Production, Protection and

Processing of Bael

Devendra Pandey, A. K. Mishra, P. K. Shukla,

Gundappa and Neelima Garg

ISO 9001 : 2015

ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture

Rehmankhera, Lucknow-226101

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Correct citation
Devendra Pandey, A.K. Misra, Neelima Garg, P.K. Shukla, Gundappa,
S.K. Shukla and S. Rajan (2020). Bael Cultivation. Pub. ICAR-CISH,
Lucknow, p.

Published by
ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow

Disclaimer
The document is prepared on the basis of information available in the
literature and research conducted. All necessary care is taken to synthesize
the information in correct form. Authors suggest that users consult some
subject matter specialist before using any information.

Copyright © Authors, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

All rights reserved. No part of this book and photographs can be
reproduced in any form without the written permission from the authors.

Composing
Subhash Pandey

Cover design
A.K. Misra

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 Preface
Horticultural crops contribute around 28 per cent of the GDP from
a cultivated area of about 13.1 per cent. Bael is one of the important
horticultural fruit crops of India, which comes under minor fruits category.
Bael is bestowed with the pride of being sacred and denotes emblem of
prosperity and its mention is available In ancient Sanskrit literature. The
trifoliate leaves of bael resembles the trishool of Lord Shiva and thus it is
offered during worshipping him. A wide range of bael genetic diversity
exists in India. Variability exists in fruit shape, size, bearing habit, pulp
colour, texture, fiber content, sugar content, mucilage content, etc. in
different genotypes. This variabilty has to be utilized for developing high
yielding varieties. In recent years, some good selections have been made
at ICAR-CISH, which may be used for commercial cultivation.
Despite this historic and mythological significance, bael fruits have
also been documented as an important ingredient of Indian medicine
because of its high medicinal and nutritional value. Furthermore, every
part of the tree is used in some or other way and could be considered as a
Kalpvriksha. The ripe fruit is a restorative, laxative and good tonic for heart
and brain. The fruit is prescribed in hepatitis and tuberculosis and proved
effective in chronic diseases. The unripe and roasted dried fruit pulps is
regarded as astringent, digestive, demulcent and stomachic, antipyretic and
usually prescribed for diarrhea and dysentery. The leaf extract is effective
in restoring blood glucose and body weight to normal levels. The root
extract of bael has anti-inflammatory and wound healing properties while,
the bark of the tree is used to treat diabetes in Indonesia. Therefore, several
Ayurvedic preparations have some ingredients of bael either fruits, leaves,
bark or root and their combinations. Processed products such as murabba,
squash, jam, candy, syrups, etc are prepared from bael fruits.
Bael has bright prospects of cultivation in India due to its medicinal
value and its ability to grow well under the waste land and problem
soil conditions. It is also important to develop awareness at global level
to promote its export. In the recent past, several innovations and new
initiatives have been made in research and development for the production
of bael. This publication is attempted to incorporate all relevant information
in crisp form related to bael production and utilization chain, right from
nursery management to postharvest management. The publication “Bael
Cultivation” deals with the concept of good agricultural practices to be
followed for higher production. The information is provided in a simple
form so that the farmers can also understand and use for bael cultivation.
Hence, this document is expected to be highly beneficial to scientists,
farmers, teachers and students.
(S. Rajan)

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 Contents
Introduction
Uses
Composition of bael fruit
Origin and distribution
Area and production
Botany and morphology
Germplasm status and conservation
Varieties
Propagation
Bud wood storage on graft success
Care of nursery plants
Top working
Agro-techniques
Planting
Concept of high density planting
Planting system
Irrigation and weeding
Mulching
Integrated nutrient management
Training, pruning and weed management
Intercropping
Canopy management
Flowering and fruiting
Fruit growth and development
Insect pests and diseases
Physiological disorders
Harvesting
Ripening
Quality attributes
Grading and packaging
Storage
Processing
Marketing and economics
Future thrust
References

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Production, Protection and Processing of Bael

Introduction
Bael [Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa] is native to India and is widely
distributed throughout the country in 8 states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Chattisgarh and
Odisha. Globally it is also cultivated in minor scale in countries like Sri
Lanka, Pakistan, southern Nepal, Burma, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia, Thailand, the northern Malay Peninsula, Java, Timor Leste,
the Philippines, Fiji, etc.
Though bael is a fruit crop of subtropical origin, it has shown wider
adaptability to even tropical, arid and semi-arid regions with good
performance. In India, it is mainly found in wild and semi-wild conditions
especially in dry forests of hilly terrains and in some plains. It is also -found
in the homestead gardens, backyards and Hindu temples.
In ancient Sanskrit verse, it is considered auspicious, sacred and
symbolizes emblem of prosperity. Bael leaf is botanically trifoliate
compound leaf which resembles the trishool of f Lord ‘Shiva’ and hence, it
is used for worshipping the diety in temples. There is also a belief among
Hindus that the three lobes symbolize the heads of Brahma (Creator),
Vishnu (Protector) and Sanatana (Destroyer) . The history of bael tree has
been traced to vedic times (C 2000 BC - C 800 BC) as the mention of this
fruit was found in Yajur Veda and Buddhist and Jain literatures (C 800 BC
- C 325 BC). In Ramayana period, - it was quoted that the fruit was found
in Chitrakute hills and Panchvati which was used along with other fruits
by Lord Rama to -while worshipping Lord Shiva. The fruits were found to
have been portrayed in paintings of Ajanta Caves along with other fruits.
In the ‘Upayana Vinod’, a Sanskrit treatise and in the ‘Brihat Samhita’
mention had been made of bael fruit. It was stated that this tree indicates
the presence of underground water.
Fairly rich and well drained sandy loam soils are best suited for
bael cultivation along with sunny and warm humid climatic conditions.
However, owing to its hardiness, it was found to be suitable in a wide
range of soils viz., sandy, clay, stony, acidic, alkaline, salt affected soils and
wastelands etc. (Pandey and Misra, 2006, 2007; Pandey et al., 2008). This
indicates that Bael is ecosystem friendly tree species which can grow in a
wide range of soil conditions (pH range 5-10) and harsh environments such
as areas with long dry spells and high temperature zones.
Bael belongs to family Rutaceae. It occupies an important place among
the indigenous fruits in India since prehistoric time. In India, it is also

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known in different common names such as Bengal quince, Indian quince,
maredoo, golden apple, holy fruit, stone apple, bael, belwa, sriphal, etc.
All parts of plant viz., leaves, roots, bark, fruits, seeds etc. are used as an
important component of many Ayurvedic medicines.
Bael fruit is nutritionally rich in protein, fat, minerals such as Ca
and Fe and vitamins mainly riboflavin, β carotene and Vitamin C. Fruits
are used to improve the digestion and cure stomach diseases. Fruits can
be processed into various beverages and preserves. Despite its Indian
origin and utilization for its high medicinal and nutritional values,
there is no well organized orcharding of bael reported in the country.
More importantly, bael possessing the quality of adopting to adverse
environmental conditions, can be promoted for development of waste and
underutilized lands, since it has the reputation of thriving where other fruit
trees cannot survive (Pandey et al., 2008; Pandey and Misra, 2015).

