Orange Management Practices
Propagation
- Although oranges can be grown from seed, budded or grafted (vegetative propagation), seedlings are preferred as planting materials.
- The budding on grafting union should be at least 30cm from the ground to avoid disease infection in the field.
- Propagation by seed takes a long time to produce fruits while vegetatively propagated seedlings take about 2 to 3 years.
- Vegetatively propagated materials can be obtained from government or private commercial nurseries.
- The land should be ploughed up to medium tilth and leveled if necessary.
- All perennial grasses such as couch grass should be cleared and burnt or sprayed beforehand using round-up or glyphogun.
Layout & Spacing
- It is important that the trees are aligned straight in the row and across rows.
- This necessitates proper layout of the field using pegs, string and tape measure.
- Dig holes 60x60x60cm with spacing of 3.3×3.3m.
- For each hole, the top soil should be separated from the red subsoil.
- It is advisable to plant at the beginning of the rains.
- Remove the polythene sleeves and place the seedlings in the center of the dug holes.
- Cover with soil up to the original level of the nursery sleeve but ensure that the graft joint/budded area is kept well above ground to avoid infection.
- A stake can be planted alongside the seedling to which the seedling is tied to keep it erect.
- Regular and adequate watering should be provided, all the way up to fruiting, depending on weather conditions.
- Then a cover a crop of beans or groundnuts should be planted during the first 3 years until the tree canopies have closed in.
- After the trees are fully grown, leave it as a mono-crop.
- Citrus is easily affected by root rot as other intercrops are being cultivated.
- Avoid planting the cover crop very close to the orange stalk.