BER

Ber or Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk) is a most suitable fruit tree for arid and
semi-arid regions. Ciltivation of the ber in harsh conditions of Thar dessert in Rajasthan
demonstrate its adaption to dessert. The harsh conditions of this region can be characterized
by high temperature (45-48ºC) in summer and low freezing temperature during winter. Wind
velocity is 20-30 km/hr and rain fall is low (150-400 mm annually).

Flowering and fruiting of ber concide with the period of maximum rain water availability i.e.
monsoon season.

During the dry hot season plants enters dormancy by shedding their leaves and thus evading
the injury of drought.

This fruit crop can be grown successfully on marginal and sub-marginal lands which are not
suitable for cultivation of other fruit crops.

The fruits are consumed fresh or dehydrated and number of processed products like preserve,
candy squash, jam and nectar etc. are also made from the fruit. Dehydrated fruits can be
stored for longer time and consumed in off season. The fruits are rich in vitamin C, A and B
complex contains 13-24 per cent TSS and vitamin C upto 160 mg /100 g fruit pulp.

The ripe fruit laxative and have cooling effect and remove burning sensation, thirst and blood
impurities. The root, stem bark and leaves have medicinal value.

Leaves which are locally called pala is a nutritive fodder for animals especially sheep and
goat. Its leaves contain 5.6% digestible crude protein and 49.7% total digestible nutrients.

Origin and distribution

The centre of origin of ber is Central Asia where it is found growing under varying climatic
conditions. The Ziziphus mauritianais considered to be native to India and Z. jujube to china.
In India, ber is grown traditionally from encient times where it has been in use for almost
4000 years. Description of three types of ber have been mentioned in the historical records of
vedic period (800 BC) and Sutra period (800-300 BC). Even in holy books of Hindus like
Ramayana and Mahabhrta ber is mentioned among the edible fruits. A centuries old ber tree
is available in Golden Temple in Amritsar (Punjab).

The ber is distributed worldwide including Indian sub-continent, South East Asia, Australia,
China Africa, Mediterranean region and American centre but cultivation is confined to drier
part of the globe.

In India, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar,
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are major ber-growing states. Hisar, Rohtak,
Jind, Panipat, Mohindergarh and Gurgaon (Haryana), Bharatpur, Jaipur and Jodhpur districts
(Rajasthan), Sangrur and Patiala districts (Punjab), Banaskantha and Sabarmati (Gujarat),
Bijapur and Bellary (Karnataka), and Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram, Dharmapuri and Salem
(Tamil Nadu) are some of major ber-growing areas in India.

In India, area under ber cultivation is about 48.5 thousand ha and annual production is about
662.9 thousand MT.
 Climate and Soil

Ber grows under varying conditions of climate all over India even at elevations up to 1,000m
above mean sea-level. It can withstand extremely hot conditions but is susceptible to frost
and freezing temperature is injurious to fruits and plants especially the young plants.
Normally ber prefers atmospheric dryness for development of good quality fruits but can be
grown under tropical and sub-tropical conditions in the country. Some species of ber found
growing in foot hills of temperate zone. Z. jujube is tolerant to frost to some extent. The areas
receiving annual rainfall of 400-650 mm are considered ideal for its cultivation. High
atmospheric humidity is distinctly disadvantageous as it causes higher incidence of insect and
pest attacks.

The trees shed leaves and enter into dormancy during summer. Under moderate climate of
south India, however, the trees continue to grow throughout the year. It is extremely drought
hardy owing to its deep root system and other xerophytic characters.

Ber is not particular in its soil requirement and grown on a variety of soils from gravelly to
deep arid soils and soils like sandy, clayey, saline and alkali soils. Plant can tolerate high pH
even > 9.0 and thus tolerant to soil and water salinity. Once established, it can withstand even
21 dS/m salinity in soil but decreases with the increase in soil salinity.

Species and Varieties

The genus Ziziphus belongs to Rhamnaceae family. This genus have more than 600 speciess,
out of which 18-20 are native to India. According to Singh and Arora (1978) about eight
species are found in different parts of India which produce edible fruits.

North Eastern Hills (3): Z. apetala, Z. funiculosa and Z. incurve

North Western drier tracts and UP 92): Z. mauritiana and Z. nummularia

Central and Eastern India (2): Z. oenoplia and Z. rugosa

North Western Himalayas (1): Z. vulgaris

Besides, Z. xylocarpus in MP as wild.

