Kaithli
A mid-season ber that gave the biggest crop of four varieties in the Bawal trial in Haryana, 119.9 and 88.3 kg a tree in two years on rainfed sandy land. Its sugar was lower than Gola's and Umran's.
Quick facts
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Kharif
- Starts bearing
- Bears from year 2–3 (grafted/top-worked)
- Expected yield
- About 41 to 120 kg a tree in dry-land trials
- Suitable soil
- Sandy / light soil
- Disease resistance
- Not separately documented
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Kaithli is one of the older named ber varieties of the dry belt, grown alongside Gola, Seb, Umran and Banarasi Karaka. In the Bawal trial in Haryana (300 mm of rain, sandy soil, trees 13 years old) it gave the most fruit of four varieties in both years, 119.9 and 88.3 kg a tree. It grew the tallest and widest trees and needed the most pickings. It ripened from 1 to 25 March. At Sardarkrushinagar in Gujarat it averaged 40.79 kg a tree over three years and ripened in the third and fourth weeks of January. Its TSS at Bawal was 15.2% and 15.3%, below Gola and Umran. TNAU lists it as Kaithali and gives it 8 x 3 m spacing.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Kaithli if you want the biggest crop from a dry-land ber orchard. In the Bawal trial in Haryana (300 mm of rain, trees 13 years old) it gave 119.9 kg a tree in 1990-91 and 88.3 kg in 1991-92, more than Gola, Umran and Mudia Murhara in both years. It ripens in the middle of the season, 1 to 25 March, and needs more picking rounds. Do not pick it if you want the sweetest fruit. Its TSS was 15.2% and 15.3%, below Gola and Umran. Pick Gola for sugar.
Sowing & cultivation
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- The biggest crop of four varieties in the Bawal trial: 119.9 and 88.3 kg a tree.
- Mild acidity at Bawal, among the lowest of the four varieties tested.
Things to consider
- Lower sugar than Gola and Umran at Bawal: 15.2% and 15.3% TSS.
- Big trees that need yearly pruning, and more picking rounds than Umran.
- In a humid West Bengal trial it gave only 14.6 kg a tree, the lowest of 12 varieties, so it is a dry-land choice.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Rajasthan
- Madhya Pradesh
A big tree gives the big crop: what to plan before you plant Kaithli
The Bawal trial gives Kaithli two edges. It had the tallest and widest trees of the four varieties, and it gave the biggest crop in both years, 119.9 kg and 88.3 kg a tree. The two facts are linked. A larger canopy carries more fruit, but it also needs more room, more feed and more picking labour.
TNAU's spacing for Kaithali is 8 x 3 m, about 416 trees a hectare, which is close in the row. A wide canopy on a tight row only works if you prune every February and March, thin the crowded branches, and manure straight after pruning with 50 kg of FYM, 500 g N, 200 g P and 500 g K a tree from the second year. Skip the pruning and the lower branches shade each other out.
Picking is the other cost. The paper says Kaithli had the highest number of pickings, but it does not give the number. Before you plant a large block, plant a few trees, count your own pickings in the first bearing year, and ask whether your labour can come back to the orchard that many times in a short March season.