Uses
Bael has significance of high medicinal, pesticidal and nutritional
values. It could be regarded as potential kalpavrksh as every part of the
tree is important and has some potential use. Its medicinal properties had
been detailed in “Charak Samhita”. The ripe fruit is used as a restorative,
laxative and thus used as a good tonic for heart and brain health. Fruit is
prescribed in ailments of hepatitis and tuberculosis and also has proved to
be effective in chronic diseases, even when other medicines fail. Aqueous
and alcoholic extract of bael fruit have been noted to possess cardio tonic
effect on mammalian hearts. Herbal drugs made out of bael were used
to cure diabetes in pregnant and nursing mother. Homeopathic drugs,
Aegle marmelus and Aegle folia are prepared from bael fruit and leaves,
respectively. By incorporating bael fruits in the diet of growing infants
and children under 3 age, their teething problem could be resolved. The
unripe and roasted dried fruit pulps are considered as astringent, digestive,
demulcent, stomachic, and antipyretic properties, because of which they
are usually prescribed for curing diarrhea and dysentery. The leaf extract
is effective in restoring blood glucose and body weight to normal levels.
Green bael fruits are used for preparing murabba (preserve) generally taken
for stomach ailments.
Bael fruits have immense potential for processing and several products
such as squash, jam, candy and syrups can be prepared from it for foreign
markets. The root extract of bael has anti-inflammatory and wound healing
properties while, the bark of the tree is used to treat diabetes in Indonesia.
Gum is extracted from seed locules and its potential use as adhesive, water
proofing and oil emulsion coating was reported in 1961, which includes

6
r. Wood of mature tree has timber value and is used for making small
agricultural implements. The leaves are used as a fodder for sheep and
goats.

Composition of bael fruit

The bael fruit is highly nutritious, as mentioned in Table 1.
Table 1. Nutritive value of bael fruit
Constituent Value (per 100 g pulp)
Moisture 61.5 g
Protein 01.80 g
Fat 0.30 g
Fiber 2.90 g
Minerals 1.70 g
Carbohydrates 31.80 g
Mucilage 12.7-19.0%
Carotene 55.0 mg
Thiamine 0.13 mg
Riboflavin 1.19 mg
Niacin 1.1 mg
Vitamin ‘A’ 186 IU
Vitamin ‘C’ 8-18 mg
Gopalan et al. (1971)
The bael fruit has the highest level of riboflavin. No other fruit has
such a high content of riboflavin. Marmelosin is the therapeutically active
principle of bael. Rind of bael fruit yields tannin. The fruit gives 88 calories
of energy per 100 g of fruit pulp. The pulp of ripe fruits is tasty and can
be consumed as a fresh or made into ‘Sherbat’ which is one of the most
popular drinks for Indian masses.

Origin and distribution

Bael is indigenous to India and known since prehistoric time. The fruit
is mentioned in the ancient Indian literature i.e., Vedas, Ramayana, Upvan
Vinod and Brihat Samhita. It is found growing in neighbouring countries
like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and most
of the South-East Asian countries. Because of its status of sacred tree, it is
also grown in Sri Lanka and Northern Malaya, the dry area of Java and
to a limited extent in northern Luzon in the Philippine Island. It is grown
in some Egyptian garden as well as in Surinam and Thailand. In India it
is cultivated throughout the country and main bael growing states are

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Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha,
Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Systematic orcharding of bael is very limited,
however, it is generally grown in temples, gardens roadside, backyards of
houses, parks, etc (Singh and Roy, 1984).

Area and production

The organized orchards of bael are rare. Hence, the exact data on area
and production is not available. In the recent years, initiatives have been
made by some institutions for collection, evaluation and conservation of
germplasm at their experimental farms. Some progressive orchardists have
also started planting improved bael cultivars in the form of small orchards.
Generally, the bael plantations were made as boundary plants or temple
side or in home garden. Some seedling plantations were also available in
natural forest and road side areas. The total production per year is estimated
to be about one thousand ton in India (Saroj and Awasthi, 2004).

Botany and morphology

Botanically, bael is known as Aegle marmelos Correa and belongs
to the family Rutaceae with 2 or 3 species falling within this genus. The
generic name Aegle is of Greek origin while the species name marmelosis
is of Portuguese origin. Its chromosome number is X= 9 and 2n = 36. .
The tree is deciduous in nature with a height of approximately 6-8 meter
possessing whitish/grayish stem and trifoliate aromatic leaves. The leaves
are divided in to three leaflets i.e. a pair and terminal one. The branches are
usually long, shallowly furrowed, corky and having thorns.
The flowers are 2 cm wide, bisexual in nature, borne in cluster and
greenish white in colour with sweet scented aroma (Fig 1). The calyx is
shallow with 5 short, board teeth and pubescent-exterior. Petals are usually
5 (rarely 4), and oblong, oval, blunt, thick, pale greenish white and, dotted
with glands. Stamens are numerous, sometimes coherent in bundles
and ovary is oblong-ovoid, wide with slightly tapered the axis. Cells are
numerous, 8-20 in each ovule, small and arranged in a circle.

Fig.1. Bael Flowers

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 Fruit are hard shelled berry usually globose (2-4 inch diameter) with
a nearly smooth pericarp. Pericarp of bael fruits are usually 3 mm thick,
hard and filled with soft and yellow fragrant pulp. Seeds are numerous,
compressed and closely packed in tiers and the shell surrounded by very
tenacious, slimy, transparent mucilage which later becomes hard when dry.
The testa is white with wooly hairs and the embryo has large cotyledons.
(Pandey et al., 2016).

Germplasm status and conservation

Naturally grown bael seedlings are available in U.P, Bihar, Jharkhand,
M.P, Orissa, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh with great diversity, which
needs exploitation. In U.P., Faizabad, Sultanpur, Gonda, Jaunpur, Deoria,
Pratapgarh, Allahabad, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Etawah, Mathura and Agra
are the districts where large number of the improved types are growing
naturally or planted in the backyard of the houses.
Germplasm of bael has been collected from several states, especially,
from the parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Haryana,
Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal by NDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodhya;
ICAR-CIAH, Bikaner; ICAR-CISH, Lucknow; CCSHAU, Regional Research
Station, Bawal, Rewari; ICAR-CAZRI, Jodhpur; ICAR-NBFGR Regional
Station Jodhpur; GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, Nainital; HARP, Ranchi and
TNAU, Arrupokattai. Rai and Dwivedi (1992) and Vishal Nath et al. (2003)
reported wide range of bael genetic diversity in Northern and Eastern-
Central India (Fig 2). Apart from tree morphological characters, wide
variability exists in fruit shape, size, bearing habit, pulp colour, texture,
fiber content, sugar content, mucilage content etc., in different genotypes.
Some types have more number of seeds, gum locules and thick pericarp.
These can be considered as inferior types. However, some good selections
have been made at NDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodhya; GBPUA&T, Pantnagar,
Nainital and ICAR-CIAH, Bikaner, which are now becoming popular for
commercial cultivation. At ICAR-CISH, Lucknow, collection and evaluation
of bael germplasm was done resulting into identification of two promising
selections i.e.; CISH-B-1 and CISH-B-2. Besides this, some germplasm
were also collected and maintained in the field gene bank at ICAR-CAZRI,
Jodhpur and NDUA&T, Faizabad.
Table 4. Bael cultivars released in India
Cultivar Organization from where released
Narendra Bael – 5 NDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodya
Narendra Bael - 7 NDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodya
Narendra Bael - 9 NDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodya

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Narendra Bael - 16 NDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodya
Narendra Bael – 17 NDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodya
Pant Aparna GBPUA&T, Pant Nagar, Nainital
Pant Urvashi GBPUA&T, Pant Nagar, Nainital
Pant Shivani GBPUA&T, Pant Nagar, Nainital
Pant Sujata GBPUA&T, Pant Nagar, Nainital
CISH-B-1 ICAR-CISH, Lucknow
CISH-B-2 ICAR-CISH, Lucknow
Dhara Road ICAR-CAZRI, Jodhpur
Goma Yashi CHES (CIAH), Godhra
Seedling selections with desired HARP, Ranchi; HETC, Basti; BAC, Sabour;
fruit (Thin shell, less seed, fibre MPUA&T, Udaipur; CSAUAT, Kanpur
and mucilage, high TSS content) and OUAT, Bhubaneswar