Z. mauritiana and Z. jujube are two most important fruit species. Z. mauriatiana is cultivated
in tropical and subtropical regions of India and Z. jujube in temperate region of China.

Fruits of Z. nummularia and Z. rotundifolia are also edible and Z. rotundifolia is used as
rootstock in India. Although in some literature both these sp. are reported synonym but they
are different as Z. rotundifolia form a tree and Z. numularia form a bush.

In Middle East Z. spinochristi is common in the wild and its fruits known as dome or nabak
are edible.
More than 300 varieties have been listed and >150 are reported to be cultivated in India but
only a few are commercially important. They are Umran, Banarasi Kadaka, Mundia, Seb,
Gola and Kaithali. Popular varieties common in different states of India are

State Early Mid Late

Haryana Gola, Seb, Safeda Kaithli, Sanaur-5, Umran
Banarasi Kadaka
Rajasthaan Gola, Seb Mudia, Jogia. Tikandi, Umran,
Illayachi Mehrawali, Bagwadi
Punjab Gola, Seb, Safeda Dandan, Kaithli, Umran, ZG2, ZG3.
Sanaur-2.
Maharashtra Gola, Badami, Mehrun, Darakhi, Umran
Shamber Kharki
UP Gola, Narma, Banarasi Kadaka, Aliganj, Katha
Banaarsi, Pabandi Mudia, Sasni
Gujrat Gola Mehrun Ajmeri, Randeri
AP Gola Dudhia Umran
Karnatka Gola -- Umran
T.N. Gola -- Umran

 Gola, Seb and Mundia are suitable for extremely dry areas.
 Banarasi Kadaka, Umran and Meharun for the dry regions.
 Sanaur 2, Meharun and Umran are suitable for comparatively humid regions.
 In northern India, Gola is earliest to ripen, Kaithli and Mundia are mid-season and
Umran late cultivar.
 An early-maturing selection from Umran, known as Early Umran or Gohma Kirti has
been identified at Godhra (Gujarat).
 Gola is tolerant to saline soils.

Propagation and Rootstocks

Old plantations of ber in the country are of seedling origin. The fruits of these trees
are highly variable in their characters and poor in quality. To overcome this problem
vegetative propagation is being followed. The commercial method of vegetative propagation
is budding. Although various budding methods like T, I, ring, patch and forkert budding have
been tried by various workers but most common and widely adapted methods are T or I
budding.

Seedlings are mostly used as rootstock. Selection of rootstock is done from two wild
species Z. nummularia and Z. rotundifolia. Z. nummularia although impart dwarfing effects
due to slow growth but it forms inverted bottle incompatibility, therefore Z. rotundifolia is
most commonly used species as rootstock and localy known as Bordi. Seedlings are raised
by sowing seed kernels extracted by breaking the stone (endocarp). Seeds germinate in about
7-10 days. The seed stones can also be sown as such but take nearly 4-6 weeks to germinate.
Germination of seed stones can be improved by soaking them for 48hr in water or for 6hr in
concentrated sulphuric acid or in 200-500 ppm Gibberellic acid. A temperature of 30ºC has
been reported optimum for increasing germination and faster seedling growth. Seeds of any
locally adapted and vigorous ber trees can also be used for raising rootstocks.

Seeds should be sown in a well-prepared nursery bed at 30cm × 30cm spacing and at 2cm
depth during Spring to Monsoon period but best period is March–April. The seedlings could
either be transplanted in the field during July–August for in-situ budding or can be budded in
the nursery beds. The budded plants can be transplanted in bare rooted condition during
January–March after treatment with 12 % Waxol or after defoliation. This is, however,
possible only in irrigated areas.

In rainfed areas, seeds should be sown in 300 gauge polythene tubes of 25cm length
and 10cm diameter, filled with a 1:1:1 mixture of farmyard manure, sand and clay. Sowing is
done during April in north India so that the seedlings become buddable during July. The
budded plants become ready for transplanting within 1–2 months after budding. The plants
raised by this technique retain their deep rooting tendency and prove the most suitable under
the low rainfall drylands. In drylands, ber orchard can also be raised by transplanting tube-
raised ber seedlings with the onset of monsoon, leaving them to grow in the field until the
forthcoming summer for budding in situ.