Where the planting material comes from
This variety is budded onto a rootstock, not grown from seed. Seed out of its fruit will not come up as this variety, so it cannot be kept as seed. Buy budded plants from a registered nursery or a government farm, so the plant is true to the variety and free of disease.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Ber (Indian Jujube) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Starts bearing | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banarasi Karaka | Farmers in eastern Uttar Pradesh and the eastern plains who want a large-fruited ber and will plant a second variety nearby | Bears from year 2–3 (grafted/top-worked) | 25.5 to 130 kg a tree in three trials (Kanpur, West Bengal, Haryana) | Uttar Pradesh |
| Gola | Farmers in Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab who want an early, sweet ber and can live with a lower yield than Kaithli | Bears from year 2–3 (grafted/top-worked) | About 41 to 69 kg a tree in dry-land trials | Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab |
| Kaithlithis page | Farmers on dry, rainfed sandy land in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh who want the most fruit a tree can give | Bears from year 2–3 (grafted/top-worked) | About 41 to 120 kg a tree in dry-land trials | Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh |
| Seb (Apple Ber) | Farmers selling to fresh-fruit buyers who pay for a round, apple-shaped ber, and who plan an early crop | Bears from year 2–3 (grafted/top-worked) | Good; valued for large fruit size | Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh |
| Thar Bhubhraj | Arid-zone farmers in Rajasthan who sell early, very sweet fresh ber and accept a modest yield | Bears from year 2–3 (grafted/top-worked) | About 35 kg a tree at 6 years (ICAR-CIAH) | Rajasthan |
| Thar Malti | Arid-zone farmers who want a heavy-bearing late ber for table sale or processing, and who will test its frost tolerance on a few trees first | Late maturing: fruit ripens 145–150 days from fruit set (ICAR-CIAH) | 65–70 kg a plant (ICAR-CIAH; plant age not stated) | Rajasthan |
| Thar Sevika | Arid-zone farmers in Rajasthan who want an early ber crop and are fine with a modest yield per tree | Bears from year 2–3 (grafted/top-worked); early-maturing | About 34 kg a tree at 6 years (ICAR-CIAH) | Rajasthan |
| Umran | Farmers who can irrigate and feed their trees and want large, fleshy fruit for a late crop | Bears from year 2–3 (grafted/top-worked) | Often quoted at 150 to 200 kg a tree; trials gave 37 to 48 kg | Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Ber (Indian Jujube) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Ber (Indian Jujube) plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Ber (Indian Jujube) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Ber (Indian Jujube) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Ber (Indian Jujube) in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Ber (Indian Jujube) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Ber (Indian Jujube) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
How much will Kaithli yield on dry land?
At Bawal, on sandy soil with about 300 mm of rain, 13-year-old Kaithli trees gave 119.9 kg and 88.3 kg in two years. The fall in the second year came from poor soil moisture, which shows how much the rain decides the crop. At Sardarkrushinagar in Gujarat, planted 6 x 6 m, the three-year average was 40.79 kg a tree. These two sites differ in tree age and water, so treat 40 to 120 kg as the range and not as a promise.
When does Kaithli ripen, and how many pickings does it need?
At Bawal it ripened from 1 to 25 March, which the paper calls mid-season. In Gujarat it came in the third and fourth weeks of January. The Bawal paper says Kaithli had the highest number of pickings and Umran the lowest, but it does not give the count. Keep your own picking log in the first bearing years and plan labour for more rounds than Umran needs.
What spacing does TNAU give for Kaithli?
TNAU gives 8 x 3 m for Kaithali, against 7 x 7 m for ber in general. That is about 416 trees a hectare, against about 204 at 7 x 7 m. The close spacing only works if you prune every year in February and March. At Bawal, Kaithli grew the tallest and widest trees of the four varieties, so a crowded block will shade itself quickly.
How do I prune and feed a Kaithli orchard?
TNAU says to prune in February and March, thin the crowded branches, and manure straight after pruning. From the second year each tree gets 50 kg of FYM, 500 g N, 200 g P and 500 g K a year. In the first year the dose is 20 kg FYM, 200 g N, 100 g P and 200 g K. TNAU also sprays 2% potassium nitrate three times, monthly, in January, February and March.
Does Kaithli do well in humid eastern India?
The one humid-zone trial we found says no. At Mondouri in West Bengal's new alluvial zone (5-year-old trees, 5 x 5 m, 2013-14) Kaithali gave 14.6 kg a tree, the lowest of 12 varieties, and had the highest acidity, 1.1%. Madhavpur gave 50.8 kg and Umran 47.6 kg there. Kaithli did best in the dry, rainfed Bawal trial, so treat it as a dry-land variety and try a few trees first elsewhere.
Sourced from: Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana) — TNAU Agritech Portal, Horticulture, Saini et al., Performance of selected ber cultivars under rainfed conditions, Annals of Arid Zone 33(4), 1994, Chovatia et al., Performance of ber cultivars under arid conditions, Annals of Arid Zone 32(4), 1993, Shiva Kumar et al., Performance of ber in the new alluvial zone of West Bengal, Journal of Crop and Weed 13(1), 2017. editorial policy.