Fig.2. Biodiversity in Bael

Among the existing biodiversity of bael in India it can be grouped

into two prominent types i.e., one small fruit type, having bitter pulp with
more seeds, mucilage and fiber content and second of large fruit type with
thin shell, less seed, fibre and mucilage and more sweet pulp. The earlier
type is generally used for medicine preparation purpose, because of high
marmelosin and psoralen content, while the second type is generally used
as dessert fruit and for preparation of processed products viz., Sherbat.
Conservation of bael genetic resources is being undertaken at various
field gene banks of ICAR Institute and State Agricultural Universities.
Good number of collection is being maintained at CCSHAU, Regional
Station, Bawal, Rewari (10 collections), NDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodya (24
collections), ICAR-CIAH, Bikaner (16 collections), ICAR-CISH, Lucknow

10
(36 collections), GBPUA&T, Pantnagar (10 collections) and ICAR-CAZRI,
Jodhpur (5 collections).

Varieties
Standard cultivars of bael were not known earlier. Only some locally
cultivated types like Mirzapuri, Kagzi Gonda, Kagzi Etawah, Darogaji and
Rampuri were cultivated by the farmers of the area. Recently, some new
varieties with good attributes, such as dwarf tree with medium fruit size
(1.0-1.5 kg), less fiber and seed content, high TSS, thin shell, less mucilage,
pleasant flavour with acceptable aroma, less prone to fruit drop and cracking
and less attack of diseases and pests have been identified and advocated
for cultivation from different research institutes and SAUs. Some of the
promising selections were made at NDUA&T, Faizabad, GBPUA&T,
Pantnagar, CHES, Godhara and ICAR-CISH, Lucknow are described as
under.

Narendra Bael-5 (NB-5)

Plants have precocious bearing and are of medium height (3-5 m) with
spreading canopy. Fruits are round with flattened ends, medium in size
(21×25 cm) with an average weight of 900-1000 g. Pulp with low mucilage,
seeds, fiber content and soft with excellent taste and sugar (35-38ºB, TSS). The
average fruit yield of a full grown tree ranges from 50-60 kg (Fig. 3a, b, c).

Fig. 3a. NB-5 fruit on tree, 3b. NB-5 harvested fruits, 3c. NB-5 cut fruit

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Narendra Bael-7 (NB-7)
Plants are of medium height (5-7 m) and less spreading type. Fruits
are round with flattened ends (17.5×74.0 cm) weighing around 3.0-4.5 kg.
The fruits have moderate number of seeds and less fiber with moderate
TSS (27-30ºB). The average fruit yield of a fully grown tree ranges between
70-80 kg (Fig 4).

Fig.4. NB-7

Narendra Bael-9 (NB-9)

Plants are of medium height (4-6 m) with spreading nature. Fruits
are medium in size (26×33 cm) and oblong round with smooth surface
having high TSS (35-40ºB). The fruit contains medium quantity of mucilage,
moderate fiber, mild fragrance, sweet taste, mild acidity, soft orange yellow
pulp, thin shell with less seed content. An average yield of 70-80 kg is
obtained from a fully grown tree (Fig 5).

Fig. 5. NB-9

Narendra Bael-16 (NB-16)

Tree erect type with semi compact foliage, trunk colour blackish grey
with splitting of bark in irregular manner, leaf medium sized, lanceolate,
colour green with smooth surface along 3c with wavy margin, tree possess
very few thorn of medium size, fruit weight (0.86 kg), pulp : fruit weight
ratio (0.77), TSS (35ºB) with medium seed content (131 seeds/fruit) (Fig. 6).

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 Fig. 6. NB-16 fruits

Narendra Bael-17 (NB-17)

Tree spreading type with semi compact foliage, trunk colour grey
with splitting of bark in rectangular manner, leaf medium sized, lanceolate,
colour green with smooth surface, non-wavy margin. Tree posing very few
thorn of medium size, fruit weight (1.97 kg), pulp : fruit ratio (0.76), TSS
(36.5ºB) with medium seed content (103 seeds/fruit) (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7. NB-17 fruits

Pant Shivani
It is a mid season variety. Trees are tall, vigorous, dense, upright
growing, precocious and heavy bearer. Fruit shape is ovoid oblong
(49.7×49.2 cm) with average fruit weight ranging between 1.2-2.0 kg (Fig
8). Shell is medium thin and pulp is lemon yellow in colour with pleasant
flavour and less mucilage. Seed number and fiber content are low to
medium. Pulp content is high (69%) with good taste having TSS 34-35ºB,
acidity 1.31 per cent and ascorbic acid 15 mg per 100 g pulp (Fig. 8). Storage
quality of the fruit is good. The fruit yield is from 50-60 kg per tree.

Fig. 8. Pant Shivani fruits

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Pant Aparna
Trees are dwarf with drooping sparse foliage and are almost thornless,
precocious and heavy bearer. Leaves are large, dark green and pear shaped.
Fruits are globose with average size (35.6×36.6 cm) and weight 600-800 g
(Fig 9a.b). Fruit pulp is yellow and rind is thin. Fruits have about 46 per
cent pulp with good TSS (34ºB), acidity (0.8%) and ascorbic acid (15 mg
per 100 g pulp). Mucilage, seeds and fiber contents are low. Mucilage and
seeds are enclosed in separate pockets (Fig. 9c). Flavour and taste of fruit
is very pleasant. The cultivar is ideally suited for processing. The average
fruit yield is 30-40 kg per tree.

Fig. 9a Pant Aparna fruit on tree, 9b. Pant Aparna fruits, 9c. Pant Aparna cut fruit

Pant Urvashi
It is a mid season variety. Trees are tall, vigorous, dense, upright
growing and precocious. Fruit is ovoid oblong (47×49 cm) and weighing
around 1.6 kg. Fruit shell is medium thin and lemon yellow in colour. Pulp
is bright yellow with pleasant flavour. Number of seeds and mucilage
content are medium and fiber is low. The fruit contains about 68 per cent
pulp having 32ºB TSS, 1.15 per cent acidity and 12.6 mg per 100 g pulp
ascorbic acid. The average fruit yield is 27-30 kg per plant.

Fig. 10. Pant Urvashi fruits on tree

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Pant Sujata
It is a mid season variety. Trees are medium dwarf with drooping and
sparse foliage, dense, precocious and heavy bearer. Fruits are globe shaped,
depressed at both ends having an average size 48.0×50.4 cm and weight
1.14 kg. Fruit shell is thin and light yellow in colour, when ripe. Pulp is light
yellow, number of seeds is less and mucilage and fiber contents are low.
The fruit flavour is pleasant. The fruit contains about 77.8 per cent pulp,
30ºB TSS, 0.75 per cent acidity and 18 mg per 100 g pulp ascorbic acid. The
average fruit yield per tree 45-50 kg.

