Avocado. The avocado (Persea sp.) fruit is rich in protein and fat, both of which are deficient in the average Indian diet. It is neither sweet nor juicy, and is eaten fresh, either with bread or in salads. Of the three recognized races, the Mexican seems unsuited to India, the Guatemalan succeeds best at elevations above 1,000 metres, and the West Indian succeeds in the plains, except in the drier areas. Large parts of Maharashtra and southern India are quite suitable. A well-drained soil is required.

VARIETIES.   About a dozen varieties are grown in different states. 'Pollock', 'Paradeniya Purple Hybrid' and 'Feurte' were introduced from Ceylon and have established themselves successfully at the foot of the Nilgiris.

PROPAGATION AND PLANTING.   The easiest method of propagation commonly employed in India is through seeds. In Maharashtra and the Nilgiris, layering has met with success. The plants are set out 7 to 9 metres apart.

HARVESTING.   The trees generally flower between February and April and the harvesting of the fruits is done in August-September.

Cashew. Cashew(Anacardium occidentale L.) is grown both for its fruit (cashew apple) as well as for its nuts, mainly for the latter. The crop is grown chiefly in Peninsular India, particularly along the coast. There are very few regular plantations of this crop. Cashew cannot tolerate the severe summers or winters of northern India. Even in the south, it does not grow satisfactorily at elevations higher than 300 metres. It is not very exacting in soil requirements, as it grows even in very gravelly soils. However, it needs a free-draining soil. It grows in areas having rainfall varying from 50 to 400 cm. Continued adequate soil moisture is, however, necessary for the success of cashew plantations.

VARIETIES.   There are no distinct varieties of cashew and it exhibits a marked variation in fruit and nut characters when grown from seed. Some of the superior variants can be multiplied or perpetuated through vegetative propagation.

PROPAGATION AND PLANTING.   Sowing the seeds in situ is the usual practice, but it is possible to transplant one-month-old seedlings after cutting them back by about one-third. This fruit can also be propagated by air-layering, inarching and side-grafting. The planing distance varies from 6 metres in lateritic and rocky soils to 12 metres in deep loamy soils.

AFTER-CARE.   No attention is paid to cultivation, irrigation or manuring. An occasional clearing of undergrowth and the pruning of dead and diseased branches is necessary to maintain the trees in health and vigour.

HARVESING.   The fruits ripen from March to May but the season is prolonged during the years when heavy rainfall is experienced in November-December. The first bearing is normally secured in about three years after planting, though satisfactory crops can only be gathered after about eight years. The yield of nuts varies from 110 to 220 kg per hectare.

CURING AND PROCESSING.   The nuts are separated from the cashew apples immediately after harvest. The dried nuts are roasted either in open pans over a furnace or in rotary cylinders and in oil-baths. Shelling is done by hand soon after roasting. The kernels, so obtained, are dried in the sun or in hot-air chambers. They are then kept in sweating chambers for some time. The nuts are then ready for grading and packing. For the export trade, the kernels are packed in tins under vacuum or in carbon dioxide. For internal markets, the kernels are sometimes packed in tins of different sizes and they may or may not be hermetically sealed.

Jackfruit. Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lamk.) is grown in southern India as stray trees in home gardens and coffee plantations where it flourishes in the humid climate on hill slopes. Warmer plains are suitable, provided there is adequate soil moisture. Cold and frost are harmful.

PROPAGATION AND PLANTING.   Usually, seedlings are planted. Inarching is employed to propagate jack trees vegetatively. A spacing of about 12 metres is necessary for planting in the fields.

HARVESTING.   The 'Singapore' variety produces fruits in 18 to 36 months after planting. Others take about eight years to come into bearings. The fruits are in season from March to June, the season extending up to September at higher elevations. Yields range from a few to 250 fruits per tree, each fruit weighing from 9 kg to even up to 20 kg.

Loquat. Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) is grown mainly in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh on about 800 hectares each, and to a small extent in Delhi, Assam, Maharashtra and in the hills of southern India. Whereas the tree can stand temperatures well below freezing, the flowers and young fruits, which are borne in winter, are severely injured by frost. It does not fruit well in areas with warm winter. It thrives on many different types of soils.

Climate
The loquat has been naturalized in India. It is grown nearly throughout the country upto an elevation of 1525 m above sea level. It can be grown throughout the tropics where there are elevations of a few thousand feet. The loquat succeeds well under subtropical climate. It can grow successfully in regions in which the temperature does not fall below the freezing point. In general, a mild climate with an average annual rainfall of 60 - 100 mm, well distributed throughout the year, is ideal for loquat cultivation. Since the tree bloom between November and late January at certain places, the crop may be destroyed by moderate winter frosts. The fruit of loquat is most susceptible to frost injury when it just starts colouration. Heavy damage is noticed in early ripening varieties.
In the areas where scorching hot winds begin to blow before the fruit ripens, the fruit either remain too small or do not ripen properly. Under such conditions, the pulp does not produce abundant required quantity of juice. Further, the fruit become sunburnt and unfit for marketing. Under cool and foggy weather at the time of ripening, the fruits lack in sweetness and flavour.
The loquat trees are, however, resistant to heat and drought. The thick, leathery leaves are well adapted to withstand seasons of neglect without serious injury.
Althought an evergreen fruit, loquat is unique in tolerating cold weather conditions. However, warm and dry climate is essential at the time of fruit ripening. In arid and dry zones, the fruits are prone to sun burn injury. Consequently, loquat should be cultivated only in the submontane or other areas with mid climate or places free from severe hot weather condition.

Soil
The loquat can thrive in a wide variety of soils. In some places seems to do best on a light sandy loam; whereas at other places it has faired well on heavier soils. Good drainage is, however essential and the subsoil should be free from hard pan. Stagnation of water in the land, even for a short time may damage or kill even grown up trees and such soils should be discarded. According to the opinion of an expert from Israel, heavy soil of medium type should be preferred than a very light soil.

Propogation and Rootstock :-
Raising of Rootstock : The loquat seeds germinate readily when it is sown immediately after extraction from the fruit. The seed should not be allowed to dry after extraction as exposure to heat and light tends to result in poor germinaiton and stunted seedling growth. Fresh seed are sown during April-May in moist sand for germinaton. When the seedlings are 4 - 5 cm tall, they are transplanted in the nursery under the mother trees for inarching. If the mother plants are high headed, the seedlings are transplanted in the pots and brought in contact with the mother plants by raising platforms when they attain inarchable size. The seedlings grow rapidally and are fit for grafting in the following rainy season.
Promising loquat varieties are generally grafted upon domestic loquat seedlings of the commercial varieties. Several other rootstocks such as pear, apple, quince (Cydonia oblonga) and Mespilus have also been used in certain occasions.
Propagation Techniques : The usual technique followed is to raise the plants through inarching. The best time for inarching is July-August. Air-layering can also be tried but success is much less. In air-layering 3 months old shoots are used. The use of 3 per cent indole butyric acid enhances the success in air-layering.
Planting Operation :
There are two planting seasons for loquat plants viz.February-March and August-September. The plants should preferably be planted during August-September when the weather has cooled down sufficiently. In general, loquat is planted at a distance of 6.5 m * 6.5 m in square system, thus accomodates 225 plants per hectare.
The pit should be made 1 * 1 * 1 m. While mixing add 3 - 4 baskets of farmyard manure and 200 g of single superphosphate per pit. Add 30 - 50 g BHC 10% dust to ward the attack of white ants.