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1 Introduction 2

2 Soil 2

3 Climate 3

4 Species and Varieties 3

5 Propagation 4

6 Planting 5

7 Fertilizer Application 5

8 Irrigation 6

9 Intercropping 6

10 Training and Pruning 6

11 Insect Pests 6

12 Diseases 7

13 Flowering and Fruiting 7

14 Harvesting and Yield 8

15 Storage and Marketing 8

16 Reference 9

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 Production technology of Jamun

Scientific name: Syzygium cumini

Family: Myrtaceae
chromosome number: 2n = 40

Jamun is a popular indigenous fruits Of India. It has got very

valuable place in Auyurvedic medicines. It is believed to be a boon for
diabetic patients. But in India, its organised orcharding is still lacking
mainly because of lack of proper information on cultivation practices
and non-availability of dwarf and high yielding varieties. In this booklet
all the information on jamun cultivation has been collected and
presented in a simple and interesting form.

I. Introduction

The jamun is an important indigenous minor fruit of commercial

value. It is also known as black plum, Indian black cherry, Ram jamun
etc. in different parts of India. The tree is tall and handsome,
evergreen, generally grown for shade and windbreak on roads and
avenues.

The original home of jamun is India or the East Indies. It is also

found in Thailand, Philippines, Madagascar and some other countries.
The jamun has successfully been introduced into many other
subtropical regions including Florida, California, Algeria, Israel, etc.

In India, the maximum number of jamun trees are found

scattered throughout the tropical and subtropical regions. It also
occurs in the lower range of the Himalayas up to an elevation of 1,300
meters and in the Kumaon hills up to 1,600 meters. It is widely grown
in the larger parts of India from the Indo-Gangetic plains in the North
to Tamil Nadu in the South. The data about its total acreage in India
are not available.

II. Soil

The jamun tree can be grown on a wide range of soils. However,

for high yield potential and good plant growth, deep loam and a well

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drained soil are needed. Such soils also retain sufficient soil moisture
which is beneficial for optimum growth and good fruiting. Jamun can
grow well under salinity and waterlogged conditions too. However, it is
not economical to grow jamun on very heavy or light sandy soils.

III. Climate

Jarnun prefers to grow under tropical and subtropical climate. It

is also found growing in lower ranges of the Himalayas up to an
altitude of 1300 meters. The jamun requires dry weather at the time
off towering and fruit setting. In subtropical areas, early rain is
considered to be beneficial for ripening of fruits and proper
development of its size, colour and taste.

IV. Species and Varieties

The species and varieties of jamun are discussed below.

A. Species

The genus Eugenia comprises of 1,000 species of evergreen trees

and shrubs, most of them being tropical in origin. Some of the old
world Eugenia species are now placed in the genus Syzygium. It belongs
to the family Myrtaceae. Many of these species yield edible fruits and
some of these are of ornamental and medicinal value. A wild species
S.frniticosum with small edible fruits is grown as windbreaks. The large
evergreen tree has small dark purple fruits with prominent elongated
seeds. The fruit is an astringent (causing contraction of body tissue)
even when ripe. A popular fruit is the rose apple or gulab-jamun
(S.jambos). It is found in South India and West Bengal. The tree is very
ornamental. The fruit is yellow in colour, generally insipid in taste and
has high pectin content.

S. zeylanica, small tree with edible fruits, is found on the

Western Ghats and S. malaccensis (Malay rose apple) found in South
India. Another related fruit found in South India is Surinam cherry (S.
uniflora). It is a small tree with blight red aromatic fruits. S. javanicum
(water apple) is also found in South India and West Bengal. S.densiflora

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is used as rootstock in jamun (S. cumini) and is resistant to the attack
of termites.

B. Varieties

There are no standard varieties of this fruit under cultivation.

The common variety grown under North Indian conditions is "Ram
Jarnun". It produces big sized, oblong fruits, deep purple or bluish-
black in colour at full ripe stage. The pulp of the ripe fruit is purple
pink and the fruit is juicy and sweet. The stone is small in size. The
variety ripens in the month of June- July and it is very common both in
rural as well as in urban markets.

