We present you today this video on Calcium Deficiency in Vegetable Crops, how to identify it and prevent it. This will ensure less economic loss of your yield.
Namaskar and welcome to soulofkrishi
We present you today this very important video on “Calcium Deficiency in Vegetable Crops- A serious concern”
A number of vegetable crops in India are showing calcium deficiency which farmers are confusing to many other reasons and are not able to overcome this problem. To clear this confusion and to suggest ways of its correction we have brought before you this video.
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When farmers see symptoms like tip burns, rotting ends of fruits, hollow inside vegetables, very bad shape of vegetables, they generally get confused with diseases and insect damages. They start spraying antibiotics, fungicides and other poisonus chemicals Unnecessarily. Added to this is misguidance by dealers, consultants and quak doctors in the lurch to sell their products for commissions.
We must know why calcium deficiency occurs in vegetables and under what conditions it appears
First calcium deficiency generally doesnot appear in vegetable crops due to soils deficient in calcium. But if vegetables like tomato, potato, leafy vegetables are grown on highly acid soils or on aluminum or sodium rich soils or on very sandy soils farmers can expect calcium deficiency due to very low levels of calcium in soil.
Some bad weather conditions like very high temperature with low humidity or low temperature with cloudy and foggy conditions, drought like situation, low soil moisture etc are some of the causes of calcium deficiency
But most common causes experienced under field conditions are not these factors. But related with bad management practices.
First reason is very high yielding modern varieties require or demand more calcium in very short time. Soil fails to supply that much in short time. So calcium deficiency appear on such hybrid varieties. Whereas in the same soil the local varieties may not show this deficiency. That is why “Desi”varieties donot show calcium deficiencies.
Second because calcium donot move fast from old leaves to growing parts, Young tissues may run short of Ca supply and begin to develop deficiency symptoms. So young buds and leaves do not open properly and expand leading to distortion, cupping, necrosis, ruptures like symptoms.
Third and foremost important reason is if soils are already rich in nitrogen, potassium, boron and magnesium and farmers continue to apply these fertilizers in very high doses and very frequently through fertigation then this will certainly cause calcium deficiency due to nutrient imbalance and competition for calcium uptake.
Let us see how Calcium Deficiency looks like in the fields.
First symptoms appear on the leaves. Leaves face difficulty in expansion. As a result they become cup shaped either inward or outward cupping. Soon the margins become yellowish or necrotic browning or even blackish. In many cases the margins shred and give appearance of torn leaf and become brittle.
Next young growing parts and buds do not grow and become brownish necrotic and do not open. Young leaves become spikes like and appear erect upwards.
Roots of deficient plants gets restricted and express poor growth. In crops like raddish, carrot and beetroots the produce looses its marketable quality
During cloudy days, foggy days and cold weather plants absorb less calcium and become week and grow more lankey and tall and lodge
The most affected are the economic parts like fruits and roots. Each crop expresses calcium deficiency differently. For example in Solanaceous crops like tomato, chilli, capsicum and brinjal and also in melons the blossom end of the fruits starts to turn black and rots. This is called blossom end rot. In cucurbitaceous family the fruits develop empty cavities inside the fruits and become distorted in shape and size. In potato black heart develops inside showing black regions when cut open. In cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, knolkohl, bracoli etc the internal portion becomes cracked and hollow. In green leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, amaranth the leaf tips become brownish, brittle, show cupping and margins tore apart. All these lead to loss of shape, size and appearance leading to huge economic losses.
Correcting Calcium Deficiency in Vegetable Crops
Having learnt how calcium deficiency leads to very serious economic losses let us see how to correct Calcium Deficiency in vegetable Crops
Our long experience in the field shows that calcium deficiency in vegetables occur not because of its deficiency in soil but more due to nutrient imbalance caused by irresponsible way of applying fertilizers without bothering to go for soil testing for proper diagnosis. Unnecessary application of high doses of nitrogen, potassium and magnesium results in poor calcium absorption. Further many farmers apply boron also indiscriminately. We must therefore first check for calcium to boron ratio and in our opinion the best Ca/B ratios for the concentration and total uptake of nutrients should be from 1000:1 to 500:1.
So we can give certain tips to avoid calcium deficiency and suggest ways to overcome the problem.
First do not deviate from the recommended levels of fertilizers no matter what dealers and consultants mislead you.
In some vegetables an early harvest can escape calcium deficiency like in leafy vegetables, carrot, beetroots and radish, cabbage and cauliflowers.
In case of very high yielding vegetable hybrids check if restriction of the root volume is the cause for calcium deficiency. Then increase quantity and frequency of calcium supply along with boron and nitrogen maintaining a calcium to boron ratio of 500:1.
Soil moisture and humidity matters in overcoming the problem of calcium deficiency. So try to maintain soil moisture so that calcium uptake is maintained. As for as possible go for mulching either with plastic mulch or any other available organic material to avoid moisture stress during growing period. Wherever possible give sprinkler irrigation at times of calcium deficiency to maintain humidity levels in the field.
Generally farmers fail to recognize or diagnose calcium deficiency before it actually causes damage. But correction must be done before the damage occurs. So a prophylactic spray of calcium becomes essential if hybrid high yielding varieties are grown. Particularly in acid soils, sandy soils, soils rich in sodium, potassium, magnesium, at the time of planting application of calcium is recommended. Lime, gypsum, dolomite are best suited as calcium source for soil application. Preferably use single super phosphate and calcium ammonium nitrate as fertilizers. If it is only for correcting calcium deficiency then about 200 to 250 kg of calcium per hectare may be applied in plant rows. In crops grown under protected cultivation and under fertigation it is absolutely necessary to use only recommended level of salinity for each crop to avoid Ca-deficiency.
Since soil has many nutrient interactions and restrict the availability of calcium, to avoid such nutrient competitions, foliar spray are the best method for directly feeding the plants with calcium. We recommend farmers to follow the cheapest, the most effective and the best method of soulofkrishi that is lime-buttermilk spray for correcting calcium deficiency.
What is this soulofkrishi method. It is very simple and cheep. Take 5 liters of sour curds or rejected curds or buttermilk and dilute to 20 liters and keep it under sunlight to enhance its sourness. Take One kg quick lime the one normally used for whitewashing of houses in rural areas and mix it with sour buttermilk and keep it overnight with intermittent stirring. In the morning filter it with a cloth and dilute to 300 liters. We further suggest that for best results add 200 grams of boric acid and 1 kg urea at the time of application. Spray on the crop thrice at 20 days interval starting from about 15 to 20 days after planting.
We hope this video has given sufficient information on correcting calcium deficiency in vegetables. If you have any further questions please contact soulofkrishi.com
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Thank you for watching and namaskar
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