CISH B-1
It is a selection from open pollinated seedlings. It is a mid season
variety which matures during April-May. Trees are tall with vigorous
growth and dense canopy and have erect growth habit, precocious and
heavy bearer (12a). Fruit shape is oval to oblong and fruit size is 15-17.8 cm in
a
length and 39.2-41.0 cm in circumference (12b). Average fruit weight is about
b
1.01 kg. Fruit shell is thin (0.12-0.15 cm thickness), pulp is dark yellow with
pleasant flavour and less mucilage content (12c). Seed content is less (35-40
seeds per fruit) with low seed to pulp ratio 1 : 206 and 65.57 per cent pulp.
The colour of fruit turns to lemon yellow upon ripening (12d). It has very
good taste and flavour. TSS of fruit is high (38.0ºB) with total carotenoids
(1.18 mg per 100 g pulp), total sugars (20.54 %) and tannins (3.5 %) and is
good for processing. The yield of a fully grown tree is around 50-80 kg.
c

Fig. 12a, b CISH B-1 fruiting on tree, 12c CISH B-1 harvested fruit, 12d cut fruit

15
CISH B-2
It is also a selection from open pollinated seedlings. Tree is dwarf with
medium spreading habit. Foliage is sparse and almost thorn less, precocious
with moderate bearing habit. Fruit is oblong to round in shape with average
length of 14.80 cm and a circumference of 52.64 cm. Average weights of
the fruit is about 2.25 kg (Fig.13). Fruit pulp is orange yellow and shell is
thin (0.24-0.26 cm). Seed and fiber contents are low with an average seed
number of 50.12 per fruit and low seed to pulp ratio (1 : 270) and 61.32 per
cent pulp (Fig.13). It has good taste with pleasant aroma. The fruit has TSS
of 31.9ºB, 0.99 mg per 100 g pulp of total carotenoids, 16.33 per cent total
sugars and 2.45 per cent tannins. The yield of a grown up plant is 60-90 kg.

Fig. 13. CISH B-2 fruits

Goma Yashi
It is early maturing variety. Plants are semi-spreading, small with
relatively low stature. Leaves with drooping growth habit, less lateral
branch growth (20-35 cm annually), central leaf size is 13.2×6.7 cm, lateral
leaf size is 9.2×5.3 cm and ovate having acute apex. Budded plants flower
in 3 years. The tree flowers during last week of April to last week of June.
Average fruit size is about 13 cm in length and 12.5 cm in breadth and 41-
45 cm in circumference with weight of 0.1-1.6 kg (Fig. 11). Shell thickness
is thin with 0.17 cm and weight is 180-210 g. Seed weight is 25-30 g and
average fiber weight is 40.24-51.2 g. Locules in cross-section is 13-15. TSS
is high with 35-39ºB, acidity 0.2-0.32 per cent and ascorbic acid 22 mg per
100 g of pulp. It is highly suitable for high density planting.

Fig. 11. Goma Yashi fruits

16
Thar Divya
Thar Divya, an early-maturing variety of bael for dry land, was
released from ICAR-Central Horticultural Experiment Station, Vejalpur,
Godhra during 2015. This selection was collected from Badalpatti village,
Badalapur Block, Jaunpur District, Uttar Pradesh during 2006. Trees have
vigorous and dense canopy, less spines, prolific-bearer, less fruit sunscald,
drought resistant and hardy variety. It is a tall tree relatively upright growth
having deliquescent branching habit. Tree height (5.98 m), stem girth (46.62
cm) and plant spread (5.64×5.48 m) at 9 years age.
Fruits attain maximum size up to September. Variety is early maturing
(February), ripe after 270 days of fruit setting with an average yield of 70-80
kg/tree during 9th year under rained hot semi-arid conditions in western
India. Their fruits shapes are oblong elliptical and colour, dark green,
greenish yellow and yellowish green, respectively in different stages of
maturity (Fig. 14a). Fruits have thin rind, less seed, high pulp with fine
fibre, high TSS, less acidity, uniform ripening with excellent dark yellow
colour of pulp. It is highly suitable for powder and sharbat making. Its fruits
are of 1.32 to 2.37 kg size. Fully mature fruits can be kept for 10-15 days
(Fig. 14b).

Fig. 14(a) Thar Divya bearing trees (b) Thar Divya – ripe fruits

Thar Neelkanth
Thar Neelkanth has vigorous and lustrous growth with dense
canopy. It is drought hardy and prolific-bearer variety. It start bearing in
third year and ripening after 320 days of fruit setting with an average yield
of 75.67 kg/tree during eight year under rainfed hot sami-arid conditions.
Fruits are rich in fine fibres (4.88 %), with thin rind (1.8 mm), high pulp
content (71.30%) and with less acidity (0.29%), less number of seeds (83.21
mm) and mucilage and high in TSS of pulp (41.20 ºB) and TSS and acidity
ratio (142.07). It is highly suitable to grow under fragile agro-climatic
conditions.

17
Propagation
Traditionally bael was propagated by seed. However, there is an
inherent limitation associated with the seedling progenies and generally
they are not true to type and hence, seed propagation is limited for the
raising of rootstock only.

Seed propagation
For raising seedlings, freshly extracted seeds from healthy fruits should
be obtained and sown immediately. Since, bael belongs to recalcitrant
category, the seeds cannot be stored for longer periods under normal storage
conditions. Studies conducted at ICAR-NBPGR, Pusa, New Delhi showed
that freshly harvested seeds of diverse accessions showed germination
from 60-100 per cent with moisture content ranging from 12-20 per cent.
To prevent the losses due to ‘damping off’ at nursery stage, seed
treatment is essential. Seed treatment with available suitable fungicide @ 1
g/100 g of seed or Trichoderma viride @ 4g/kg of seed can be used effectively.

Raising of seedlings in nursery beds

Bael seeds have shown no dormancy and germinate 10-15 days after
sowing. Generally, the freshly extracted seeds are used for sowing, however,
if required these can be stored up to 132 days with proper treatment. For
storage, after extraction, seeds treated with fungicide WP formulation @ 1
g/ 100 g is required and stored in alkathene bags at room temperature. For
nursery raising after fungicidal treatment seeds can be sown in 2 cm depth
in the nursery within 10-15 days of extraction. Seeds should not sown deep,
as seedling emergence may be delayed and there is chance of mortality due
to poor aeration. Seed can also be shown in polythene bags, facilitates an
easy handling of seedling and grafted saplings. Mixture of FYM, sand and
soil (1:1:1) should be solarized and mixed before filling in polythene bags.
When seedlings attain 10-15 cm height in nursery bed, these should be dug
up along with earth ball and should be planted in separate nursery or poly
bags. The shifting of bael seedlings is necessary to check the growth of tap
root system and to encourage the fibrous / adventitious root development.
The young growing seedlings protected from intense radiation and frost.

Raising rootstock in polythene bags

Rootstock growing in nursery beds and lifting of budded / grafted
plants with earth ball is difficult and practically not feasible in light soils
as the earth ball breaks and there is change of mortality of those plants.
Again during transportation of these plants, there is high mortality of plants.
Polythene bags are recommended for commercial scale raising of rootstocks

18
as it reduces the time for growing seedling and also offers protection to
avoid damage during handling and transportation,. Generally, polythene
bags of size 25×10 cm are used with holes made at the bottom and sides for
proper drainage and aeration and filled with rooting medium. Normally,
one to two freshly extracted seeds are shown in each bag and then kept in
trenched bed / poly house so that it can be irrigated easily. Coiling of root
is a problem in old seedlings for which root pruner is used for pruning of
roots. Seedlings can also be raised in nursery beds in open or poly-house
and transplanting of seedlings (2-4 leaf stage) in poly bags gives 80-90 per
cent success.
Nearly 8-10 months old seedlings of pencil thickness are used as
rootstock for budding / grafting. Plants grown in the polythene bags can
be transported to distant places with higher survival success.