Goyal and Arya (1985) have described the tissue culture technique/method for clonal
multiplication of ber in 150 days. In this technique, Banzyl aminopurine (BAP) @1.0 mg/ltr
and NAA @0.5 mg/ltr are proved effective for differentiation of shoots. However,
multiplication of propagules was achieved by sub culturing the shoot segments on ½ strength
MS medium with or without BAP and NAA. In this medium shoot segments develop roots
within 20 days. The method has not been adapted for commercial propagation in ber.

Planting

Planting can be done in Feb-March in irrigated area but beginning of monsoon is best time
for planting. Pits of 60cm × 60cm × 60cm are dug during summer and refilled after mixing
20-30 kg farmyard manure and 50g of Heptachlor dust to protect from termite attack.
Planting is done at a spacing of 6 x 6 m in low rainfall areas and 8x 8m in the irrigated
regions or in those receiving higher rainfall. In rainfed areas, shaping the interspaces between
tree rows to provide 5% slope towards the plant helps accumulate run-off water during
monsoon and thereby results in higher establishment success. In sandy soils, placing sub-
surface barriers of bentonite + clay, reduce infiltration of water and thus increases success.
Bentonite is naturally found in dessert (Thar dessert). Water conservation is an important
aspect under rainfed conditions in arid region for better establish ment of young plants and
fruit production for established bearing plants. The old plants can withstand 2 months water
logging without any adverse effect.

Training and pruning

Training and pruning is important aspect of ber cultivation. During the first 2–3 years after
planting, ber trees should be pruned to develop a strong framework to the plant. Old growth is
beheaded during March keeping 1–2 nodes above the graft union to induce vigorous new
growth. One upright growing vigorous shoot is retained to develop into main trunk which is
kept clean of secondary branches up to 30cm height from the ground level. On the main
trunk, 3 or 4 well-spaced and favourably located main branches are allowed. During the
second year, these main branches are also clipped retaining 3–4 secondary branches on each
of them. This process is continued to develop tertiary branches. Upward growing shoots are
retained at each stage to develop an upright tree stature. Not more than one upright growing
shoot is retained at a node so that narrow crotches are avoided. This basic frame of the tree
is maintained by removing of water sprouts as and when they emerge. Correction in
the framework is done at the time of annual pruning.

Flowering and fruiting in ber takes place in leaf axils of current season’s growth.
Time and severity of pruning depends on the agro-climatic conditions. Annual pruning in is
essential to induce maximum number of new healthy shoots which would bear good quality
fruits. It is also essential to remove the undesirable, weak, intercrossing, diseased and broken
branches to avoid crowding and to encourage healthy growth for maximum fruit bearing.
Pruning is done during the hot and dry season when the tree sheds leaves and enters
into dormancy. In Tamil Nadu, the trees are pruned during January–April, in Maharashtra
pruning is done in the month of April and in Haryana during May. Spray of thiourea or
KNO3@ 3% just before pruning enhances bud growth. Severity of pruning also differs at
different locations. In north India under rainfed conditions in arid regions, heading back of
50-70 per cent of current seasons growth is considered optimum. In general, light pruning, at
about 25 buds, is considered best. However, pruning could be done at 15–20 buds under more
moderate climatic conditions. All the secondary shoots should be completely removed. To
avoid the occurrence of long unfruitful basal portions of branches as a result of light pruning
for several years, half the past season’s shoots are pruned to 20 buds and the remaining half
to the basal 1 or 2 nodes. Spraying of 3% thiourea or potassium nitrate once in 2 days before
pruning induces bud sprouting from maximum number of nodes. Cut ends of branches should
be covered with copper oxychloride paste.

Flowering Physiology and Fruit set

Flowering habit of ber is distinctive, one to ten branchlets develop from the node of
branches and flower simultaneously. The flowers are borne in clusters in the leaf axils of
current season and previous season’s growth. The inflorescence is cymose and each cyme
contain 15-28 flowers. The flowers near the base of the branch mature first and flowers
towards the apex of the branch mature later. Flowers are white in colour, pentamarous and
stamensare attached to petals. The anthesis in the morning (6-8 AM) or in the afternoon (12-2
PM) depending upon the cultivar. In Seb variety anthesis take place in thee morning however,
in Gola in the afternoon. The stigma is receiptive for 24 hours after anthesis. Crop is cross
pollinated and Physiophora species are main pollinators. Most of the varieties are self
compatible however, cross incompatibility has been reported in some varieties. While making
reciprocal crosses of Sandhura Naranul with Umran and Gola crosses were found successful
but crosses of Banarasi Kadaka with Jalandhry were found incompatible.
In spite of profuse flowering, fruit set in ber is quite low even under open pollination.
Fruit set ranges from 3.6 to 18.87 % in arid and semi arid subtropical areas of North India and
from 13.7 to 23.1percent in semi arid tropical regions. The prevalling temperature during
blooming period is the prominent factor affecting fruit set and tree fails to ser fruit at
temperature exceeding 35ºC.
Fruit is a berry with single stone. Shape of the fruit may be round, oblong, oval, ovate
or oblate. Fruit is green to yellow depending upon the cultivar. Fruit weight varies from 20 to
50 g and fruit takes 3-4 months from setting to ripening.
 Manuring and fertilization