Another late maturing variety bears small sized, slightly round

fruits, deep purple or blackish in colour at full ripe stage. The colour
of the pulp is purple, less juicy, the weight and sweetness of pulp is
also less in comparison to that of 'Ram J arnun'. The stone present in
this variety is comparatively large in size. Fruits ripen in the month of
August.

At present, there are a number of seedling strains of jarnun in

India which provide a good scope for selection of better varieties.

V. Propagation

The jamun is propagated both by seed and vegetative methods.

Due to existence of polyembryony, it comes true to parent through
seed. Though vegetative methods followed in most cases have attained
some success, seed propagation is still preferred. However, seed
propagation is not advisable as it results in late bearing.

The seeds have no dormancy. Fresh seeds can be sown.

Germination takes place in about 10 to 15 days. Seedlings are ready for
transplanting for the use as rootstock in the following spring (February
to March) or monsoon i.e. August to September.

Propagation of jarnun is economical and convenient. Budding is

practiced on one year old seedling stocks, having 10 to 14 mm
thickness. The best time for budding is July to August in low rainfall
areas. In the areas where rains start easily and are heavy, budding
operations are attempted early in May-June. Shield, patch and forkert

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methods of budding have proved very successful. The possibility of
better success has been reported in forkert method compared to
shield or 'T' budding.

Jamun can also be propagated by inarching but it is not adopted

commercially. In this method one year old seedlings raised in pots are
inarched with mother jamun trees with the help of wooden stands
during June-July.About 60% air layers are obtained with 500 ppm IBA
in lanolin paste, provided air layering is done in spring and not in the
rainy season.

Better rooting through cutting is obtained in Jamun under

intermittent mist. Semi-hardwood cuttings of both S. jambos and
S.javanica, 20-25 cm long, taken from the spring flush and planted in
July treated with 2000 ppm IBA (indole butyric acid) give better
results.

VI. Planting

Jamun is an evergreen tree and can be planted both in spring i.e.

February -March and the monsoon season i.e. July-August. The latter
season is considered better as the trees planted in February- March
have to pass through a very hot and dry period in May and June soon
after planting and generally suffer from mortalities from the
unfavourable weather conditions.

Prior to planting, the field is properly cleared and ploughed. Pits

of 1 x 1 x 1 m size are dug at the distance of 10m both ways. Usually,
work of digging of pits is completed before the onset of monsoon. The
pit are filled with mixture of75% top soil and 25% well rotten farmyard
manure or compost.

Another common way of growing jamun trees is to plant them as

shade trees near the farm dwellings and wells. Here they provide a
welcome shadow besides fruit.

VII. Fertilizer Application

The jamun trees are generally not manured. This is not because
they do not require manuring or fail to respond to it but because they
can stand a good deal of neglect. An annual dose of about 19 kg

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faI1nyard manure during the pre-beating period and 75 kg per tree
bearing trees is considered.

Normally, seedling jamun trees start bearing at the age of 8 to

10 years while grafted or budded trees come into bearing in 6 to 7
years. On very rich soils, the trees have a tendency to put on more
vegetative growth with the result that fruiting is delayed. When the
trees show such a tendency, they should not be supplied with any
manure and fertilizer and irrigation should be given sparingly and
withheld in September-October and again in February-March.

This helps in fruit bud formation, blossoming and in fruit setting.

Sometimes this may not prove effective and even more drastic
treatments such as ringing and root pruning may have to be resorted
to.. A fruit grower has, therefore, to be cautious in manuring and
fertilizing jamun trees and hence, has to adjust the doses according to
the growth and fruiting of trees.

VIII. Irrigation

In early stages, the jamun tree requires frequent irrigations but

af1cr the trees gets established, the interval between irrigations can
be greatly decreased. Young trees require 8 to 10 irrigations in a year.
The mature trees require only about half the number, which should be
applied during May and June when the fruit is ripening. During autumn
and winter months, just an occasional irrigation may be applied when
the soil is dry. This will also save the trees from the ill effects of frost
in winter.

IX. Intercropping

In the initial years of planting, when a lot of interspace is

available in the orchard, appropriate intercrop especially legummous
crops and vegetables can be taken dunng rainy season.