Rootstock raised in the field

For getting good survival and success under rain-fed/undulated
soil conditions, sowing of seeds may be done directly in the field during
monsoon (June-July) as per layout plan and the seedlings become ready for
in situ budding or grafting during June - July, year after sowing. If there
is long gap of two spell of rains, plants should be irrigated as and when
required. Proper irrigation is required to save the plants in the field during
summer. Since, no planting is involved in this case, the plants retain the deep
roots and thus, become more hardly and vigorous. In the next year after
sowing (June-August), different superior cultivars from selected mother
plants should be grafted / budded.

Vegetative propagation
Through vegetative propagation, true to type plants can be prepared.
Vegetatively propagated plants come into bearing earlier compared to the
seedling trees (Fig 15). Generally in vegetatively propagated plants, fruiting
starts from fifth year and full bearing potential is attained in 10-15 years.

Fig. 15. Vegetative propagation of Bael seedlings

19
Selection of mother plant
Selection of the elite mother plants should be done with greatest care.
For selecting mother plants of bael, following basic characteristics needs
to be considered,
(i) Plants should be consistently high yielding.
(ii) Quality of fruit should be very good with all desired traits.
(iii) Plant should be free from diseases and pests.
(iv) It should be in full bearing stage.

Budding
Bael can also be propagated successfully by budding on 1 or 2 year
old rootstocks. Different methods of budding viz., patch, shield, forket, ring
and modified ring budding were tried with varying success percentage.
Generally patch budding is very common and mid of May to July is the
most congenial period for getting higher percentage of success of budding
under field conditions. In patch budding method, a plumpy and healthy
bud is marked from the axil of leaf. Leaf blade is removed with the help
of a sharp knife leaving petiole intact. The upper cut is given in about 1.0-
1.5 cm above bud, which goes downwards upto 1.0-1.5 cm below the bud
without wood portion and then lower cut is given about 1 cm below the bud
making a rectangular patch having bud portion in the centre place of the
patch. Similar rectangular incision (patch) is cut on the seedling rootstock by
placing the bud on the rootstock to make the exact size of the bud on them
and after removing the bark of root stock, the bud is placed at the juncture.
The bud is pressed by hand to remove the open space (air). Hence, bud
come in close contact with the wood of root stock and tied tightly except the
place of bud eye with polythene strip (200 gauge thickness and 2.0-2.5 cm
wide). Sometimes, the cuts on rootstocks are wider, at least one side bark
of scion (bud) and stock must be matched properly. The rootstock is cut
about 10-12 cm above the graft to facilitate early bud sprout. After union,
top of the rootstock is cut a little above the bud union and polythene strip
is removed carefully.
Maximum success of budding in bael is obtained when average
monthly temperature ranges between 29-34º C and relative humidity ranges
between 60-70 per cent during the time of budding.

Preparation of scion for budding

The shoots from selected mother tree should be defoliated 8 days prior
to anticipated budding date. The defoliation enforces proper development
of axillary buds.

20
Preparation of rootstock for budding
One year old seedlings of desi bael should be used as rootstocks.
These seedlings can be grown in raised nursery beds or in poly bags. In
problematic areas, seedling rootstocks should be raised in situ. For this
3-4 seeds should be sown per pit for germination and after germination
healthy and stout seedlings should be used as rootstock and remaining
ones be removed.

Precaution in budding
Success per cent in budding increases if following precautions are
taken
The contact between stock and scion should be very fine and there
should not be any gap between them as it adversely affects the budding
success.
The bud union should be properly tied with polythene band, so that
rain or rain water do not enter the gap. Rains play a negative role and create
physical hindrance through seeping the water in between stock and scion
and there by hamper the perfect union.

Softwood grafting
Softwood grafting is generally performed in the form of wedge or
tongue grafting. Pencil thickness seedlings are preferred for grafting
purpose. The top portion of root stock is cut off at the height of 15 - 20 cm
from the surface of poly bag or ground. Splitting the beheaded rootstock
vertically down the centre, to a point 4 to 5 cm below the cut surface. Scion
shoots are collected from selected variety. About 18-20 cm long mature
shoots (2-4 months old) are defoliated 10-12 days prior to grafting operation.
These scion shoots are detached from the mother plant with the help of
sharp secateurs. Scion stick should be cut from both sides into a tapering
wedge approximately 4 to 5 cm long. The tapered end is inserted into the
split stem of the rootstock of the same size. The rootstock and scion are
wrapped firmly with 2 cm wide and 25-30 cm in length polythene strip (Fig
16). Immediately after grafting, the scion is covered with poly cap. After
15-20 days of grafting scion shoots sprouts, which can be seen from outside
also. The poly caps are carefully removed after 25-30 days and these are
kept for hardening. Early removal of poly cap results in high mortality.
Generally winter months are suitable for wedge grafting, whereas in case
of bael maximum success is obtained in the month of April-May, since
bael defoliate all leaf during these period. In green house conditions, year
round grafting can be done. Field transferable grafts can be ready within
10 - 12 months after seed sowing. This method ensures 90-100 per cent

21
establishment and survival of transplants in the field due to undisturbed
shoot system.

Fig. 16. Softwood grafting

Bud wood storage on graft success

Scion shoots wrapped with newspaper followed by moist jute cloth
can be used for grafting up to the 4th day from the date of detachment from
the mother plant successfully.

Care of nursery plants

Bael seedlings at nursery stage are damaged by frost during winter
and by scorching hot desiccating wind during summer months under north
Indian conditions. Hence, nursery beds should be kept under thatched
shade or shade net, etc. These beds should be regularly irrigated, to avoid
of frost damage. During summer, irrigation should be given at 2-4 days
intervals depending upon the climatic conditions. The nursery beds/poly
bags maintain weed free regular weeding/ hoeing. Spray of GA3 (1000 ppm)
enhance seedling growth like height, number of branches, secondary root,
dry weight of leaf stem and top growth.

Top working
Old and uneconomic bael trees can be turned into economic and
vigorous one by top working. In this method, the trees are headed back
from 1.0 to 1.5 m above the ground level (from where a main scaffold branch
arises) during the month of February-March and new shoots emerge from
the cut stumps. Only four to six healthy shoots emerging from all the four
directions are allowed to grow. Patch budding/ cleft grafting on these
shoots should be performed with improved commercial scion cultivar in
the following June-July months. These trees start fruiting in three to four

22
years and attain full bearing in about 8-10 years. In this way, inferior, old
and unproductive bael trees can be transformed into superior fruit trees
(Jauhari and Singh, 1971).

Agro-techniques
Planting
The planting of bael is done at 10×10 m or 8×8 m depending upon
the need, soil fertility and agro-climatic conditions. Pit of one cubic meter
size are dug two months prior to planting and kept open for solarization.
Later, in each pit 3-4 baskets (25-30 kg) of well rotten FYM and 50-100 g
methyl parathion dust (2%) is mixed with top 50 per cent soil and filled.
In sodic soil, 5-8 kg gypsum (as per requirement) along with 20 kg sand
is also incorporated. These filled pits are irrigated and left for month to
complete the soil reaction. In sodic soil, the rain water should be allowed
to collect in the pit, which should be flushed twice or thrice to remove the
harmful salts from the pit to facilitate better establishment. The filled pits
are irrigated thoroughly, if there are no rains to settle down. After the soil
becomes workable, the grafted/budded plants are planted in the center of
the pit. After planting irrigation should be given immediately.
The ideal time of planting is July-August, however, if irrigation
facilities are assured, it can be planted during February-March also. In
dry land or arid region, in situ planting was found suitable for orchard
establishment.
Shelter belts and windbreaks around the orchard protect the trees
from hot and desiccating winds during summer and cool waves during
winter. For this purpose two-three fast growing drought hardy tree species
(Akash neem, Gonda, Boradi, Eucalyptus, etc.) can be planted in staggered
manner. Newly planted samplings can be protected from hot and cool
winds by close hedge/strip of fast growing plants like dhaincha and Castor.
Precaution must be taken to protect the newly planted plants from frost
damage.