In the low fertility lands of arid and semi arid regions, application of organic manures
are considered essential for sustaining nutrient supply and improving moisture retention
capacity. Inorganic fertilizers in ber orchards are seldom applied. However, productivity of
trees can be improved if fertilizers application is done every year. In various experiments
different fertilizers doses have been found optimum under varied agro-climatic conditions. In
a multi-locational trial it was found that a dose of 750 g N/tree in deep sandy soil in
subtropical region and 250 g N/tree in shallow sandy loam soils in tropical regions give best
results. A well grown ber tree requires 500-1000 g N, 400-800 g P and about 2000 g K
depending upon the age of the tree and agro-climatic and soil conditions. Under rainfed
conditions, a dose of 30 kg FYM, 100 g P and 50 g K per tree has been considered optimum.

FYM should be applied just after pruning in May-June and inorganic fertilizers in two
split doses 1st in July-August and 2nd during fruit developmental stages in October-November.

Foliar applications of Urea (1.0%), zinc sulphate (0.5%) and borax (0.5%) at fruit set
stage have also been found effective in increasing fruit retention and yield and improving
fruit quality especially in arid and semi-arid regions.

Intercropping and cropping system

Ber has an efficient and positive interaction with several crop and plant species like
cereals, pulses, oil seeds, vegetables, grasses and forest as well as fruit trees as a composite
system under arid and semiarid ecosystem. In rainfed areas Kharif and rabi crops are
successfully being grown in the inter rows of the ber trees. Among the different crops,
leguminous intercrops such as mungbean, mothbean and cowpea are preffered in Kharif
season due to their ability for biological nitrogen fixation, whereas, in rabi season mustard
can be grown. The vegetables can be grown under irrigated conditions until the trees occupy
full space. Cover cropping with moong or moth bean improves fertility and moisture status of
the soil.

Irrigation

In rainfed areas, arrangement for in-situ water harvesting should be done by giving
5% slope to the inter-row spaces towards the trees. Black polythene mulch helps conserve
soil moisture and improves growth of the trees. Anti-transpirants like 0.1% power oil and
7.5% Kaolin also conserve water.

Irrigation during November—February at 3–4 week interval should be done in Punjab and
Haryana, but irrigation during October causes flower shedding and that during March-April
cause’s fruit spoilage and delays ripening.

Plant growth regulators

Treatment of seeds with cycocel (chlormequat) @1000-2000 ppm reduced the germination
period in ber.
Treatment of stem cuttings in 250 to 500 ppm IBA or NAA or mixture of 250 ppm IBA+ 500
ppm NAA in quick dip method, effectively improve the initiation and percentage of rooting
in cuttings.

In stool/mound layering, treatment with 8000-12000 ppm IBA during monsoon gives 100
percent success and rooting can be obtained within one month. However, in air layering
100% success can be achieved by treating layers with 10,000 ppm IBA or 7500PPM IBA +
100 ppm Boron.

Fruit set can also be improved by plant growth regulators. Two sprays of GA and 2,4,5-T 1 st
at full bloom stage and 2nd one month after 1st spray almost double the percentage of fruit set
in different varieties.

Similarly, two sprays of GA and NAA alone or in combination @ 10-30 ppm significantly
increased the fruit set. In an experiment on Chinese jujube, application of GA 3 @ 20-70 ppm
at the time of fertilization increased the fruit set of ber by 158 to 465 per cent.

