General Advisory
1) For the month of October, farmers in Nagaland should focus on preparing fields for winter crops, soil moisture conservation and managing orchard hygiene as the monsoon ends.
2) Winter Vegetable Preparation: Plough fields 2 to 3 times to create friable (crumbly) soil and mix in well-decomposed farmyard manure (10–15 tons per hectare)
3) Sowing and Transplanting: Start sowing winter vegetables like French beans, carrots, and peas, aiming to complete sowing by mid-November. Transplant 30- to 40-day-old seedlings with proper spacing (45x30 cm for early crops)
4) Moisture Conservation: Use paddy straw or dry leaves for mulching to conserve soil moisture and suppress weed growth. Ensure regular light irrigation if dry spells occur.
Orchard & Plantation Care
As monsoon rains drop off, fruit trees require specific maintenance to survive the dryer winter months.
1) Basin Cleaning: Keep the fruit tree rings or basins completely free of weeds.
2) Mulching & Drainage: Mulch orchard basins with crop residues. Ensure drainage channels remain functional to prevent localized waterlogging from late-season erratic thunderstorms.
Plant Breeding & Genetics –Harendra Verma
Most of the lowland rice is in its panicle initiation, flowering or grain filling stages during October.
1. Maintain a thin layer of water (2-5cm) in the rice fields during the flowering and milk stages to ensure proper grain development. Drain out excess water from the fields about 10-15 days before the expected harvest date to facilitate uniform ripening and easier harvesting.
2. Monitor the crop closely during the milky stage. If gundhi bug population exceeds the economic threshold (1-2 bugs per hill) apply neem oil @5ml/liter of water during early morning or evening.
3. Look out for signs of blast or bacterial leaf blight. Avoid excessive nitrogenous fertilizer application at this stage as it can aggravate disease spread.
4. For seed purpose select the uniform types of plant and remove plants showing variations in grain shape, size, and presence of awns or grain color. Discard any plant part infected with blast or brown spot, false smut, bacterial leaf blight or bunt diseases.
5. For early-maturing Sali varieties that ripen by late October, harvest when 80-85% of the grains turn golden yellow. Properly dry the harvested grains to a moisture level of 12-14% before storing them in airtight containers to prevent seed spoilage, fungal growth and pest infestations.
6. October is the perfect window to plan for relay cropping or zero tillage sowing, immediately after the rice harvest to utilize residual soil moisture.
7. If you are planning to sow Toria (rapeseed) after harvesting the rice, the optimum sowing window is from mid-October to mid-November, so buy all seeds and necessary material in advance and do timely sowing of rabi(winter) crops.
8. Use paddy straw for mushroom cultivation and as mulching to conserve soil moisture.
Plant Pathology – Lireni Kikon
1. Nursery: Monitor the nursery for winter crops regularly and adopt need based management for the diseases.
2. For cole crops diseases such as Damping Off, Downy Mildew, Alternaria leaf spot, Black Rot raise the seedlings on raised, well drained nursery beds. Maintain proper drainage and field sanitation after transplanting.
3. Adopt Integrated Disease Management (IDM) and use fungicides only when necessary.
Entomology - Moanaro
1. Use fully decomposed FYM/ manures while raising nursery to avoid termites and diseases problem.
2. While raising vegetables nursery install yellow sticky traps to protect seedlings from sucking pests
3. In mango orchards with a history of mealybug (Drosicha mangiferae) infestation, flooding the orchard with water followed by deep ploughing can help destroy the eggs present in the soil and reduce the pest population.
4. If dead hearts are observed in paddy field spray spray neem oil @ 2ml/L or Spinosad 45%SC @ 1ml/L of water or use Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki @ 3ml/ 2.5g per liter of water. If infestation is severe spray Flubendiamide 39.35% SC @ or Indoxacarb 14.5 sc @ 0.5 ml/L of water.
5. If webbing, scrapping or caterpillars are observed in soybean leaves spray NSKE 5% or neem oil @ 2ml/L or Spinosad 45 SC @ 0.75 ml/L of water.
Spices, Plantation, Medicinal & Aromatic plants – Azeze Seyie
1. Forking and fertilizer application in arecanut - Forking is a vital inter-cultivation technique, which involves lightly loosening the topsoil using a hand held garden fork around the base or the interspaces of the palms. It is primarily done to incorporate fertilizers, green manures and organic composts into the soil without damaging the palms’ sensitive root system. It loosens compact soil and improves aeration, water penetration and soil microbial activity. It helps blend in weed residues after weeding and affectively incorporate lime into acidic soils to correct pH.
2. Young palms need to be given only graded doses i.e., one third and two thirds of fertilizers in the first and second year, respectively. As the south west monsoon generally recedes in September-October, the second round of fertilizers application may be taken up to supply 65g N, 25g of P2O5 and 90g K2O per adult palm in circular basins of 15 to 20 cm deep taken at a radius of 75 cm to 1 m away from the base of the palm.
3. Organics may be added during this season which will enhance soil microbial activity and recycling of minerals. Application of 12 kg organic manure as green leaf compost/farm yard manure is recommended per palm.
4. In acid soils, 15 days prior to application of fertilizers apply lime @ 1 kg per palm and incorporate in the soil by forking. Lime can be applied once in two years.
5. Always practice light forking. Deep digging or heavy plowing too close to the trunk can severely sever the feeder roots of the palm, reducing its nutrient absorption capacity.
6. Harvesting for tender nut processing may be continued.
Poultry – Atokali
1. Observe the birds regularly for any signs of sickness such as diarrhoea, dropped wings, respiratory problems.
2. Isolate the sick birds promptly.
3. Follow timely vaccination and deworming schedule as per the bird type.
4. Store feed in dry, cool and ventilated place to prevent moisture build-up and fungal infestation.
5. Provide fresh clean drinking water throughout the day.
6. Ensure adequate brooding arrangements especially for the chicks.
7. Keep poultry sheds clean, dry and well ventilated, avoid caking of the litter material to avoid coccidiosis.
8. Maintain good biosecurity to prevent risk of infection.
Piggery – Ruth Newmai
1. As the monsoon winds down, reduce high humidity inside pens by ensuring cross- ventilation. Keep the floor dry to reduce microbial growth in the pen.
2. Clear stagnant puddles and drainage around the farm to prevent flies from breeding.
3. Handle dropping night temperatures by blocking chilly drafts around the pens while ensuring fresh air circulates during the warmer midday hours.
4. Provide bedding material (straw, jute bags/ cloth) to piglets along with incandescent light bulb as heat source during cold night hours.
5. Deworming can be carried out in the farm depending on the worm load.
6. Maintain biosecurity in the farm- Restrict farm visits; Provide footbath in every shed; Regularly disinfect the farm and its premises.
