Now is the right time to plant trees. But you cannot plant a sapling and then sit back, or you will find it no longer looks like a sapling but like a weed. Before expecting fruit, saplings need proper care, because care can increase fruit production by 20 to 40 per cent.

• Tie the sapling upright to a strong stake as soon as it is planted.
• Protect it from cattle and goats with a bamboo cage.
• Control unwanted weeds growing around the base of the sapling.
• Mulch around the base with dry leaves, straw or water hyacinth to keep the soil moist.
• If a sapling is weak, diseased or dies, plant a new healthy sapling in its place.
• Cut away unwanted branches to keep the sapling upright and its shape in order.
• If there is no rain, water with a watering can after planting.
• For quick growth, a month after planting make a trench one foot from the base and apply urea at 10 grams.
• Before and after the monsoon, give fruit trees a suitable amount of organic and chemical fertiliser once, according to age and variety.
• Each year after harvesting the fruit, prune old, diseased and dead branches.
• If more sun, light and air can reach the tree, the new branches will bear more flowers and fruit the next year.
• For diseases and pests, seek advice from the agriculture department, a horticulture centre or the Forest Department.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.