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Rambutan Cultivation in India

P.C. Tripathi ,G.Karunakaran,T.Sakthivel, V. Sankar and R. Senthil kumar

Central Horticultural Experiment Station
Indian Institute of Horticultural Research
Chettalli – 571 248, Kodagu, Karnataka
E mail: cheschettalli@yahoo.co.in
 Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum var.lappaceum) is indigenous to the Malay Archipelago,
which includes Indonesia, Malaysia and southern Thailand. It has been widely cultivated throughout
Southeast Asia. It is also grown in India and Sri Lanka. The name rambutan, derived from the Malay word
rambut which means hairs.Rambutan belongs to the Spindaceae family. It is an evergreen tree growing to a
height of 12–20 m .The leaves are alternate, 10–30 cm long, pinnate, with 3-11 leaflets, each leaflet 5–
15 cm long and 3-10 cm broad, with an entire margin. The flowers are small, 2.5–5 mm, apetalous and
borne in erect terminal panicles 15–30 cm wide. Rambutan trees are male, female, or hermaphroditic. The
fruit resembles a litchi fruit in appearance and fruit texture but fruit skin carries numerous long, thick yellow
or pink and red colored hairy growths. The fruit is a round to oval drupe 3–8 cm long and 3-4 cm diameter,
borne in a loose pendant cluster of 10-20. The skin of fruit is leathery and reddish, orange or yellow in
colour and covered with fleshy hair. The flesh (aril) is white or rose-tinted, translucent, juicy, acid, sub-acid
or sweet flesh, 0.4-0.8 cm thick, adhering to seed.The seed is oblong and flattened, glossy brown, 2–3 cm
long. Fruits are sweet, juicy and delicious with a pleasant flavor and aroma. Fruit is a good source of sugars,
vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals. Fruits can be used as a fresh dessert fruit or can be processed
into different items like dried fruit pulp, jams, jelly, fruit concentrates etc. The seed is soft, crunchy and
mildly poisonous.The fruits, leaves and bark are used for various local medicines in South East Asian
countries.
Rambutan is cultivated in Malaysia, Thailand. Philippines, Northern Australia, Sri Lanka,
India, Madagascar, Costa Rica, Congo and some South American countries. Thailand, Malaysia and
Indonesia are the world’s largest producers of rambutan. World rambutan production is estimated at 1.06
million tonnes in 1999. Thailand, the largest producer with 588, 000 tonnes (55.5%), followed by Indonesia
with 320,000 tonnes (30.2%) and Malaysia with 126,300 tonnes (11.9%) collectively accounted for 97% of
the world's supply of rambutan. Thailand and Malaysia are the main exporters of fresh rambutan while
Thailand also exports considerable amount of canned rambutan to Asian and European countries. Rambutan
production is expanding in Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Philippines and Hawaii. In India Rambutan is
cultivated in home gardens of Thrissur, Pathanamthitta, Kottayayam and Ernakulum districts of Kerala,
Nagerkoil, Courtralam, The Nilgiris districts of Tamil Nadu, Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts of
Karnataka. The actual area and production of rambutan in India are not available but it is estimated that the
area under the crop is less than 500 acres and the 95% plantation size are having less than 20 plants. There
is good potential of expression of this crop in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
 Climate
Rambutan is adapted to warm tropical climate. It is grown commercially within 12–15° of
the equator. The tree grows well up to 700 metre above sea-level. It requires around 22–30°C
temperature for optimum growth. It is very sensitive to low temperature and growth of plant is severely
affected at temperature less than 10o C. The lower temperature caused defoliation and affect panicle
emergence and fruiting. The higher temperature (>40oC) also affected the growth and development of
plants. The lower humidity affects the development of fruits. The plant requires good rainfall of 200-
500 cm well distributed through out the year but a short spell of the day period is essential for initiation
of floral bud function. The heavy rainfall during maturity period causes cracking of fruits.
