Welcome to Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development
Climate : Coriander is a tropical crop and mainly cultivated a Rabi season crop in an area free from severe frost during  flowering. During flowering and seed setting, phase a dry and cold weather favour high seed production. Cloudy weather during flowering and fruiting stages increases incidence of insect pests and diseases.

Soil: The coriander can be grown in any type of soil suitable for cultivation. It is cultivated both as irrigated and un-irrigated crop. As an irrigated crop, it can be cultivated in almost all type of soils having sufficient organic matter but dry land crop may be taken only on heavy soils having good water retention capacity. Saline, alkaline and sandy soils are not suitable for its cultivation.
 
Improved varieties:
(A) Andhra Pradesh :  Swathi, Sindhu, Lam SelectionCS2, Sadhana
(B) Bihar :   Rajendra Swathi and Rajendra Sonia
(C ) Haryana :  Hisar Sugandh, Hisar Anand and Hisar Surabhi
(D) Gujarat  :   GCr-1 and GCr-2
(E) Rajasthan : ACr-1 , RCr- 41, RCr-20,  RCr -435,  RCr-436, RCr -684, RCr -446
(F) Tamil Nadu : Co-1, Co-2, Co-3 and CS-287.

Field preparation: Coriander is grown both as irrigated and rain fed crop. The field must be ploughed with cultivator or desi plough to obtain fine soil tilth. In order to prevent soil moisture loss, planking should be done immediately after ploughing. For irrigated coriander, if soil moisture is not sufficient, then field preparation operation must be done after pre-sowing irrigation To control white aunt, termite & other soil borne insect pest, soil should be treated with 1.5% Quinolphos or 2% Methyl Parathion dust @20-25 kg/ha.

Time of sowing: Time of sowing depend much upon the day time temperature. Therefore coriander should be sown when day temperature falls below 250C. The optimum sowing time for North India is between Mid Oct to Mid Nov. For growing Coriander crop for green leaves can be sown any time during the year except in the month when temp is too high.

Seed Rate: Depending upon seed size, varieties, growth habit, 10-12 kg/ha seed is required for sowing, under irrigated condition whereas 15-20 kg/ha seed is required for rained condition.                                                                                                                                            

Seed treatment & seed inoculation:  In order to protect the crop form seed borne diseases, it must be treated with Bavistin or Captan or Thirum @ 2.0 /kg seed or with Trichoderma @4-6 g/kg seed. The seed can also be inoculated with Azotobactor and Phosphate Solublising Bacteria

Sowing method:  Sowing of coriander is done by broadcasting and line sowing method. Broadcasting method is not advisable because is this method, there is difficulty of intercultural operation. Therefore the coriander should be sown at 25 to 30 cm line to line spacing and plant to plant distance should be kept 10-15 cm The study at NRCSS, revealed that line to line spacing of coriander should be kept 30 cm for maximum grain yield. Coriander should be sown at 2-2.5 cm depth.

Manures & fertilizers: Apply 10-15 t/ha FYM or compost 3 weeks before sowing of the crop and 60 kg N, 30 kg P2O5 & 20 kg K2O5/ha. 1/3 rd of N & full dose of P2O5 & K2O should be applied as basal dose and remaining 2/3 rd N should be applied in two equal split doses as top dressing at 30 & 60 days after sowing. In a study at NRCSS Ajmer, it was found that sheep manure along with Azotobactor gave maximum yield of coriander and 50 kg N, 25 kg   P2O5/ha resulted highest yield of Coriander. In dry land coriander mix 10-15 t of well decomposed FYM or compost one in 2-3 years. In addition to this 20-30 kg P2O5 & 15-20 kg K2O /ha should be applied at the time of sowing.

Irrigation: Depending upon soil and weather condition of the growing area 2-3 irrigation in black cotton soil and 4-5 irrigations in light textured soil   are required for successful cultivation of coriander.  The critical stages for irrigation are seedling stage (30-40 DAS), grand growth period (50-60 DAS) and seed formation stage (90-100 DAS). Irrigation with drip or sprinkler may also be given for saving of water and nutrients.

Intercultural operation: In unirrigated crop normally there is no need of intercultural operation. In irrigated coriander, 2-3 weeding is necessary for keeping the crop weed free. The first weeding and hoeing operation is required 30-40 days after sowing and second at 60-65 DAS. The critical stage of 52 days for weed crop competition in coriander has been standardized. Weeding and hoeing is necessary to keep the crop free from weed.

Plant protection

Insect pest
Aphids :
Aphids suck the plant sap form tender parts and flowers. The plant turns yellow with the attack of aphids, which result in shriveled and poor seed formation.  Spraying of 500-700 liter emulsion of 0.03% dimethoate or 0.005%  Imidachlorphid has been found most effective for control of  aphids in the coriander. Second spray should be repeated 10-15 day interval.

Diseases

Wilt : Younger plant upto one month stage are more susceptible to wilt. The infected plant dry up due to wilting. The incidence of disease may be reduced by ad opting following measures 
 Treat the seed with Bavistin @2-2.5 g /kg seed or with Trichoderma @6.0 g /kg seed
    1. Deep summer ploughing
    2.Three year crop rotation
    3. Use disease free or healthy seed

Blight :  It appears  as dark brown spot on the stem and the leaves. To control it spray 500-700 liter per ha solution of 0.2% DithaneM-45 or 0.1% Propiconazole before commencement of the diseases and repeat the spray at 15 days interval. First one or two spay may be done with Dithane M- 45 but rest of the spay must be done with Propiconazole for safe production free from pesticide residue.

Stem Gall : In infected plants blister appear on the leaves and stem which deform the seeds. It can be controlled by adopting following
    Treat the seed with Thirm + Bavistin (1:1 Proportion) @ 2.0 g /kg seed. Use tolerant/ resistant varieties i.e.  ACr-1 developed at NRCSS, Ajmer.  Spray 500-700 lit solution of 0.1% Bavistin at the appearance of Stem gall

Powdery Mildew: A white powdery mass appears on the leaves and twigs of the plants in initial stage and later on whole plant is covered with whitish powder. It can be controlled by Dusting of Sulphur powder @ 20-25 kg/ha.  Spray 0.2% Wettalbe Sulphures 0.1% kerathane @ 500-700 liter solution/ha.

Frost control: In unirrigated condition the chance of frost attack is more in coriander in North India.  Burning of waste material on the bunds of fields during night is useful protecting the crop against frost.if irrigation facility is available, then irrigation the crop. When the chance of frost is more then spray 0.1% Sulphuric acid at flowering stage, protect the crop from frost.

Harvesting and Yield: Harvesting of coriander should be done as soon as colour of seeds turns green to yellow. To obtain good quality of seed yield, the harvesting should be done when 50% seeds turn yellow. To obtain extra yield, leaf plucking to the extent of 50% at 75 DAS without reduction in seed yield may be done. Over ripening result in  deterioration of quality, particularly of the fruit.Corp is harvested by cutting with sickles. If possible harvested crop should be dried in shade to avoid loss of volatile oil. Grain are separated by beating and cleaned and dried properly before sowing. Under good management practices and use of high yielding varieties an average yield of 10-15 q/ha and 4-5q/ha can be obtained from irrigated and unirrigated condition, respectively.

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