Manik Chaman
A grower-selected Thompson Seedless mutant with elongated berries and sweet juice, grown mainly for raisins.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Grapes
- Type
- Planting material
- Season
- All seasons
- Starts bearing
- ~140 days
- Expected yield
- Very high
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- Mildew-susceptible
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Manik Chaman is a spontaneous clonal mutant of Thompson Seedless. Grape farmers selected it around 1982, and it did not come through a formal ICAR or university breeding programme. It is known for elongated berries, a medium ripening season and sweet 20–22°Brix juice. It is grown mainly for raisin-making, with fresh table use as a second market.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Manik Chaman if you make raisins and want a Thompson Seedless mutant with elongated berries and sweet 20–22°Brix juice, about 140 days on the card. It is a grower-selected mutant from around 1982, not an institute release. The catch is that yield sources disagree: the card here rates it "Very high", but one source calls it low-yielding and medium-season, so do not budget on a very high yield until your own vines have fruited. It is also mildew-susceptible. Choose Sonaka if you want a mutant with a stronger fresh and export record. Choose Thompson Seedless for the standard base.
Sowing & cultivation
Advantages & considerations
Things to consider
- No ICAR or university release record exists. Manik Chaman is a grower-selected clonal mutant of Thompson Seedless from about 1982, so do not describe it as an institute release.
- Yield sources disagree. The card here rates it "Very high", but one source describes it as low-yielding with a medium season. Do not budget on a very high yield until your own vines have fruited. Weigh the first full crop and plan from that.
- As a direct clone of Thompson Seedless it probably shares that parent's disease weaknesses, which fits the "Mildew-susceptible" rating. No source tests Manik Chaman's disease response on its own.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Maharashtra
Raisin first: plan the drying yard before the vines
Manik Chaman is grown mainly for raisins, with fresh table sale as a second market. Its sweet 20–22°Brix juice is the reason.
So plan the drying first. Where will the bunches dry, how many days will they need, and what will you do if rain comes while they are on the rack? Fruit lost to rain at drying time costs more than the vine ever earned.
Dry a small lot in your first fruiting year and weigh the raisins you get. That number, not a general figure, tells you whether the variety pays on your land.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This crop is raised from cuttings, not from seed, so you can take your own planting material. Take cuttings only from healthy, well-grown plants that are true to the variety, and never from one that showed disease — a cutting carries its mother plant with it. Where a nursery or a government farm sells clean planting material, that is the safer start.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Grapes variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Starts bearing | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anab-e-Shahi | A seeded, amber heritage table grape for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana buyers who still ask for it | Bearing from year 2–3 (rooted-cutting-raised vine) | 300–350 q/ha at full bearing | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana |
| Bangalore Blue | A fox-grape (Vitis labrusca) for juice, jam, jelly and wine, grown only in the Nandi Valley zone of Karnataka | Mid | High | Karnataka |
| Flame Seedless | An early, red, firm seedless table grape for the coloured fresh market, grown around Nashik | Early | High | Maharashtra, Karnataka |
| Manik Chamanthis page | A sweet, elongated-berry Thompson Seedless mutant grown mainly for raisins in Maharashtra | ~140 days | Very high | Maharashtra |
| Sharad Seedless | A black, thick-skinned seedless grape that ripens later than Thompson, for the October–February market | Bearing from year 2–3 (rooted-cutting-raised vine) | 200–250 q/ha at full bearing | Maharashtra |
| Sonaka | A golden, large-berry Thompson Seedless mutant for the fresh and export market, also used for raisins | ~140 days | Very high | Maharashtra |
| Thompson Seedless | The base green seedless grape for table and raisins in Maharashtra and Karnataka, for farmers who run a monsoon spray programme | Bearing from year 2–3 (rooted-cutting-raised vine) | 250–300 q/ha at full bearing | Maharashtra, Karnataka |
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 Grapes is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Grapes plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Grapes variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Grapes into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Grapes rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Grapes seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Manik Chaman a distinct breed or a version of another grape?
It is a clonal mutant of Thompson Seedless, selected by grape farmers around 1982 for its elongated berries — not an independently bred variety.
What is Manik Chaman mainly used for?
Mainly raisin-making, thanks to its sweet 20–22°Brix juice; fresh table consumption is a secondary use.
Is Manik Chaman really a "Very high" yielder?
The rating here says so. One source describes it as low-yielding with a medium season, so the sources disagree. Do not budget on a very high yield until your own vines have fruited. Weigh your first full crop and plan from that.
How disease-prone is Manik Chaman?
It is likely to be mildew-susceptible, like its Thompson Seedless parent, so plan sprays for wet spells. No source tests Manik Chaman's disease response on its own.
What does the berry look like?
Elongated (oval) berries, larger and crisper than typical round Thompson Seedless berries, with a rich sweet flavour.
Manik Chaman or Sonaka?
Both are grower-selected mutants of Thompson Seedless. Sonaka was released earlier (1977), has larger crunchy golden berries and is one of the most exported Indian table grapes. Manik Chaman (about 1982) has elongated berries and sweet 20–22°Brix juice and is used mainly for raisins. If you sell fresh or export, Sonaka. If you dry grapes, Manik Chaman is worth a trial row.
How sweet is Manik Chaman and why does it matter for raisins?
The juice runs 20–22°Brix, which is sweet. Sweeter grapes dry into raisins with more sugar per berry. No raisin recovery figure is published, so dry a small trial lot first and weigh the result before you plan a drying yard.
Is Manik Chaman an official ICAR or university variety?
No. It is a spontaneous clonal mutant of Thompson Seedless that grape farmers selected around 1982. If a nursery sells it as an institute release, ask them to show the paper.
How long does Manik Chaman take to ripen?
The card shows about 140 days and a medium season. The card does not say from which date the days are counted. Write down your pruning date and picking date each year and plan from your own record.
Sourced from: Grapes, TNAU Agritech Portal (lists Manik Chaman among the grape varieties normally cultivated). editorial policy.