Soil
Rambutan is grown successfully in wide range of soils. Well drained sandy loam to clay loam
soils with organic matter are most suitable for optimum growth and yield. It is can be grown
successfully in red laterilte soil if adequate organic and inorganic fertilizers are applied. The optimum
soil pH is 4.5 to 6.5. Rambutan is sensitive to water logging. The orchard in slight sloppy land has
been found performing better. The soil should be rich in Zinc and Iron otherwise yellowing of leaf as a
result the nutrient deficiency is commonly observed.
Germplasm evaluation and Varieties
More than 218 rambutan accessions were evaluated for their growth and yield parameters. The growth
data reveled that plant height ranged from 2.90 m in CHESR-24 to 6.30 m in CHESR -28. Plant spread
(E-W) was highest in CHESR -28 (5.7 m) and lowest in CHES R-24 (1.25 m). Plant spread (N-S) was
highest in CHESR -29 (6.2 m) and lowest in CHES R-24 (1.05 m). The yield data reveled that higher
numbers of fruits were harvested from CHESR-26(2025) whereas CHESR-33 registered the lowest
number of fruits (100). Highest yield was recorded in CHESR-26 (48.8 Kg.) while CHESR-33
registered the minimum yield of 2.77 Kg (Fig. 1). The higher fruit weight recorded in CHESR– 27
(44.2 g), whereas, CHESR-156 recorded the lowest fruit weight of 16.5 g. Fruit length and breadth
was found highest in CHESR-27. The lowest fruit length and breadth were recorded in CHESR-156.
The highest pulp weight was recorded in CHESR-29 (21.36 g). Highest pulp content was recorded in
CHESR-29 (52.47%). Lowest pulp content was recorded in CHESR-8 (37.69%). The highest seed
weight was recorded in CHESR-27 (2.69 g), while CHESR-7 recorded the lowest seed weight of 1.66
g. Seed content ranged from 5.92 % in CHESR-29 to 11.55 % in CHESR-16. TSS content varied from
13.1°B in CHESR-222 to 20.2ºB in CHESR-35 and CHESR-138. Titrable acidity was found to be
lowest (0.26%) in CHESR-29 and highest (1.00%) in CHESR-222. Ascorbic acid content was
estimated to be the highest (63.38 mg/100 g) in CHESR-58 and lowest was recorded in CHES-28(29.0
mg / 100 g). Among the red colour accession CHESR-26 and CHESR-27 were found superior than
other accessions. Among the yellow colour accession CHESR-31 was found superior than other
accessions.

ACCESIONS

There are well over 200 cultivars developed from selected clones available throughout
tropical Asia. Most commercial cultivars are hermaphroditic The main commercial cultivars are
Lebakbulus, Binjai , Seematjan, and Rapiah from Indonesia; R134, GulaBatu, Muar Gading,
Khaw Tow Bak, Lee Long, and Daun Hijau from Malaysia; Deli Cheng and Jit Lee from
Singapore; Seematjan, Seenjonja and Mahalika from the Philippines and Rongrien,
Seechohmpoo and Bangyeekhan from Thailand. In India, there is no released cultivar of
rambutan. The seedlings grown from the seeds collected from outside and with the country have
 been planted by the planters. Central Horticultural Experiment Station (IIHR), Chettalli has
identified several promising lines after extensive survey from the Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu. The some of the promising lines are described as follows:
Arka Coorg Arun : This is a promising selection and an early maturing variety. The tree are medium in
size and semi spreading in nature. Fruit are dark red in colour. Average fruit weight is 40 to 45 g. Fruits
are free stone an aril can be usually removed from the seed without attachment to the testa. The aril is
white in colour, thick , firm and dry and sweet (TSS- 20 0 B) with recovery of about 42 per cent.
Arka Coorg Peetabh: This is a high yielding promising selection. The trees are semi spreading type
and regular bearer.. This is a mid season variety. Fruit are yellow in colour. Average fruit weight is 25-
30 g. The aril is white in colour, juicy, sweet (TSS -210B ) and aril recovery of 41 per cent.
CHES-26 : This is a high yielding promising selection. The trees are medium size and semi spreading
in nature. This is an early maturing variety. Fruit are dark red in colour. Average fruit weight is 35 to 40
g. Fruits are cling stone and aril is attached to the testa. The aril is white in colour and juicy and sweet
(TSS-190 B) with recovery of about 40 per cent.
