distance in rows should be 55 centimeters x 55 centimeters. In one hectare, it can accommodate 500 grams of seedlings.

Make pre-planting application of complete fertilizer (14-14-14) of NPK essential to growth of matured plants. Additional application of nitrogen is needed especially when the plant is in full bloom during flowering stage.

During wet season, the plant should be planted in upraised beds to have enough drainage. Too much rainfall will affect its vegetative state and flowering formation.

Regular irrigation during dry month will help eggplant to continue to bear fruits. During rainy season, there should have enough drainage to remove excess water around the plants.  Excessive rainfall may affect the growth of plants affecting continues fruiting.

Remove the terminal growing point as soon as the plant started to established. Such action will induce lateral branching. If the cultivar grows long, support is needed to hold them in place. You can use bamboo slats and string to bind it closely to the support.

Water the plant during dry period to keep enough moisture to the soil. Watering will prevent the leaf to fall off and buds to flower immaturely.

Keep the field free of weeds. Remove them manually using gardening hoe but do it carefully not to damage the roots. Keep it clean to avoid pests to harbor in the plants. Continue spot weeding every time another germination of weed is observed. Don’t touch the ground in the latter part of its growing season.

Apply pesticides periodically during growing months especially if the insects insisted to vacate the plants. Apply fungicide to prevent diseases to damage the plants or the fungi that already started destroying the growth of plants.

You can use mulching to the plants to protect the root systems and reduce water loss due to evaporation. It is also helpful to scare away from pests. Plastic mulching can also prevent erosion during the time when there is continues rainfall.

Some eggplant variety can be harvested repeatedly whole year round as long as the environmental condition is favorable to its growth, limited rainfall with enough moisture during dry season. There are varieties that will bear fruits in 2-years time.

Harvest the plants 80 days from transplanting. Pick out matured fruits only and leave smaller ones.

SQUASH PRODUCTION GUIDE

Bush sitao can be raised in both lowland and upland areas. It can adapt to any soil type but best to plant in sandy to clay loam soil. It can tolerate acidic soil but it will not produce high yield. It can grow in low and high rainfall but only briefly as it will rot due to water-logging. It can survive only if the dry season is brief and not too long. For long dry spell, scheduled watering is needed to preserve or conserve moisture in the soil while the plants are growing.

In selecting a variety, give emphasis the duration of growth, the yielding capacity, tolerant against pests and diseases and easily adapt in extreme weather condition.

Plow and harrow the land 3 times. Loosen the soil well to be able to have good soil condition. Every time there is emerging weeds, remove them through plowing or harrowing.

Inoculate the seeds with Rhizobium before planting. Plant 1 seed per hill. Spacing is 30 centimeters apart or 75 centimeters between rows.

As fertilization is necessary to keep plants healthy and give higher yield, do the following:

In one hectare land:  30 kilograms urea during planting, 100 kilograms single superphosphate at planting time, 60 kilograms muriate of potash at planting time, 5 bags complete fertilizer (14-14-14), Superphosphate (side-dressing 3-4 weeks after germination).  Organic fertilizer (decomposed dry leaves, straws and animal manure 56 tons per hectare, if available). In acidic soils (4 tons of lime one month before planting to good soil pH)

Water the plant during intense dry season for the plants to give higher yield. Bush sitao can tolerate drought but watering may protect it from dryness in the soil or lacking moisture content that may affect the fruiting of the vegetable. Watering may be done during planting, early seeding or first 15 days, at flowering and pod setting (50 days after planting).

Use furrow irrigation in 10 days interval. Watering induce the plant to grow fast, healthy and high pod setting.

Control pests and diseases are normal farming practices. Without it, the plant has stunted growth, damage leaves and fruits, lower yields.

Most pests that attack bush sitao especially after germination of seeds are pod borers, leaffolders and aphids. Spray the plants with insecticides as soon as the pests started attacking the plants. Spraying with pesticides is the only way to get rid the enemy of the plants.

Bush sitao still has another threat in its growing days. The plants are subject to many diseases like fusarium wilt, cowpea rust and leaf spot. Spray the plants with fungicides to remove the infection. Another way to minimize the effect of the virus is to look for resistant variety.

Include weeding as part of your cultural practices. Remove the weeds every now and then if found to germinate to clean the field from the hazard that later on will affect the health of the plants. Schedule the weeding of the plants 3 times for one season. Additionally, enforce spot weeding every time weeds appear.  Hill-up the plants to loosen the soil 3 weeks after planting.

Harvest the plant 12 days after the flowers open. It may be done if the pods reach the required maximum length and width but not to allow young pods to mature as it can no longer sealable to market. The second and succeeding harvest should be done every 3 days to ensure that pods still young and fresh.

BUSH SITAO PRODUCTION

Bush sitao can be raised in both lowland and upland areas. It can adapt to any soil type but best to plant in sandy to clay loam soil. It can tolerate acidic soil but it will not produce high yield. It can grow in low and high rainfall but only briefly as it will rot due to water-logging. It can survive only if the dry season is brief and not too long. For long dry spell, scheduled watering is needed to preserve or conserve moisture in the soil while the plants are growing.

In selecting a variety, give emphasis the duration of growth, the yielding capacity, tolerant against pests and diseases and easily adapt in extreme weather condition.

