TIP LEAF MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR MAXIMIZING RIPE LEAF PRODUCTION OF NLS GROWN FCV TOBACCO

Abstract

In the pursuit of enhancing proportion of ripe leaf production of Northern Light Soil (NLS) grown FCV tobacco of Andhra Pradesh, a field experiment was conducted in the NLS zone for three consecutive years from 2002-3 to 2004-05 by testing various topping levels and harvest intervals to strike a balance between them to improve the semi-ripe leaf to ripe through manipulation of agronomical practices. The crop was topped at 16, 18, 20 and 22-leaf levels and harvested at 7, 9, 11 and 13-day intervals under factorial randomized block design using the variety, Kanchan. The data pooled over three seasons revealed that topping at 20 leaf level and priming the leaves at 9 to 11-days intervals yielded significantly higher cured leaf (2,246 to 2,432 kg/ha) and grade index (1475 to 1573) with better leaf chemistry containing higher reducing sugars (10.48 to 11.24%). This combination produced significantly higher quantities of ripe leaf (930 to 959 kg/ha, corresponding to 38 to 43% of total cured leaf) over the traditional method of harvesting between 7-days intervals. Thus, a combination of topping at 20-leaf stage and harvesting at 9 to 11-days intervals was found to be optimum for obtaining maximum ripe leaf production.