CHES-14: It is a high yielding promising types. The trees are semi spreading type and regular
bearer. This is a late variety. A six year tree yields around 500-100 plant. The average fruits
weight is 30g. Fruit are yellow in colour. Average fruit weight is 45 to 50 g. Fruits are free stone
an aril can be usually removed from the seed without attachment to the testa. The aril is white in
colour and sweet (TSS -19.5 0B) with recovery of about 44 per cent.
Table 1: Characterization of Rambutan germplasm at CHES, Chettalli

Accession No. Fruit colour Fruit wt Type of TSS No. of

0
(g) bearing B Fruits/bunch
CHES R- I/2 Red purple 60.5 sparse 18.0 7
CHES R- III/11 Red 30.0 sparse 19.2 14
CHES R- III/9 Red 39.14 sparse 21.5 20
CHES R-VI/10 Red 39.96 sparse 17.2 9
CHES R-VII/9 Red 31.26 sparse 21.6 6
CHES R-X/7 Yellow orange 40.92 sparse 15.8 8
CHES R- X/9 Red 35.0 cluster 19.0 30
CHES R- XI/8 Red 29.00 sparse 13.5 8
CHES R- IX/10 Red 53.00 sparse 17.4 5
CHES R- XI/11 Red 45.00 cluster 18.6 15
CHES R- XII/8 Red 35.00 cluster 19.6 22
CHES R- XI/4 Red 37.95 sparse 19.8 37
CHES R- XIII/10 Red 33.56 cluster 12.0 16
 CHES R- XII/2 Yellow 37.60 Cluster 18.8 16
CHES R- XIII/6 Red purple 37.0 sparse 19.0 13
CHES R- XIV/10 Red 47.71 sparse 14.6 27
CHES R- XIV/7 Yellow orange 37.86 sparse 17.4 8
CHES R-XIV/11 Yellow orange 44.84 sparse 19.2 5
CHES R- XV/1 Red purple 25.47 sparse 16.2 10
CHES R- XV/2 Red 24.38 17.8 15
CHES R -XV/7 Red 36.89 sparse 16.8 25
CHES R -XIX/2 Red 39.00 sparse 18.8 5
CHES R- XVI/1 Red 38.34 sparse 17.8 4
CHES R- XXIII/7 Red 26.65 sparse 17.4 3
CHES R- XIII/9 Red 41.69 sparse 15.8 8
CHES R- 37 Red 30.92 cluster 18.2 33
CHES R- 34 Red 25.12 cluster 13.6 30
CHES R -32 Red 33.52 sparse 21.2 5
CHES R- 31 Yellow orange 30.05 sparse 16.6 26
CHES R -30 Red 29.83 sparse 16.8 7
CHES R -27 Red 58.23 sparse 21.8 5
CHES R-25 Red 30.54 sparse 10.7 8
CHES R-26 Red 37.88 sparse 18.0 8
CHES R-21 Red purple 14.39 sparse 11.4 5
CHES R-19 Red 20.96 sparse 16.2 6
CHES R-18 Red 25.85 sparse 17.2 8
CHES R-17 Yellow orange 26.37 sparse 16.4 6
CHES R-16 Red 31.18 sparse 18.4 8
CHES R-14 Yellow orange 28.70 sparse 19.4 8
CHES R-11 Red 28.45 sparse 19.0 8
CHES R-8 Red 19.91 sparse 18.0 7

Propagation
Seed
Rambutan is propagated by seed, budding, grafting and layering. Seed propagation is easy
but is not recommended for commercial multiplication as more than 50 percent produced only male
flowers. The seedlings are used for rootstocks purpose. Rambutan seeds, after removal from the fruit
and thorough washing, should be planted horizontally with the flattened side downward in order that the
seedling will grow straight and have a normal, strong root system. Seeds were sown in the nursery bags
and it took around 25-28 days for germination under Kadgu conditions. The seeds lose their viability
very soon .Thus it should be sown immediately after removing the aril. The germination of 2-day-old
seeds is 87% to 95% as compared to 50-60% in one week old seed. Sun-drying for 8 hours and oven-
drying at 30º C kills seeds within a week. The storage of fresh seed can be done moist sawdust,
sphagnum moss or charcoal for 3-4 weeks. The seedlings become ready for grafting in 9-10 months.
