Identification Plantation crops
Plantation:
A estate or large continuous area in which a single crop raised either by direct sowing or transplanting. Plantations are in all sense an industry as much as they are production oriented and constitute an investment venture.
Plantation crop:
In original sense
the term plantation refers to a forest crop raised artificially either by
direct sowing or planting.
In horticulture sense the term plantation crop refers to a woody perennial crop grown on a large continuous area, managed by an individual or a company, the produce of which is consumed only after processing.
Characteristics plantation crop:
- It should be a woody perennial (palm, tree, shrub or vine).
- It should be grown on a large continuous area (estate or plantation).
- It should be managed by an individual or company.
- The produce is suitable for consumption only after processing.
- These crops are restricted to the latitude of 20 degree North to 20 degree South.
- They are high value commercial crops.
Example: Areca nut, Cacao, cashew nut, coconut, coffee, oil palm, betel vine, rubber and tea are some of the plantation crops.
Importance of Plantation crops:
They are export oriented. Ex: cashew nut, betel vine, tea comprise of 75% of total export earnings from the export of all agricultural produce.
They provide gainful employment: Cashew cultivation employs 2 lakh people; processing industry employs 3 lakh people. Arecanut crop employs 6 million people. Coconut crop employs 10 million people. They occupy only 2% of total cultivated area, but generate 36,000 million rupees per annum.
They support many ancillary industries.
They conserve soil and eco system. Example: Tea and coffee are cultivated over hill slopes; cashew nut is cultivated on waste lands. They protect soil from erosion losses and provide additional income to the farmers in those areas.
Geographical distribution of plantation crops:
Almost all plantation crops are restricted geographical distribution to the tropics from 200N to 200S latitudes. Certain plantation crops are sun loving or heliophytes (coconut, cashew nut, rubber, oil palm, arecanut), others are shade loving or sciophytes (coca, tea, coffee, betelvine).
In general coconut and cashew nut are cultivated in coastal belt. The sun loving plantation crops should always be raised under mono culture as sole crop, while the shade loving plantation crops (coca, coffee) may be raised as inter crop in the inter spaces of grown up sun loving plantation crops (coconut, oil palm and arecanut) or grown along with shade or nurse trees (silver oak) to have either shade (coffee, tea) or support (betelvine) or both (betelvine).
| SL NO |
COMMON NAME |
SCIENTIFIC NAME |
FAMILY | ORIGIN | CHROMOSOME NO |
COMMERCIAL METHOD OF PROPAGATION |
EDIBLE PART |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coconut | Cocos nucifera |
Palmae | South east Asia | 2n=2x=32 | Seed | Endosperm |
| 2 | Areca nut | Areca catechu |
Palmae/ Arecaceae | Malayan archipelago and other east Indian islands |
2n=2x=32 | Seed | Kernel |
| 3 | Oil palm | Elias guineensis |
Palmae | Guinea coast of West Africa |
2n=2x=32 | Seed | Kernel |
| 4 | Palmyra palm |
Borosus fleballifer |
Palmae | Africa | 2n=2x=32 | Seed | Endosperm and toddy |
| 5 | Date palm | Phoenix dactylifera |
Palmae | Iraq | 2n=2x=36 | Offshoot/ Sucker |
fruit |
| 6 | Cashew nut | Anacardium occidentale |
Anacardiaceae | Brazil | 2n=2x=42 | Softwood grafting |
Cotyledon |
| 7 | Tea | Camellia sinensis |
Camaliaceae/ Theaceae | China | 2n=2x=30 | Softwood cutting/ leaf node cutting |
Leaves |
| 8 | coffee (Arabica) |
Coffea arabica |
Rubiaceae | Ethiopia/ Brazil |
2n=2x=22 | Seed | Berry |
| 9 | coffee (Robusta) |
C. robusta/ C. ca |
2n=4x=44 | ||||
| 10 | coffee (Tree coffee) |
C. liberica | 2n=2x=22 | ||||
| 11 | Rubber | Hevea brasiliensis |
Euphorbiaceae | Brazil | . | Forket budding |
Latex |
| 12 | Cocao | Theobroma cocoa |
Sterculiaceae | Amazon basin | 2n=2x=20 | Seed | Seed |
| 13 | Betel vine | Piper betle | Piperaceae | Central and eastern Malaysia |
2n=6x=78 (frequently) | Vine cuttings | Leaves |