Planting system
Generally, bael plantation is done in square system of planting (Fig.
18). In most of the cases, seedling bael plantation is done on boundary
of orchards as a wind break. In an organized orchard, planting of bael is
done at 6×6 m in square system and 5×7 m in rectangular system (Singh
and Vishal Nath, 1999). The main objective of a particular planting system
is to accommodate more number of plants per unit area, without adverse
effect on yield and fruit quality. In India, farmers are poor and have less
resource like land holding, irrigation facility, etc., high density planting is

23
the right choice increase the productivity by accommodating more number
of plants per unit area.

Fig. 18. Organized Bael orchard

Irrigation and weeding

Bael plants are hardy in nature and hence, once established, it can
withstand drought conditions, however, new and young plants need to
be watered at frequent intervals. During dry summer period, bael trees
shed their all leaves, hence, their water requirement is reduced due to its
dormant phase. During this period only one or two irrigation is sufficient.
In juvenile phase, trees require 8-10 irrigations in a year, while bearing tree
require 2-3 irrigation during the time of fruit growth and development.
Drip system of irrigation can be adopted to supply the optimum quantity
of water to the plant and save the valuable water from wastage, thereby,
increasing the water use efficiency. Full grown up bael tree (> 10 years) can
successfully be grown without irrigation under rain-fed conditions. Apart
from irrigation, time to time basin of tree should be cleaned by weeding
and hoeing.

Mulching
Mulching with organic waste has been found very effective for
establishment of bael orchard in sodic and ravenous waste land. Mulches
conserve and retain soil moisture but also exert beneficial effect like
suppression of extreme fluctuation of soil temperature, reduced water
loss through evaporation, maintenance of soil fertility, suppression of
weed growth and, thereby improve plant growth and yield. Regular
uses of organic mulches are also helpful in improving physico-chemical
properties of soil, beneficial microbial population and soil aeration. Under
rain fed conditions, putting organic mulches in the tree basin is beneficial

24
for successful bael cultivation as organic mulch itself disintegrate in soil
and improves fertility. Among the different mulch materials, paddy straw
and sugarcane trash show better response. Mulching with these waste
materials over many years is helpful in improving organic matter content,
infiltration rate, reducing pH and EC content of soil and also restricting
the upward movement of the soluble salt and thus, escaping their toxicity
menaces in the salt affected soil. Mulches should be placed in the tree basin
(20 cm thick) after rainy season and un-decomposed organic mulch should
be incorporated and mixed with soil of tree basin in forthcoming monsoon.
Leaf litter of bael tree under the canopy is not only effective to conserve
soil moisture during summer but also improve the soil properties. Among
inorganic mulches, black polythene is generally found better.

Nutrient management
For obtaining good growth, yield and quality production, manure
and fertilizer application should be done judiciously. In soil application,
fertilizer should be placed in active root zone (one meter away from the
tree trunk and beneath the canopy). The fertilizer and manure should be
incorporated properly (in surface soil, 10-15 cm deep). With the advent of
drip irrigation and availability of liquid fertilizer, the fertigation technology
is considered to be the efficient. Being minor or neglected crop, not much
work has been done on manure and fertilizer requirement. Normally 5 kg
FYM, 50 g N, 25 g P and 50 g K per plant should be applied to one year old
bael plant. This dose should be increased every year in the same proportion
upto the age of 10 years. Thereafter, a constant dose of 500 g N, 250 g P and
500 g K along with 50 g FYM should be applied above 10 year old plant. In
sodic soil, plants generally show zinc deficiency symptom, for which 250 g
zinc sulphate per plant along with fertilizer application is recommended.
Beside this, foliar application of 0.5 per cent zinc sulphate in July, October
and December is recommended. Full doses of manure and fertilizers should
be applied in the month of June-July. In some bael orchards, where fruit
cracking is a problem, 100 g borax per tree should also be applied along
with manure and fertilizers. After manure and fertilizer application, light
irrigation is recommended. Some times in more fertile soils, the tree have
tendency to put forth on more vegetative growth with the result that the
fruiting is reduced/delayed. In these conditions, additional fertilizer should
not be applied.

Training, pruning and weed management

Young bael plants are trained with the help of stakes, so that they
grow erect. In order to develop good framework, it is essential not to allow
lateral branches up to 75 cm from the ground level. Afterwards, 4-6 branches

25
emerging from different directions should be encouraged to grow. Suckers
appearing from rootstock should be removed regularly. Generally, bael
does not require pruning once the tree start fruiting, because the branches
of bael tree is self-oriented, however, in case of rosette growth, few branches
should be headed back from its place of origin to have a well spread scaffold
branches. Regular pruning in bael plants are not required, because fruiting
takes place on one year older shoots. The trees are allowed to grow as such
but dried, criss-cross branches, weak, diseased and broken twigs should
be removed from time to time preferably after fruit harvest and before the
commencement of new growth.
In nursery weed management is necessary. When seedlings grow,
weeding should be done at reasonable interval for the proper and healthy
growth of the seedlings. In initial years of planting also, weeding is required
for proper growth of the plants. In the orchard, hoeing, hand weeding and
ploughing of the soil, twice or thrice in a year are required to maintain
good tree growth.

Intercropping
Intercropping is headed to maximize the land use efficiency for
generating additional income particularly during the initial unproductive
phase of orchard. The interspace should be utilized by growing suitable
intercrops. For that the leguminous crop like pea, cowpea, black gram,
green gram and guar and vegetable like brinjal, tomato, spinach, coriander,
chilli, garlic, etc, can be grown. The crops having high water requirement
should be avoided as intercrops, since bael is highly susceptible to water
logging. In bael orchards under salt affected or marginal soil conditions, it
is advisable to grow green manure crops like dhaincha (Sesbania sp.) for
few years to improve the physico-chemical properties of the soil.

Canopy management
Canopy management in bael needs to be done to maintain proper
structure (shape and size) of the plants and to increase productivity and
quality of the fruits. Hence, the annual pruning is done to improve and
regulate tree size and shape to achieve the desired architecture and also
reduce the foliage density by removing the unwanted branches of the tree
for better penetration of light and subsequent production.

Flowering and fruiting

The budded/grafted bael trees start flowering after 4-5 years of
planting, while seedling trees flower 7-8 years after planting. Flowering
starts with the commencement of new growth in the month of May-June.

26
Fruit setting takes place by the end of May and continues upto July. Fruiting
occurs on one year old shoots. The complete fruit development (ready
for harvest) takes about 10-11 months. Hence, by next April-May, fruits
are ready for harvest. However, the fruit maturity varies according to the
genotype and agro-climatic conditions.

Fruit growth and development

The fruit growth and development of bael follows a single sigmoid
curve. The growth rate of the fruit has three district phases i.e., the initial
slow phase for one month, followed by rapid increase for three months and
then more or less stationary phase till the fruits are matured. The moisture
content decreases during later part of ripening of fruits. With the decrease
in moisture in bael, the hardness of starch appears and increases steadily
till harvest but disappears with ripening.

Insect-pest and disease management

Lemon butterfly (Papiliodemolious L.)
To manage lemon butterfly, hand-picking of various stages of the pest
and their destruction has been suggested. This is very useful in mitigating
the pest problem especially in nurseries and new orchards. In case of severe
infestation, spray with Lambda Cyhalothrin @ 0.10% is recommended.
Spraying of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) was found effective against grownup
caterpillars.