Vegetative propagation
Vegetative propagation is essential as rambutan seedlings take long time for fruiting and female to
male trees is 4 or 5 to 7.Cuttings have been rooted experimentally under mist and with the use of
growth-promoting hormones, but this technique is not being practiced. Rambutan can be vegetatively
propagated by approach grafting (Inarching), air layering, budding and grafting.
Grafting
Approach grafting is most successful but is more labor intensive and cumbersome because the
seedlings must be securely placed around the mother tree, and must be watered if rainfall is insufficient.
The number of grafts may be done at a time is limited by space and available shoots. Generally 8 to 12
month old seedlings are used as rootstocks. The experiment conducted at CHE, Chettalli with Ten
month old seedlings in the month of November and December gave 42% success.
Among other grafting methods such as cleft, veneer have been tried for propagation of Rambutan. But
most of them were not successful or very less successful. The success rate in cleft grafting in the shade
house was low (10%).
Air layering
Upright branches (1.0 – 1.5 cm) stem diameter and 30-60 cm long) from well developed trees were
selected for air layering. IBA at 5,000 ppm was used in rooting media (coir pith). About 25% success
rate has been recorded. Air-layering may at first appear successful, but many air-layers die after being
transplanted into field nursery or poly bags or later in the field, long after separation from the mother
tree.
Chip budding and patch budding
Among various budding methods, Patch-budding is preferred as having a higher rate of success.
The budding is done in the on well-grown rootstocks of 8 to 12 month old in month of May or July. The
success rate is reported to be as high as 83.6% in other countries. T –budding was also found successful.
The experiment conducted at CHES, Chettalli revealed that higher humidity and moderate temperature
are essential for higher success at temperature less than 20 0C success rate was low. The Bud wood
selection is an important for the success of the budding. The bud wood should be collected from good
bearing trees. The selected shoot should be obtained from (3-4 month of harvesting. A one year old
budwood of 1.5 to 2 centimeter diameter is found more suitable. The removal of leaves one weak prior
to budding provide better success.

Spacing and Planting

The seedling trees of rambutan are vigourous and spreading type and require more space for
growth. These need to be planted as more distance to avoid overlapping of trees after 10 - 15 years.
Generally these are planted at 10x10 to 12x12 meter distance. In the Philippines, it is recommended that
the trees be planted at least 10 m apart each way, though 40 ft (12 m) is not too much in rich soil. If the
trees are set too close to each other, they will become overcrowded in few years and production will be
seriously affected. The vegetatively propagated trees are smaller in size and they should planted at a
spacing is 8x8 or 8x6 m, The close planting 6x6 m may need pruning to control the tree size. For
orchards with mechanization, row spacing should be wide enough for machinery. The most appropriate
spacing is 200-250 plants/ ha. The planting is done in pits of 1x1x1m size which are done 2 to 3 week
ahead of planting and filled with a mixture containing three parts of top soil and one part of compost.
Planting is done preferably during June-July after the onset of monsoon so that the plants are well
established at the end of the monsoon
Training and Pruning
Rambutan trees exhibit strong apical dominance and have a tendency to produce long, upright growth.
Early pruning and training to form an open center tree is recommended. After harvesting, fruited twigs
are pruned back to stimulate new growth. Fruited twigs are pruned back to stimulate new growth of up
to four new side shoots, of which 22 per cent of the shoots will bear fruits in the following season.
Dead branches and water suckers should be removed regularly.
Nutrition
A fertilizer dose of 200g nitrogen, 25g of phosphate and 100g potassium per tree per year
of age is recommended for rambutan. For the first four years, the fertilizers should be applied in four
equal dressings, every three months. For fruiting trees, 200g N, 25g P and 130g K per tree per year of
age are recommended. Maximum fertilizer rate is reached at 12 years and should remain constant
thereafter. For fruiting trees, one-fourth of the yearly fertilizer should be applied four weeks after fruit
sets, half the amount should be applied immediately after harvest and the remaining one-fourth at nine
weeks after harvest. Additionally, 0.4kg of dolomite per tree per year of age, maximum at ten years and
constant thereafter, is applied during slow growing months. For nursery beds for raising
rootstocks/seedlings, 20g N, 2g P2O5 and 20g K2O and + micronutrients should be applied.
