Botanical Name: Solanum melongena
Varieties:
Surya:Glossy oval and medium sized fruits, resistant to bacterial wilt
Swetha: White and medium long fruits, resistant to bacterial wilt
Haritha:Light green long and fleshly fruits resistant to bacterial wilt
Neelima:Large oval to round glossy violet fruits resistant to bacterial wilt
Climate & Soil: Warm humid climate. Can be grown in wide range of soils. Prefers highly fertile and well drained soils.
Season: Ideally the seeds are sown in March-April and transplanted in April-May.
Seed rate: 350g/ha
Seeds available with VFPCK: Haritha
Seed Treatment: Thiram 3g/kg.
Raising Nursery: Seeds sown in nursery bed are tranplanted to the main field four weeks after sowing.
Spacing: Adjust the spacing depending up on the variety, soil fertility and season. Transplant less spreading varieties like Swetha and Surya at 60 x 60 cm. For spreading varieties like Haritha and Neelima, provide wider spacing of 75-90 x 60 cm.
Nutrient management : Apply FYM or compost as basal dose @ 20-25t/ha. NPK 75:40:25 kg/ha in split doses.
Crop Management: Keep the field weedfree. Follow timely irrigation and earthing up.
Pest Management :

• Fruit and shoot borer : Caterpillars bore the fruits and shoot of the plant. Mechanical control of pests.Apply Neem oil emulsion 2.5%,
• Epilachna beetle : Ekalux 25 EC 2ml/l, Both adult and grubs scrape the leaf lamina and skeletanise the leaves. Mechanical control of pests .Release natural enemies to the field. If the attack is severe, apply Ekalux 25 EC (2ml per litre) on both the surfaces of the leaves.
• Jassid : Sucks sap from the lower side of the leaves. Apply Neem oil emulsion 2.5% with garlic paste 20g/l. .
• Aphids : Sucks sap from the plant.Tobacco decoction.

Disease Management :

• Bacterial wilt: The whole plant turns yellow and gets dried up. Follow field sanitation.Plant resistant varieties. Drench the soil thoroughly with the solution of Fytolan @4g per litre before planting. Repeat if the disease is found in later stages.
• Damping off : Seedlings turn yellow. Rotting occurs in the collar region.Drench with 1% Bordeaux Mixture.
• Phomopsis blight : soft water soaked leisions on fruits that turn to mummified in appearance. Seed treatment with bavistin @2g/kg of seeds. Spray bavistin @2g/l

Harvesting: The fruits are harvested at immature stages after attaining full size before loosing its glossy appearance.
Yield: 20 - 25 t/ha.
Post Harvesting: The harvesting of fruits can be done at an interval of five days during the morning hours to prevent the weight loss. The fruits are to be handled carefully to avoid damage.Remove fruits affected by phomopsis blight. The fruits are then graded and packed in bamboo baskets or cartons without causing damage. Covering baskets with moistened jute bags will reduce the rate of physiological activities.
Seed Collection: Harvest the fruits at full ripe stage. Crush the fruits. Soak overnight .Rinse thoroughly with water and dry in open sunlight for one hr and then under partial shade.