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Brinjal / Eggplant (Solanum melongena)

Brinjal (Solanum melongena), also known as eggplant or aubergine, is one of India's most widely grown solanaceous vegetables. The crop is cultivated year-round across the country with concentrated production in coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Odisha. ICAR-IIHR Bengaluru is the principal source of improved cultivars, releasing the long-running 'Arka' series of varieties and hybrids covering purple oblong, green long and round fruit types.

Key characteristics

  • Family: Solanaceae (related to Tomato Crop and chilli)
  • Fruit types in cultivation: purple oblong (Arka Navneeth, ~450 g fruit), green long (Arka Shirish), round green (Arka Neelanchal Shyama)
  • Hybrid yield benchmark: Arka Anand F1 yields 55-60 t/ha in 145-150 days
  • Bacterial-wilt-resistant lines: Arka Keshav, Arka Nidhi, Arka Avinash, Arka Anand, Arka Harshitha

Cultivation

Brinjal is transplanted from nursery beds and grown both as a rainfed kharif and as an irrigated rabi-summer crop. The Arka Neelanchal Shyama round green type yields about 34 t/ha and is suited to rabi sowing with reported tolerance to Phomopsis blight. Arka Shirish, a green long type, yields around 39 t/ha. Bacterial-wilt-resistant lines are particularly important in eastern India and the coastal belt where the disease is endemic.

Pest and disease profile

Major constraints include shoot and fruit borer (Leucinodes orbonalis), little leaf phytoplasma and jassid-mediated virus complexes (Brinjal Jassid Virus). The bacterial-wilt-resistant Arka series addresses one of the most severe soil-borne constraints in eastern and southern India.

Adoption and use

Released ICAR-IIHR cultivars are distributed through state seed corporations, KVKs and the institute's own seed unit; private-sector F1 hybrids compete in the commercial fresh-market segment.

See also: Brinjal Jassid Virus, Tomato Crop.

References

  1. Brinjal Arka Anand. ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research.
  2. Brinjal Arka Avinash. ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research.
  3. Brinjal Arka Navneeth. ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research.