Irrigation
Irrigation is given as needed in dry seasons. Rambutan trees should be sheltered from strong winds,
which can do damage the flowering and fruiting period. In order to induce flowering of full-grown
plants, there is a need to allow the rambutan plant to pass through a period of drought for about 21-30
days. Then irrigation is done to induce floral bud initiation. The rambutan plant so treated will start to
bloom within 10-15 days after water manipulation.
Inter-culture
Mulching is essential during establishment and dry periods. No mulching should be
applied prior to flowering. At any stage, glyphosate should not be used near irrigation lines or near the
tree basin as it could cause a severe yellowing and abscission of the lower leaves. In some countries,
intercropping of pineapple or vegetables is done in the rambutan orchards.
Pollination and fruit set
The hermaphrodite cultivars that produce only functionally female flowers require the
presence of male trees. Male trees are seldom found as vegetative selection has favored hermaphroditic
clones that produce a high proportion of functionally female flowers and a much lower number of
flowers that produce pollen. There are over 3000 greenish-white flowers in male panicles, each with 5-7
anthers and a non-functional ovary. Male flowers have yellow nectaries and 5-7 stamens. There are
about 500 greenish-yellow flowers in each hermaphroditic panicle. Each flower has six anthers, usually
a bi-lobed stigma, and one ovule in each of its two sections (locules). The flowers are receptive for
about one day but may persist if pollinators are excluded. Under Chettalli conditions, peak flowering
season was noticed in the month of March. Flowers are white in colour. The panicle length is 22.9 cm.
Each shoot had 10 panicles with 466 flowers per panicle. Peak anthesis was recorded between 5.00 am
and 6:00 a.m. Three types of flowers were observed in Rambutan – Staminate (m), hermaphrodite
functional female (hff) and hermaphrodite functional male (hfm). In the hff type, bifid stigma split
opened during anthesis exposing the stigmatic surface to pollination but the stamens remained closely
appressed to the sepals and the anthers never dehisced. In the hfm type, the stamens were erect at
anthesis and the anthers dehisced viable pollen but the stigma of the rudimentary pistil did not open.
Hence, cross pollination is essential for fruit set. The panicle was found to be comprised of 94.41 and
5.99 per cent of hermaphrodite functional female and hermaphrodite functional male respectively in
CHES - 26. Cent percent staminate flowers (s) were recorded in CHES 11.
Among the pollinating insects, Apiscerana was found to be the predominant followed by
A. florea, Trigona Spp., ants and wasp. The peak hours of visit by the pollinating insects to the flowers
was between 7:00 a.m to 10:30 a.m. The visit of Apis cerana indica, A. florae and Trigona Spp. When
fruit setting has occurred, water and fertilizer should be applied regularly and adequately in each period
of development. The increasing number of pollinator such as honey bees, flies also help in increasing
fruit set. Two colony of bee( Apis cerena indica) should be kept in per acre during flower season for
better pollination.
The percent fruit set per panicle was 3.41 in Chettalli condition. The number of days taken
from flowering to initial fruit set was 63 days. The fruit growth from first fruit setting to maturation is
shown in Figure – 1. Fruit length and the diameter were equal during a period of 30 days, a rapid
increment in fruit growth was observed which, continued up to 100 days. Afterwards, the fruit growth
slowed down to 100 days and became stable up to 120 days. Thus, fruits of Rambutan took
approximately 110-120 days after fruit set to attain harvest maturity as indicated by constant fruit
growth. The fruit growth pattern was sigmoid type.
 The observations recorded on changes in physico-chemical parameters during different fruit
development stages in rambutan ( Table 1) revealed that TSS and total sugars were found tobe increased
as the stage advances from 20 DAF to 120 DAF, whereas, ascorbic acid content and acidity found tobe
increased gradually from 20 DAF to 100 DAF and declined after 100 DAF. Based on these parameters,
fruits of rambutan matured and harvested between 100-120 DAF.
