Curry leaf plant is a leafy-spice crop grown for its fresh, aromatic leaves. Fresh curry leaves, sometimes dried and frozen curry leaves also, are used as a flavouring agent and tastemaker in many South Asian food preparations. Curry leaf plant is not a widely-grown commercial crop. Uses of curry leaves are limited to ethnic communities belonging to South East Asian regions comprising of India, Srilanka and Burma.
Taxonomy: Botanical name of curry leaf plant is Murraya koenigii. It belongs to the family Rutaceace, the citrus family.
Origin: Curry leaf plant is a native of Indian subcontinent where it is found growing in the backyard of almost every household, particularly in South India.
Botanical Description: Leaves: Curry leaf plant has compound leaves with numerous leaflets, sometimes up to 24 leaflets per leaf. Leaves are highly aromatic but slightly bitter in taste.
Stem: Plant stem is semi-hard and bark is dark brown to black in appearance.
Flower: Flowering season is April to May. Flowers are funnel-shaped, white-coloured and fragrant.
Fruit: Fruiting season is July to August. Fruit is a berry containing one large seed. Fruit is purplish-black in colour when ripe. Fruits can be eaten raw and sweet in taste.
Growing Practices for Curry Leaf Plant: Curry leaf plant may be grown as a small tree in the open field or as an indoor plant in containers and greenhouses. Based on its habitat, three types of growing practices may be followed by a grower. These are,
- Open field growing (outdoors)
- Greenhouse growing (greenhouse indoors)
- Container growing (indoors)
Open Field Cultivation of Curry Leaf Plant: Hot and dry tropical climate is best suitable for growing curry leaf plant. Sunny location and plenty of direct sunlight are preferred for healthy growth of a curry leaf plant. Ideal temperature is between 26° and 37°C.
Soil Requirements: Since curry leaf plants are fast-growing, deep rooted plants, rich fertile soils are recommended for its cultivation. Any well-drained, fertile soil that is rich in organic matter is good for growing curry leaf plant. However, curry leaf plants growing in loamy soils are found to provide higher yields.
Propagation: Curry leaf plant can be propagated from its seeds, stem cuttings and suckers. Based on the type of planting material, three types of propagation practices may be followed by a grower. These are,
- Propagation from Fresh Seeds
- Propagation from Semi-hardwood Stem cuttings
- Propagation from Suckers growing around the mother plant
Propagation from Fresh Seeds: Fruit is a berry containing one large seed. Pulped, ripe berries which are freshly harvested and not more than a week old are sown for germination purposes. Sowing time is July to August. It may take up to 2 to 3 months for the seeds to germinate. Seeds are sown in the nursery beds or in polybags that are well prepared and filled with an ideal growing medium. One year old seedlings are transplanted in the main field.
How to Prepare a Perfect Growing Medium? To prepare an ideal growing medium for your garden plants, use 2 parts of soil, 1 part of peat moss or leaf mould, and 1 part of sand along with liberal doses of any of the organic manures such as farm yard manure or garden compost or vermicompost.
Propagation from Semi-Hardwood Cuttings: Healthy, disease-free and defect-free, semi-hardwood cuttings are selected. Cuttings may be treated with a recommended fungicide to make it disease-free. A root hormone may be applied at the bottom end of the cutting to accelerate root growth. Treated cuttings maybe planted either in nursery beds or in polybags filled with an ideal growing medium.
A nursery bed is prepared by filling a properly-mixed growing medium containing leaf mould, compost and sand. Nursery bed should be in a shaded location as young curry leaf plants are extremely sensitive to hot sun.
Soil sterilization of the bed may be done by mulching the soil with a black polyethylene or by soil solarization. This practice helps to eliminate any possible soil-borne diseases such as damping-off and root rot of emerging seedlings.
Each selected stem cutting needs to have at least three healthy leaf nodes with plump buds. New growth is initiated from these buds. While planting the cutting, care should be taken to place the lowest leaf node at least 1 to 2 inches above the soil. It may take at least 9 to 10 months to initiate a new growth from a cutting. Roots of new plants should be well-developed before they are taken for transplanting in the main field. While transplanting care is taken not to disturb the root system.
Propagation from Suckers: Suckers are small plants emerging from the base (root) of the mother plant. Process of separating suckers from their mother plant requires great care and attention. Roots of small suckers should not be disturbed while separating them from the mother plant.
Site Preparation: 45 – 60 cm deep pit may be dug in the garden for planting an individual plant. Pit needs to be dug one to two months before planting. Top soil mixed with any of organic manures such as compost or vermicompost or farm yard manure @20-25 Kg/plant may be used to refill the pit. If several plants are planted together, a spacing of minimum 1.5 meters needs to be provided between two plants.
Watering: Soon after planting, light watering is done. Thereafter second irrigation is done after a week. Frequent irrigation at weekly intervals is recommended until plants get established in the field. After that, plants do not require much watering except during scorching summers.
Manuring and Fertilizer Application: Organic manures and fertilizers are recommended for curry leaf growing. Once established in the field, these plants do not need much care as they are less prone to diseases and pests.
Curry leaf plants get established and become harvest-ready after a year of planting them in the field. After first year of planting, harvesting of fresh leaves in small quantities may begin. After each harvest any of the organic manures such as compost, vermicompost, farm yard manure @ 20 – 25 kg/plant is applied and mixed with soil around the individual plant.
Disease and Pest Management: No major diseases and pests are found affecting curry leaf plant. Sometimes aphids, citrus mealy bugs or scale insects may be a problem. In such cases, organic pest control practices such as application of neem oil emulsion are recommended as a control measure.
Weed Management: Weeds are not a major problem in growing curry leaf plants.
Pruning: Pruning is done to remove unwanted growth and to keep plant in shape. Pruning is normally done in open-field growing curry leaf plants.
Pinching: Pinching of terminal buds is done while plants are still young in order to initiate the bushy growth. Normally up to 5-10 branches are kept per plant. Pinching is normally done in greenhouse-grown and container-grown plants so that their vertical growth can be limited and at the same time horizontal bushy growth can be accelerated.
Aftercare: Once roots established in the soil, curry leaf plant grows fast and thereafter little care is needed for its maintenance. However, these plants are sensitive to extreme winters and summers. In such cases plants need to be protected.
Harvesting Process: Harvesting is done during the months of July and August. In open field cultivation, first harvest can be done one year after planting. Up to 3 to 4 pickings may be done in a year at regular intervals.
Yield: Approximately 400 to 500 grams of fresh leaves is obtained per plant per year in three to four pickings.
Shelf life: Freshly harvested curry leaves can be stored at room temperature up to one week.
Storage: Long term storage is possible by freezing and drying. In drying, air drying and oven-drying may be practiced. However curry leaves lose their delicate fragrance soon after drying.
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