Plow and harrow the land 3 times. Loosen the soil well to be able to have good soil condition. Every time there is emerging weeds, remove them through plowing or harrowing.

Inoculate the seeds with Rhizobium before planting. Plant 1 seed per hill. Spacing is 30 centimeters apart or 75 centimeters between rows.

As fertilization is necessary to keep plants healthy and give higher yield, do the following:

In one hectare land:  30 kilograms urea during planting, 100 kilograms single superphosphate at planting time, 60 kilograms muriate of potash at planting time, 5 bags complete fertilizer (14-14-14), Superphosphate (side-dressing 3-4 weeks after germination).  Organic fertilizer (decomposed dry leaves, straws and animal manure 56 tons per hectare, if available). In acidic soils (4 tons of lime one month before planting to good soil pH)

Water the plant during intense dry season for the plants to give higher yield. Bush sitao can tolerate drought but watering may protect it from dryness in the soil or lacking moisture content that may affect the fruiting of the vegetable. Watering may be done during planting, early seeding or first 15 days, at flowering and pod setting (50 days after planting).

Use furrow irrigation in 10 days interval. Watering induce the plant to grow fast, healthy and high pod setting.

Control pests and diseases are normal farming practices. Without it, the plant has stunted growth, damage leaves and fruits, lower yields.

Most pests that attack bush sitao especially after germination of seeds are pod borers, leaffolders and aphids. Spray the plants with insecticides as soon as the pests started attacking the plants. Spraying with pesticides is the only way to get rid the enemy of the plants.

Bush sitao still has another threat in its growing days. The plants are subject to many diseases like fusarium wilt, cowpea rust and leaf spot. Spray the plants with fungicides to remove the infection. Another way to minimize the effect of the virus is to look for resistant variety.

Include weeding as part of your cultural practices. Remove the weeds every now and then if found to germinate to clean the field from the hazard that later on will affect the health of the plants. Schedule the weeding of the plants 3 times for one season. Additionally, enforce spot weeding every time weeds appear.  Hill-up the plants to loosen the soil 3 weeks after planting.

Harvest the plant 12 days after the flowers open. It may be done if the pods reach the required maximum length and width but not to allow young pods to mature as it can no longer sealable to market. The second and succeeding harvest should be done every 3 days to ensure that pods still young and fresh.

SWEET CORN PRODUCTION GUIDE

Sweet corn has demand in the market. Planters sell it directly as green corn or cooked in boiling water. The sweetness of the corn is the reason for the increase in demand in short supply as it is not suitable for large-scale production. Sweet corn can adapt many types of soil condition. It is best planted in fertile or sandy loam soil.

Prepare the land 24 days before planting. Plow and harrow the land thoroughly repeated alternately 2 to 3 times to have the soil in good tilt.

Make the first plowing, after one week harrow the land. Broadcast animal manure or organic fertilizer to the harrowed land. Irrigate the land after harrowing to let the weeds to germinate. After 12 days, start plowing to remove the emerging weeds and follow the second harrowing. Then after 8 days do the 3^rd and final plowing and harrowing thoroughly done to kill the remaining weeds that will emerge.

If the soil is lacking the nutrients for the plants to grow fast, apply fertilizer. If the field is one hectare lot, if animal manure is available in poultry farm, procure and apply directly to the harrowed field before planting the seeds. Use ammonium sulfate 250 kilos with 300 kilos of calcium superphosphate and 50 kilos of potassium chloride.

Start making furrows the next day in preparation for the planting. The distance of the hill between furrows should be 95 centimeters. Apply the furrows with basal fertilizer and 400 kilos of 16-20-0 (8 bags) in a hectare. Cover the fertilizer with soil lightly and properly. Then the furrows are ready for planting.

Prepare the seeds for planting, treating it first with fungicide and insecticide to assure high rate of germination.

Sow only 2 seeds per hill with the distance of 25 centimeters. Cover it properly and lightly. Start watering the seeds in the furrows. This is to induce easy germination of seeds. Water the plants as often as necessary.

Early sign of pest habitation shall be controlled.

-After 6 days from germination, replace and replant seeds again to those missing hills. After two weeks, thin out the hill leaving only 1 plant per hill. Side-dress the plants with ammonium sulfate for fast growth, to have vigor in appearance and firm stand.

The placement of fertilizer should be between hills, 3 inches from the base of the plant not near to the hill to avoid sudden stress to the plants due to potency of the fertilizer.

After 2 weeks and a half from planting, start spraying the plant with insecticides to ensure that pest will not destroy the leaves of the corn. After 10 days, start hilling up to loosen the soil and have the plants a little breathing space during its growth. Follow irrigation to the plant to maintain its moisture level while growing especially during dry period. Additionally, apply granular insecticides to the whorl of the plants to protect it from many damaging insects.

After 36 days, spray again the plants with insecticides to protect against ear worm and corn borer that lay their eggs in the tassel. It should be completely eradicated to protect the ear of corn during the fruiting stage. Repeat the process every week 2 times until the threat disappear.

Once the age of the corn reaches 55 days, stop spraying with insecticides not to contaminate in the ear of corn while waiting for the schedule harvesting. If there is isolated case of worm habitation, remove it manually.

Harvest the plant more or less 75 days when the corn are full and tender, if the silk started to dry and colored brown, or the kernel are full and has milky liquid if pressed by the finger.