Table 1: Physico-chemical changes during various fruit development stages in Rambutan
Days after fruit TSS(º) Titrable acidity Ascorbic acid Total sugars(%)
set (DAF) ( g/100g) (mg/100g)
20 15.0 0.32 16.57 12.75
40 16.6 0.46 29.76 13.78
60 17.4 0.72 36.52 14.71
80 17.6 0.78 42.41 14.78
100 18.2 0.84 52.21 15.29
120 18.6 0.58 48.26 15.62
In addition, supports should be provided to the branches one-month prior to the appearance of fruit
color in order to reduce damage to the branches caused by the increasing weight of the fruits. Other
plant protection measures should also be provided.

Harvesting and Yield

Rambutan grafted trees start bearing fruits from fourth year onwards. It may take up to five
months for the fruits to develop into ripe fruits after fruit set. In South eastern Asian Countries,
rambutan produces fruits twice a year, the first and the main crop is in June and a lesser one is in
December. But in India it gives only one crop per year. The fruits are usually ripe in month of July to
October. Harvesting is done by shears or sharp knives by cut the inflorescence stalk. Thereafter, the
fruits are individually cut off and packed for sale. It is recommended that the fruits should not be
allowed to fall directly to the ground as this will cause injury and cannot be kept for a long time.The
fresh fruit are easily bruised and have a limited shelf life. An average tree may produce 5,000-6,000
fruits (60–70 kg) per tree. However, yield may vary from year to year because rambutan exhibits
alternate bearing. Under Chettalli conditions, Higher number of fruits were harvested from CHES-
26(1801.3) while 50kg fruit per plants was recorded in CHES -29 for a eight year old plant. But the
average yield for a 10 year plants for Chettalli condition was 25 kg. A trends of alternate bearing ws
also notices in some of the accessions. As far as quality is concerned, highest pulp content was recorded
in CHES-29 (52.47%). The maximum seed weight was recorded in CHES-27 (2.69 g),. TSS content
varied from 14.2°B in CHES-34 to 20.05ºB in CHES-32. Titrable acidity was found to be minimum
(0.26%) in CHES-37 and maximum (0.80%) in CHES-8. Ascorbic acid content was estimated to be the
highest ( 67.76 mg/100 g) in CHES-32 and lowest was recorded in CHES-11 (23.30 mg / 100 g).
The fruits must be sold immediately as they start shriveling and decay begin. Keeping the
harvested fruits within a plastic film of sufficient thickness to avoid water loss at a temperature of 13-
15oC prolong the shelf. Rambutan stored at a low temperature acquires a firmer texture and more
translucent appearance. The sucrose content has been reported to increase during storage. Storage
temperatures lower than 7 o C caused chilling injuries to the peel and hairs.
The studies conducted at CHES, Chettalli revealed that Physiological Loss in Weight (PLW) of fruit
increased gradually with the days of shelf life. The PLW varied from 21.53% on 3 rd day to 31.72% on
5th day under room temperature, whereas, storage of fruits under refrigerated condition reduced PLW.
The PLW of fruits under refrigerated condition varied from 8.39% on 5th day to 20.6% on 13 days. The
quality parameters such as fruit firmness, TSS, Vitamin-C and sugars were found to be decreased as the
days advances in both room temperature and refrigerated condition, whereas the acidity have found to
be increased
Pests and diseases:
The several insect pest incurring Rambutan in various growing areas but only few of them have
epidemic potential. Many of the pest control satisfactorily by developing good management practices.
Rambutan is a new crop for our country and limited research work has been carried out on the insect
pest and diseases. So far very less insect pest damage has been noticed. Mealy bugs, beetles, bugs are
major pests while twig blight, stem cankers, powdery mildew are noticed. Although their infestation/
infection is very low. The other important yield reducing factor in Rambutan plantations are birds and
bats.
Insects
Beetles (Niphonoclea albata) are apparently never abundant but one female can damage up to 30 twigs.
Control is mainly by removal of beetles when they are seen on the tree from June to September.
Clipping the infested twigs and destroying and smudging trees to drive away beetles can be employed.
