How to Start Commercial Aonla Farming Business

Do you want to start the Aonla farming business? If so, you have landed at the right place. In this article, you will find detailed information about how to start a commercial Aonla or amla cultivation business.

Like every farming business, Aonla cultivation requires substantial land. In addition, you will need to have proper financial and marketing planning.

Aonla or Amla is an important minor fruit crop. In addition, the fruits have huge commercial significance. The scientific name of Aonla is Phyllanthus Emblica.  The crop is hardy and prolific bearer. It is also highly remunerative even without much care. The fruit is capsular (drupaceous) with a fleshy exocarp.

Economic Importance of Aonla Cultivation

The Aonla fruit is a good source of vitamin C. In addition, the fruit has good medicinal value. It has acrid, cooling, diuretic, and laxative properties. Dried fruits are useful in hemorrhages, diarrhea, dysentery, anemia, jaundice, dyspepsia, and cough.

Furthermore, the popular use of this fruit is as indigenous medicines (Ayurvedic system) viz. Triphala and Chawanprash. In addition, the fruits are essential items for preservation (murabba), pickles, candy, jelly, and jam. Besides fruits, you can find various uses in leaves, bark, and even seeds.

Also, fruits are essential items for preparing hair wash and hair oil. Therefore the demand for amla fruits has now outgrown their production. So amla cultivation is becoming very profitable.

Health Benefits of Aonla/Amla

• First of all, the fruit is a rich source of vitamin C. Amla juice contains nearly twenty times as much vitamin C as orange juice.
• Fresh fruit contains more than 80% water, protein, minerals, carbohydrates, and fiber.
• Ayurved says that regular use of Amalaki can help people live more than 100 years of healthy life.
• Furthermore, it contains many vitamins and minerals like Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron, Carotene, and Vitamin B Complex.
• Also, it is a powerful antioxidant agent.
• Aonla is helpful in treating skin diseases. In addition, it helps to clear pimples and acne.
• Amla enriches hair growth and hair pigmentation. It strengthens the roots of the hair and maintains color.
• Finally, it increases the production of red blood cells. Thus it helps to cure anemia.

Thing To Consider In Commercial Aonla Farming

• In commercial cultivation, the most important aspect is cost calculation and profitability. So you must have a financial analysis before starting the plantation.
• You must have a sufficient area for cultivation.
• Choose the variety carefully. Because choosing the right variety is hugely important.
• in addition, check what equipment you will need to have. Arrange them either by purchase or on rent.
• Finally. you must have the right arrangement of plant protection systems for pest and disease attacks.

Best Varieties For Aonla Cultivation

Some of the popular Indian varieties are Banarasi, Chakaiya, Krishna, Kanchan, Anand-1, and Anand-2.

Banarasi: Erect, spreading, medium to tall tree, the shy and slightly alternate bearer. Fruit is roundish weighing about 50 gm, whitish-green, slightly fibrous, scanty to medium juicy, seed to pulp ratio is 1.21.

Francis: Erect and tall tree, good and, the regular bearer, Branches have the drooping habit. Large fruited weighing about 63 gms, oval roundish, light green, slightly fibrous, moderately juicy, seed to pulp ratio 1.21.

Chakaiya: Tree has a spreading habit. It is medium height and prolific. It has 4.03 female flowers per branchlet. Medium size fruit flattened at base and round apex, greenish color and fibrous. The seed-to-pulp ratio is 1.17.

Krishna (NA 4): Chance seedling of Banarsi. Bears moderately. Fruit medium to large in size, flattened, conical angular, basin papillate in shape, skin very smooth, yellowish in color with red blush, flesh fibreless, hard, and semi-transparent.

Kanchan (NA – 5): Chance seedling of Chakaya. Fruits small to medium flattened oblong, Skin smooth, yellowish in color, ideally suitable for preparation of pickles.

Location & Agro Climatic Condition For Aonla Farming

Aonla is a sub-tropical crop and it prefers a dry subtropical climate. Heavy frost during the winter season is not suitable for its cultivation. This is a fruit of subtropical regions but its cultivation in a tropical climate is quite successful. The tree is not much affected either by hot wind or frost.

The mature trees can tolerate freezing temperatures as well as a temperature as high as 460 C. Soon after the fruit is set in spring, the fruits remain dormant through summer without any growth, making them a highly suitable fruit crop for the arid region.

Suitable Soil Condition For Aonla Cultivation

Slightly acidic to saline/sodic soil is suitable for cultivation. Aonla is not very exacting in its soil requirement and grows well in sandy loam to clay soils in India. It has a great tolerance to salinity and sodicity and is cultivated in a pH range of 6.0 to 8.0 very successfully. However, you will get a high-yield production in deep and fertile soils.

Read: How To Take Soil Samples For Analysis?

5 Bsic Steps to. Follow in Aonla Cultivation

1. Planting

The beginning of the monsoon is the best time for plantation. However, with a proper irrigation facility, you can start planting in spring also. Prior to planting, you must deeply plow, harrow, and level the field appropriately. Make the size of the pit 13 m in summer. And keep the pits open for about a fortnight. Then fill each pit with 10-15 kg FYM mix with surface soil. After the first shower, you can plant the plants in the center of these pits.

2. Training & Pruning

The branches of Aonla trees often break off carrying the heavy crop. You must train the plants to modify the leader system. In addition, you must develop the framework by encouraging the growth of 4 to 6 well-spaced branches all around the trunk. You can do the pruning of the bearing plants after the termination of the crop each year.

3. Irrigation

Aonla trees are hardy and stand very well against drought. Therefore, hardly any irrigation is practiced. However, the young plants require watering during summer, months at fortnightly intervals till they have fully established.

4. Manuring

Regular orcharding of Aonla is a rare phenomenon, therefore, nutritionists hardly practice it. However, you can get the beneficial effect of nitrogen, phosphorus potash, zinc, copper, manganese, and boron. Nitrogen increases the vegetative growth and female flowers, while P205 increases sex ratio, initial set, fruit retention and yield, TSS, and vitamin C content of the fruit.

5. Intercropping

The Aonla tree is quite a fast-growing type. However, in the initial 3 to 4 years you can get sufficient space available. And you can take the advantage of raising intercrops. However, the rainy season is the perfect time for intercropping. And you can choose fruits or vegetable crops provided irrigation facilities are available.

Also Read: Most Profitable Cash Crops to Grow

Harvesting & Yield In Commercial Aonla Farming

A vegetatively propagated tree starts fruiting commercial crops after 6 – 8 years of planting, while seedling trees may take 10 to 12 years to begin bearing. However, under good management, you can get a productive life of trees for about 50 to 60 years. Generally, Aonla fruits are ready for harvest in November / December.

You can judge their maturity either by the change of seed color from creamy white to black or by the development of translucence exocarp. The mature fruits are hard and unyielding to the touch and so are well suited for bulk harvesting as well as distant transportation and marketing.

For getting an attractive price, fruits after harvest should be made into different grades depending on the size. The production varies from cultivar to cultivar. A full-grown grafted Aonla with good bearing habit yields from 187 to 299 kg fruits per tree.