Two sprays of 20 ppm GA3 are recommended in Banarasi Kadaka ber to improve the
fruit size and increase yield. However, if the dose is increased to 40 or 80 ppm, one spray is
sufficient to obtain the desired results. Beside, GA NAA application @ 10 ppm has also been
found to increase the fruit size, TSS and ascorbic acid and decrease the acid and sugar
contents. Some other growth regulator compounds like atonik are also found to increase fruit
size and ascorbic acid content when applied at full bloom stage.

Physiological disorders

There is no specific physiological disorder, however, drop of immature fruit is a common

problem. The heavy fruit drop after fruit set occur due to lack of fertilization and
degeneration of the ovule. One to two month after setting the drop is due to soil moisture
stress, frost or extremely low or high temperature during maturity. The fruit drop vary with
variety and agro-climatic conditions. Varieties like Ilayachi, Aliganj and Banarasi Kadaka
have higher tendency towards initial or early drop however, cv. Ponda seems to be resistant
and shows very less fruit drop.

This fruit drop can be controlled by maintaining proper soil moisture and controlling biotic
damage during the fruit setting and developmental stages.

Exogenous application of plant growth regulators viz., 2,4,5-T @ 30 ppm, 2,4-D @ 10-20
ppm, NAA @ 25 ppm or Nepthoxy acetic acid (NOXA) @ 10 ppm found to effectively
reduced the fruit drop. However, experiments conducted on use of GA as a control measure
for fruit drop failed to exhibit the reduction in fruit drop. A spray of Planofix has also been
found effective in controlling crop load by inducing flower abscission without any damage
to the leaves and buds. Besides light pruning is helpful in controlling fruit drop however,
heavy drop trigger the drop.
Fruit cracking especially in cv. Seb is also a problem which can be controlled or minimized
by maintenance of proper soil moisture and foliar application of micronutrient mixture on
developing fruits.
 Harvesting and yield

The seedling trees take 3-5 years after planting to come into bearing, however,
budded plants start bearing 2nd year onwards but fruiting should be avoided for initial 3 years.
The fruits do not mature after harvesting and over-ripe fruits lose their eating quality and
storage life, therefore harvesting at proper stage is essential. Some of the maturity judging
parameters includes change in colour of the fruit, specific gravity, TSS, acidity, TSS/Acid
ratio and heat units’ accumulation and these parameters vary with variety and location.
Normally ber takes 150–175 days after flowering till maturity. A preharvest spray of 750ppm
2-chloroethyl phosphoric acid (Ethephon) at colour turning stage induces early maturity.
Fully mature fruits are harvested by manual picking or branch shaking methods. Picking
should be done in the forenoon.

The time of harvesting depends on agroclimatic conditions of the location and

cultivars. In south India, the fruits are harvested during October–November, in Gujarat during
December–March, in Rajasthan during January–March and in north India during February–
April. The average yield during the prime bearing period (10–20 years) ranges 80–
200kg/tree. In dry areas, under rainfed conditions, 50–80kg fruits /tree can be obtained. In a
study it has been observed that yield under rainfed conditions increases with quantity of
rainfall received in an area. In arid regions, a yield of 10 kg was recorded at 125 mm rainfall,
whereas this figure increased to 52 kg at 850 mm rainfall but in tropical conditions with same
rainfall varied 45-60 kg/tree. In irrigated conditions a yield of about 150-300 kg from a full
grown tree is obtained which is equal to 30-60T/ha.

Grading,packing and Storage

The harvested ber should be sorted to discard the damaged, over-ripe, unripe and
misshapen and under sized fruits and fetch better prizes in the market. The sorted fruits are
then graded into large, medium and small-sized groups. For local markets, fruits are generally
packed in cloth sheets or in gunny bags or nylon net bags (1-2 kg) capacity but for long
distant transport and packing is done according to grades. While A grade fruits can be packed
in perforated cardboard cartons of 6 kg capacity with paper cuttings as cushioning material,
but the lower grades can be packed in plastic crates or baskets or gunny bags.

Ber fruits can be stored for 10–12 days after packing in perforated polythene bags at
room temperature. The storage life can be prolonged to 30–40 days by storage at 3°C and 85–
90% humidity. Pre-cooling of fruits at 10°C immediately after harvest increases shelf life by
about 3 days when subsequently stored at room temperature. Preharvest spraying of 1%
calcium nitrate about 10-15 days before harvest and dipping of the fruits before storage in
500ppm Captaf also improve their shelf-life. Dipping of fruits in 150-300ppm ascorbic acid
solution improves the postharvest quality of the fruits.