Mealy bug (Pulvinaria psidii)
Major problem of mealy bug Pulvinaria psidii was noticed on Rambutan fruits when they attain pea
size and continue to persist till the ripening stage. In other southeast Asian countries the major pests are
the mealy bug (Pseudococcus lilacinus) and the giant bug (Tessaratoma longicorne, Hemiptera:
Tessaratomidae). infestation if considerable application of carbaryl 4 g/L or Dimethoate 2 ml/L mixed
with neem oil may be helpful in reducing the damage. However recent experiments show that the
mealy bugs can be reasonably well suppressed by applying Lastraw @ 5 ml/L when the fruits are of
coffee berry size. Attendant ants that may feed on the honey dew may be prevented reaching the target
by drenching soil with Chlorpyriphos (3 ml/L).
Tesseratoma sp (Bugs)
The nymphs and adults Tesseratoma bug suck sap from the fruit or flower bearing shoots and devitalize
them. Collection of these bugs early in the morning by tapping the trees or branches and disposing off
the collected bugs can reduce the pest population to a very great extent. Application of L- cyhalothrin
@ 1 ml/L or carbaryl @ 4 g/L may help in reducing the pest population but it may not be a potential
method to control.
Leaf eating caterpillar: This insect eats leaf and young shoots. This can be controlled by application of
malathion or any suitable insecticides.
The Oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis attacks very ripe fruits in other countries. However incidence
of fruit flies was not noticed in Kodagu region. The mango twig-borer, Niphonoclea albata (Coleoptera
: Cerambycidae), occasionally attacks rambutan trees. Sucking pests mainly thrips and mites may cause
speckling or curling of tender leaves. These can be managed by application of neem soap 10 g/L or
neem oil @ 2 ml/L. If the infestation is considerable application of Dimethoate @ 2 ml/l or
Thiamethoxam @ 0.25 g/L and wettable Sulphur 2 g/L reduces the infestation of pests.
Diseases
Among the diseases there is no major diseases report in our country but few diseases which may cause
problem in Rambutan are powdery mildew, fruit rot, anthrax nose, stem canker, leaf spot etc.
Fruit rot: Two spices of phytophthora effect the fruits and bulk spot developed on fruits skin. As a
result fruit turn brown and sometime may drop. Sometime the aril of fruit is also effected. Copper
fungicide can be used for control of this disease.
Twig blight
This disease is caused by Phomopsis sp. and other soil born fungi maintain damage on foliage and
other parts of the tree. These can be managed by pruning blight showing twigs as the source of
inoculum gets reduced. Application of Chlorthalon il @ 2 g/L or captan @ 3 g/L may go a long way in
reducing the infection.
Powdery mildew
This disease is caused by Oidium nepheli. The young leaf twigs flowers are attack by this disease. This
can be minimised by good erosion management practices such as proper canopy management and
aeration. It can be controlled by applying Karathane @ 1 ml/L or Triadimefon 2 ml/L or application of
wettable Sulphur @ 2 g/L. If the infection is mild neem oil may be applied @ 2 ml/L.
Stem canker
Stem canker (Fomes lignosus) reported from the Philippines can be fatal for rambutan trees if proper
attention is not paid to the tree. Pruning away of affected branches has to be followed. Identification of
healthy resistant clones has to be the first line of management. Sanitation and cleaning/ or disinfecting
of pruning equipment before and after pruning has to be meticulously followed.
Bats and other flying mammals can be managed by covering the crop with net so that bats do not
enter the crop. However it may not be economically viable. Since the crop has the potential to export,
feasibility of covering the crop may be explored.
Physiological Disorder:
Leaf blight or leaf scorch
The leaf blight or leaf scorch is one of the major problems of Rambutan in south East Asian countries.
So far is disease has not been noticed in our country. The symptoms of the disorder appears on leaves
and flowers and they tends to dried and shrivel. This disorder is very prominent in poor drained clay
soils. The soil with poor drainage, high level of fertilizer application, water logging, salinity, deficiency
of potassium are associate with this disease. This disease can be managed by providing proper drainage
facilities, avoiding high clay and saline soils and judicious use of fertilizers.
References

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