Leaf miner (Phyllocnistiscitrella Stainton)

The caterpillars attack only young and tender leaves. The larvae make
serpentine mines in the leaves feeding on epidermal cells of the leaves
leaving behind the remaining leaf tissues quite intact. The mining larvae
feed actually more on sap than on solid tissues of the leaf. The mined leaves
turn pale, get distorted and may dry up. The pest occurrence has been
observed around the year except December to February months.
As the larvae are inside the mines, these cannot be killed easily by
insecticidal applications. For effective control, affected parts during winter
should be pruned heavily and burnt. Spraying with neem cake extract @ 0.25
per cent keeps the infestation under check. Spray of Lambda Cyhalothrin @
0.10% at bud stage once or twice if 30 per cent leaves showing infestation
is effective.

Bark eating caterpillar (Indarbela spp.)

Bark eating caterpillar is a polyphagous insect pest, has been found
damaging many fruit crops, avenue trees and ornamental trees. This

27
pest causes considerable damage to the fruit crops, like guava, mango,
citrus, orange, jamun, litchi, aonla, jack fruit, pomegranate etc, including
forest trees. The incidence of this pest could be noticed by the presence of
elongated zigzag ribbon-like messy web or galleries made by fragments
of bark pieces and excreta with silk, near the fork or angles of the stem or
branches. The female moths lay eggs in clusters of 15-20 directly on the bark
of branch. The freshly laid eggs were pale colored and oval in shape and
became creamy white after sometime. Pupation takes place in the tunnel
in the wood; the pupa possesses rows of teeth or hooks on the abdominal
segments by means of which it climbs out of the larval tunnel to release the
mouth. The pupal period lasts about 3 weeks. Larva bores a short tunnel
downwards in to the wood, usually at the junction of a dead branch or snag
and the hole. The full grown larva is 38 to 50 mm long, smooth skinned
with dark chitinized patches on the segments. The larva bores into the trunk
or branches, usually at forks or angles, to a depth of 15-25 cm. This tunnel
is the refuge of the larva during the day (and later for pupation); at night
it emerges from the tunnel and eats the bark of the tree in the immediate
vicinity of the hole. Small trees are easily ring-barked by this pest and die. If
enough bark is eaten away, even large trees are disturbed by the interrupted
sap flow; they may fail to flush and drying of the branches occurs. Large
dark brown webby masses, comprising chewed wooden particles and faecal
matter, are conspicuously seen plastered loosely on tree trunks or main
branches, especially near the forks.
It can be managed by:
* Orchard should be kept clean and healthy.
* Pest larvae should be removed by inserting iron spoke in holes
at early stages of infestation and can be killed using any contact
insecticide.
* Bark eating caterpillar on Aonla can be managed by inserting
cotton wool soaked in Lambda Cyhalothrin (0.25 – 0.5%) in the
borer hole and block it with the mud.
* Entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana natural epizootic
was found in the field it can be exploited for better management
of the pest.

Spiralling whitefly (AleurodicusDispersus Russel)     

Spiralling whitefly is a polyphagous pest with a characteristic
spiralling pattern of oviposition on the underside of leaves. Eggs are laid
on lower surface of the leaves. The pest has three larval instars and fourth
forms the pseudopupa. Life cycle is completed within 21 to 48 days. Nymphs
and adults suck sap from leaves leading secretion of honey dew, which

28
causes the growth of sooty mould. In severe cases it leads to defoliation
and reduction in flowering and fruiting.

Management
* Orchard hygiene and exclusion of weed host.
* Setting up of yellow sticky traps @ 20 ha-1 to attract adults
* Conserving coccinellid predators like , Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
in orchards.
* Some parasites, Encarsia haitensis Dozier and E.
guadeloupae Viggiani found efficient against spiraling white fly,
Which can be used for management of this pest.

Dieback
The disease is caused by Lasiodiplodia theobrome. Diseased trees
suffer from drying of twigs from top to downward (Fig. 18). Brown spots
appear on twigs and leaves and finally leaves drop. It can be managed by
removal of diseased twigs followed by two sprays of Copper oxychloride
@ 3 g/l at an interval of 15 days. Post treatment care for balanced nutrition
and irrigation is necessary better recovery.

Fig. 18. Dieback of bael

Alternaria leaf spot [Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler.]

Typical concentric rings are formed in spots/ lesions of brown colour
on leaves (Fig. 20). The size and shape of lesions mostly remain irregular
and under severe conditions they coalesce and symptom looks like blight.
Severe defoliation may take place, if not managed at right time. The disease
is equally severe on seedlings and trees (Madaan and Gupta, 1985). High
humidity must be avoided in shade net houses and precautionary spray
on seedlings, grafts and trees should be done with copper oxychloride

29
(0.2%) or hexaconazole (0.1%) at 15-20 day interval during monsoon and
heavy dew periods.

Fig. 20. Alternaria leaf spot

Black leaf spot [Isaropsis sp.]

Isaropsis sp. Is the cause of this disease, which develops on both the
surfaces of leaves as 2-3 mm black spot (Fig 21). For management of the
disease, spraying of hexaconazole (0.1%) is recommended.

Fig. 21. Isaropsis black leaf spot

Bacterial shot hole and fruit canker [Xanthomonasbilvae]

Patel et al. (1953) first time reported the incidence of this disease in
Maharashtra state. The disease may appear in the form of water soaked
tiny round spots with typical yellow halo around. The spots gradually
enlarge and depression or shot hole develops in the center. Infected fruits
show symptoms of water soaked lesions, larger in size, raised, rough and
irregular in shape. Later, fruit lesions become hard and brown. For control
of the disease, fortnightly spray of Streptocyline (200 ppm in water) is
recommended.

30
Stalk end rot [Fusarium solani (Mart.) Sacc., F. semitectum
var. majus]
Stalk end rot of bael is caused by Fusarium solani (Mart.) Sacc. The
dropping of immature young fruits takes place due to the infection stem
end portion. Fungal attack on the peduncle ends of the fruit, forms a dark
brown lesion (Fig. 22 a,b). Later, the fungus weakens the peduncle of the
fruits resulting into fruit drop (Misra, and Srivastava, 2003). The rind near
stalk and underlying flesh softens and become dark brown in colour (Fig.
22 c). Morphology of fruits is not affected by the disease. Affected fruits
may fall down with a little jerk of wind.
The disease can be managed by spray with propiconazole or
hexaconazole @ 1.0 ml/l at fortnightly interval when fruits are small.

Fig. 21 (a) Reproduction of symptom (b) Stalk end rot (c) Stalk end rot

Aspergillus rot [Aspergillus awamori Nakazawa]

Soon after harvest, fruits are prone to rot under storage if they are
kept under ambient conditions. The high temperature favours infection
and infected portion looks pale to dark coloured (Arya et al.,1986). In such
fruit, Aspergillus develops and pulp becomes soft and emits foul smell. In
later stages, infected epicarp may become soft after rot. The flesh under
infected portion becomes black after rotting. To avoid the disease, proper
care should be taken during harvesting so that fruits do not fall on the
ground and get cracked. Care should also be taken that fruits do not damage
during handling and transportation.

Shell soft rot of bael (Syncephalas trumracemosum)

This is another post-harvest disease of mature fruits. The infected fruit
gets rotten very quickly and infected portion may have an easily removable
layer on epicarp (Fig. 23a). Rotting of pulp is also observed under the
infected epicarp. It becomes black with rotting (Fig. 23b). Rotten fruits omit
foul smell (Misraet al., 2016).
Fruits should be harvested carefully so that it is not damaged during
harvesting and transportation. The fruit may be dipped after harvest in hot
water at 52±lº C and then dried in shade.