X. Training and Pruning

Regular pruning in jamun is not required. However, in later years the

dry twigs and crossed branches are removed. While training the plants,
the framework of branches is allowed to develop above 60 to 100 cm
from the ground level.

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XI. Insect Pests

Among the pests, white fly and leaf eating caterpillar cause great
damage to the tree.

1. White fly (Dialeurodes eugenia)

It damages jamun tree in all parts of India. Affected fruits get wormy
appearance on the surface. White fly can be controlled in the following
ways.

a. Maintain sanitary conditions around the tree.

b. Pluck all affected fruits and destroy them.

c. Dig up the soil around the tree trunk so that the maggots in the
affected fruits and pupae hibernating in the soil are destroyed.

2. Leaf eating caterpillar (Carea subtillis)

This caterpillar is only found in Coimbatore. The insect infests the

leaves and may defoliate the tree. It can be controlled by spraying
Rogor 30 EC or Malathion @ 0.1 per cent.

3. Other pests

Besides the above insects, the jamun crop is seriously damaged by

pests like squirrels and birds like parrots and crows. These have to be
frightened away by beating the drums or flinging stones.

XII. Diseases

Among the diseases, the fungal disease anthracnose is notable .

1. Anthracnose (Glomerella cingulata)

The fungus incites leaf spots and fruit rot. Affected leaves show small
scattered spots, light brown or reddish brown in colour. Affected fruits
show small water soaked, circular and depressed lesions. Ultimately,
the fruits rot and shrivel.

Spraying with Dithane Z- 78 @ 0.2% or Bordeaux mixture at : 4:4:50

concentration shall check the disease.

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XIII. Flowering and Fruiting

Flowers are borne in the axils of leaves on branchlets. In North

Indian conditions, flowering starts in the first week of March and
continues up to the end of April. The pollen fertility is higher in the
beginning of the season. The maximum receptivity of stigma is one day
after anthesis.

The jamun is a cross-pollinated and the pollination is done by

honey bees, houseflies and wind. The maximum fruit set can be
obtained by hand pollination when it is done after one day of anthesis.
Thereafter, a sharp decline is observed in fruit set.

There is heavy drop of flowers and fruits within 3 to 4 weeks

after blooming. Later natural fruit drop can be reduced with two
sprays of GA3 60 ppm, one at full bloom and another 15 days after
initial setting of fruits.

The pattern of growth and fruit development of jamun can be

divided into three phases: the first phase from 15-52 days after fruit
set having slow growth of fruit, the second phase from 52 to 58 days
after fruit set having fast growth and the third and last phase from 58
to 60 days after fruit set having slow growth and very little addition in
fruit weight.

XIV. Harvesting and Yield

The seedling jamun plants start bearing after 8 to 10 years of

planting, while grafted ones bear after 6 to 7 years. However,
commercial bearing starts after 8 to 10 years of planting and continues
till the tree becomes 50 to 60 years old. The fruit ripens in the month
of June -July. The main characteristic of ripe fruit at full size is deep
purple or black colour. The fruit should be picked immediately when it
is ripe, because it can not be retained on the tree in ripe stage. The
ripe fruits are hand picked singly by climbing the tree with bags slung
on the shoulder. Care should be taken to avoid all possible damage to
fruits.

The average yield of fruits from a full grown seedling tree is

about 80 to 100 kg and from a grafted one 60 to 70 kg per year.

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XV. Storage and Marketing

The fruits are highly perishable in nature. They cannot be stored

for more than 3 to 4 days under ordinary conditions. However, pre
cooled fruits packed in polythene bags can be stored well up to three
weeks at low temperatures of 8 to 10°C and 85 to 90% relative
humidity.

The fruit is packed and sent to the market almost daily. For
marketing, well ripe and healthy fruits are selected. Damaged,
diseased and unripe fruits are discarded. These selected fruits are then
carefully packed in wooden baskets and sent to the local markets.

XVI. Reference

1.http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/horticulture/horti_fruits_jamun.html#1

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syzygium_cumini

3. The encyclopedia of fruit & nuts, By Jules Janick, Robert E. Paull, p.

552

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