We have been doing agricultural practices for a very long time. We have a lot of agricultural activities like arboriculture, floriculture, olericulture etc. It is a branch of botany devoted to the study and cultivation of fruits i.e. ‘Pomology’.
Introduction: What is Pomology?Pomology is a branch of horticulture that deals with various aspects of fruits starting from the rising of saplings, growing them properly and providing various intercultural operations.
The term pomology is a combination of two Latin words pome-fruits and logos-culture. Poma’ in Greek means fruits later subsequently transfer to, “Pome” in Latin means fruits and logos stand for study.
Pomology is the science of growing fruits, which divide fruits into groups based on plant morphology and anatomy. It is so important to the production of fruit that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) established a division of pomology in 1886.
Pomology In India
In India, commercial horticulture has a recent origin (100 years old). Orchards in the olden days were planted just for a hobby by the kings. Akbar planted more than 1 lakh plants of fruit trees at Dharbanga (in Bihar) named as Lakhbagh as referred to in a book called Ain –e –Akbari.
Mughals established Mughal gardens. In Himachal Pradesh, Major Bannon and Captain Lee were the first to plant the apple orchard in Kullu valley. Sir Alexander Coutts owned an apple orchard at Mashobra. S. N. Stokes use to grow apples in Kotgarh.
The American Pomological Society the American pomological society is the oldest fruit organization in North America founded by Marshell P. Wilder in 1848 to foster the science and practice of fruit production and variety development.
How to get Maximum Yield
1. Pomology is instrumental to the cultivating of fruit, developing new or improved varieties, developing disease-resistant fruit, and discovering new pruning or grafting techniques
2. Pomology enhances fruit quality. For example, peaches have been bred that can tolerate colder temperatures, and produce larger and juicy fruits with higher yields
Benefits of Pomology
The Benefits of Banana Farming Banana farms are abundant in Uganda. A large percentage of bananas consumed locally are grown on a small scale. Grassroots Reconciliation Group (GRG) has helped facilitate groups to establish banana farms through strategic training sessions.
In these sessions, they learnt effective techniques for planting and growing bananas, pineapple and citrus. They discussed the best control methods for pest and diseases prevention and control which are:
Pest Management
New, or in their appearance so far unknown pests, might occur in the beginning, which may involve inputs of chemicals. However, appropriate use of cover crops should also help in this task, since the beginning, by interrupting the infection chain between subsequent crops.
Weed Management
Synthetic chemical herbicides may be necessary in the first years, but have to be used with very much care to reduce the negative impact on soil life. Mulch cover and cover crops, crop rotations, desiccants and herbicides are the technologies to control weeds.
Mechanical weed control through rolling, cutting or breaking can also be applied. For exceptional cases mechanical weeders exist for animal traction and tractors which can work through a mulch cover.
Fertility Management
Any soil limitations, such as acidity, salinity or toxicity problems must be addressed before and during the implementation of Conservation Agriculture.
Soil Organic Matter (SOM) and judicious choice of crops and cover crops play a key role in soil fertility management, and especially SOM provided by root decomposition.
The integration of livestock in the system can also be a solution, especially for the farmers with poor resources or access to mineral fertilisers. The use of organic and mineral fertilisers may be necessary. Appropriate application can be done with combined tools for direct seeding-fertilisation.
1. Banana does not require as much attention as other crops
2. They have the potential to improve domestic situations
3. They can help with issues of constipation.
Through pomology, growing bananas is seen as a huge benefit to communities. Bananas hold cultural importance as well as financial and health benefits.
Some Pomology Institutes
a) National Agricultural Research Foundation (N.AG.RE)
b) Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)
c) Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture
d) Institute of Pomology (IOP)
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