Almond
1

Introduction
• Known as king of nut
• Most traded dry fruit across globe
• Origin –southwest and central asia
• Producers- USA, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, India
• Producing states- Jammu& Kashmir
2

Taxonomy
• Order :Rosales
• Family :Rosaceae
• Genus :Prunus
• Subgenus :Amygdalus
• Species :P. communis (2n=28)
• Synonymes: • Prunus dulcis
• Amygdalus communis
• Amygdalus dulcis
• Prunus amygdalus
3

Varieties
• Varieties for J & K :- Makhdoom, Parbat, Waris,
Shalimar, Afghanistan Seedling, IXL, Merced, Non
Pareil
• Himachal Pradesh
• High and mid hills :- Merced, Non Pareil, IXL
• Valley areas:- :- Drake, Katha, Peerless, Ne Plus
Ultra
• Dry temperate zone :- Ne Plus –Ultra, Texas, IXL
4

Climate and soil
• Temperate fruit crops
• Site with good soil and air drainage
• Free from hailstorm and frost in spring
• require cool winter, frost free spring and warm dry
summers
• South facing slopes are best for almond growing
5

Contd…
• Altitude- 750- 3210 m above msl
• Unopen flower withstand temperature of -2.2°C
• Blossoms at petal fall damaged by .5 to -1.1°C
• Chilling requirement- 200 to 700 hrs below 7.2°C
• Deep, well drained, loamy soil is ideal
• pH- 5.5 to 6.8
6

Propagation
• ‘T’ budding :July- August
• Wedge grafting :February- March
• Rootstocks
• Dry areas- bitter almond, wild peach, behmi
• Irrigated area- peach seedling, Lovell, Halford,
Nemaguard, Nemared,
• Clonal rootstocks-GF 677, GF 557, Marianna 2624,
Myrobalan 2032 and Marianna GF 8/1
• Root stocks of 8- 10 month old or pencil thickness are
used
7

Planting
• Pit of 1m3 size dig during September- October
• Planting done during February- March
• Spacing
• Normal - 6x6 m
• Medium HDP -4x4 m
• HDP -3.5x 2.5-3.5 m
• Pollinizer planted in every third row
• Pollinizers- IXL, Jordanalo, Nee-Plus-Ultra, Waris
8

Training and pruning
• Open center system
• At time of planting- headed back plant at 70 cm
height
• First branch allowed only above 0.6m
• 3-4 scaffold branches selected (croch angle- 45-60)
• Primary branches are headed back to ½ to 1/3 of
the growth
• Summer pruning in second year to form secondary
framework scaffold
9

Contd…
• Third year dormant pruning
• 2-3 secondary branches on each main branches are
selected
• Shoots growing inward and interfering with the
main branches are pruned off
• Almond bears fruits on spurs which remain fruitful
for about 5 years
• Pruning should be done in such a manner that one
fifth of fruiting wood is removed every year
• Unwanted water sprouts and suckers should be
removed
10

Manuring and fertilization
11

Cont…
• It is heavy feeder, require proper nutrition
• N applied in 2-3 split dose
• Half N and full P& K applied one fort night before
expected bloom
• 1/4th N- 3 weeks after fruit set
• 1/4th N- June/July
12

Irrigation
• Irrigation done in an interval of 10-15 days
• Critical stages
• Flowering :February - March
• Fruit development: April- June
• Drip irrigation- 4L/hr for 5 hr at an interval of 4-5
days
13

Flowering and fruiting
• Flowering: January- April ,depending on cultivars
• Bud differentiation: August- September, continue
up to February
• Inflorescence form on shoot and spur
• Flower-perigynous, self incompatible
• Pollination: cross pollination by bees
14

contd…
• Pollinizers in orchard -33%
• 4-6 beehives/ha placed in orchard- 12-15% higher
yield
• Fruit growth in 3 stages
• Stage 1-pericarp, seed, nucellus develops
• Stage 2 endosperm and embryo enlarge
• Stage 3-dry weight of embryo increases
• Fruit is drupe
15

Harvest
• Bearing start from 3-4 year
• Optimum yield obtained from 8-10
years
• Harvesting time: August- September
• Indices: hull split of 95% nuts
• Harvested manually
• Yield: 10-20q/ha shelled almond
16

Post harvest management
• Hulling- removal of hull from seeds
• Done immediately after harvest manually or
mechanically
• Drying- to reduce mould growth during storage
• Can be store more than 1 year at 0-7°C
17

• Pest
• Chaffer beetle
• Brown mite
• Navel orange worm
• Diseases
• Shot hole
• Almond decline
• Crown gall
18

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