31
 Fig. 23 (a) Shell soft rot (external symptom) (b) Shell soft rot (internal rot)

Physiological disorders
Fruit cracking
Cracking of fruits is a major problem in most of the areas in Uttar
Pradesh. It has been correlated with soil moisture availability, as severe
cracking has been recorded under dry conditions. The fruits may suffer
from cracking during winter as well as during summer. Thus, to minimize
this disorder agro-forestry may help in contributing different micro climate
and proper care to maintain soil moisture throughout is also necessary.
Number of irrigations may be reduced by adopting moisture conserving
measures like mulching. Mulching with polythene or organic matter is very
useful in rain-fed areas. Sometimes due to boron deficiency the cracking of
fruit takes place in these case 100 g borax per tree should be applied along
with fertilizer.
Fruit drop
Fruit drop in bael is a natural phenomenon, but sometimes its extent
causes great concern. Fruit drop starts from July and continue till harvest.
The maximum fruit drop takes place during August-September (Fig. 23).
No remedy to control fruit drop has been found yet. However, spray of
borax (0.1%) is effective in reducing the fruit drop to some extent. Apart
from that plant growth regulators like planofix (2 ml/5 l of water) at pea
stage minimize fruit drop considerably. If fruit drop is due to Fusarium
stalk infection, hexaconazole @ 1 ml/l may be sprayed at 15 days interval.

Fig. 25 Fruit drop

32
Harvesting & Ripening
Bael fruits are ready for harvest during April-May, when the fruit shell
changes its colour from deep green to yellowish green. At this time, the tree
is in leafless condition and the fruits are completely exposed. Harvesting
by shaking the tree is discouraged as the fruit is likely to develop cracks
on its brittle shell due to impact of strike against ground. A minor crack on
shell may cause heavy spoilage due to fungal infections, during storage.
The fruit should be individually handpicked to avoid falling on the ground.
Since, the stem end of the fruit is prone to infection, hence harvesting along
with a portion of stalk (approximately 2 cm) is desirable practice. The stalk
gets automatically detached when the fruit is ripe, indicating completion
of ripening. Fruit setting in bael takes place during late May and ripe fruits
are available in the following April-May (11-12 months) under Lucknow
conditions. However, this may vary in different agro climatic zones of the
country.

Grading & Packaging

Bael fruits owing to variation in shapes and sizes, require proper
grading. The de-shaped/small and cracked fruit should be discarded.
Bigger sized and medium/small sized fruits, depending on the varieties
should be separated. Not much work has been conducted on    packaging
of bael fruits. Generally these are  packed in gunny bags, basket or wooden
boxes and sometimes just laoded unpacked.  However, it is essential
that   cushioning material i.e., straw, paper, saw dust, news paper liner,
paper cuttings etc. are used for packaging bael fruits. Care should be taken
that the fruit should not develop any cracks or damage during packing,
transportation, marketing and storage.  

Storage
The storage life of the fruits depends upon the stage of
harvesting. Bael fruits can be stored for 10-15 days at normal temperature.
The storage life of bael fruit could be increased from 2 weeks at temperature
30º C to 12 weeks at temperature 9º C and relative humidity 85-90 per cent.

Processing
Bael fruit is rich in medicinal and therapeutic properties and is widely
used in Ayurvedic medicines for curing stomach ailments. It contains
31.8 per cent carbohydrate, 1.8 per cent protein, 0.3 per cent fat, 1.7 per
cent minerals and 2.1 per cent fibre along with calcium, phosphorus, iron,
riboflavin, vitamin-C and carotene. It also contains anti-oxidants, namely
marmelosin and psoralen having high therapeutic value. Bael fruit is not
popular as table fruit due to its hard shell, mucilaginous and highly fibrous
33
nature of pulp with numerous small embedded seeds. However, it is widely
used since time immemorial for preparation of preserve from mature green
fruits. Ripe bael fruit is commonly used for preparing drinkby mixing the
pulp with water and sugar. Milk may also be added, if desired. A beverage
is also made by combining bael pulp with that of tamarind. Recipes for
preparation of some popular bael products are given below:

(A) Products made from mature but unripe bael fruits

Murraba (Preserve)
Materials:
Bael fruit - 1 kg (600 g in pieces)
Sugar - 750 g
Citric acid - 2.4 g
Potassium metabisulphite - 600 mg
(preservative)

Method: Cut the mature bael fruit in 3/4 inch thick slices using fine
cutter or saw. Remove the shell, mucilage and seeds from the slices. Boil
the pieces in 0.2 per cent (1.2g/600ml) citric acid solution till they become
soft. Remove the pieces from the water. Spread sugar and pieces layer
by layer and leave the content for 24 hours. Next day, remove the pieces
and concentrate the sugar solution up to 60ºB. Add required quantity of
citric acid and potassium metabisulphite. Dip the pieces in sugar syrup
for overnight. Concentrate the syrup up to 72 ºB and dip the pieces again.
Repeat this process till TSS of the solution reaches 72ºB. After preparing
the preserve, fill it in the jar in 45:55 ratio of bael pieces and syrup, pack
and store.
Candy
Materials:
Bael - 1 kg
Sugar - 750 g
Citric acid - 2.4 g
Potassium metabisulphite (preservative) - 600 mg

Method: During the method of preserve making, when TSS of sugar

solution reaches 72ºB, remove the pieces from the sugar syrup and rinse
with lukewarm water (45-50ºC) twice or thrice till surface sugar is washed
34
out. These pieces is dehydrated in solar or electric dehydrator at 60ºC for 8
to 10 hours till the moisture content comes down to 10-15 per cent. Remove
the candy from dehydrator and cool at normal temperature. Pack in the
food grade plastic jar or pouches and store.

Powder (churan)
Materials:
Pieces of mature bael fruits - 1 kg
Potassium metabisulphite (preservative) - 1g

Method: Take mature bael fruits and remove the shell and seeds, etc.
and cut into pieces. Mix preservative with the pieces and dry in electric
dehydrator at 60ºC for 7 hours. Grind the pieces and pass the powder
through 80-100 mesh sieve. Pack the powder in food grade plastic containers
or pouches and store.

(B) Products made from ripe bael fruits

Pulp
Materials:
Bael fruit - 1 kg
Citric acid - 3.5 g
Potassium metabisulphite (preservative) - 2.4 g
Water) - 600 mg

Method: Extract the pulp from mature ripe bael fruits. Mix with 0.2
per cent (1.2 g/600 g) citric acid along with water and boil till the pulp is
separated from fibre. After cooling, pass this material through pulper and
heat the filtered pulp up to 78-80ºC. Mix the remaining portion of citric
acid and potassium metabisulphite (dissolved in little amount of water)
with the pulp properly. Fill the pulp in pre-sterilized jars and seal. Store
the product at normal temperature.
Squash
Materials:
Bael pulp - 1 kg
Sugar - 1.15 kg
Citric acid -5g
Water - 300 ml

35
 Method: Extract the pulp from bael fruits and preserve it as in case
of bael pulp.Dissolve required sugar in lukewarm water and filter through
muslin cloth to remove impurities. Mix sugar solution with bael pulp and
heat up to 78-80ºC. Add citric acid (dissolved in little amount of water).
Fill the squash in pre-sterilized bottles and seal. Dilute with three times of
chilled water for serving.

Ready to serve (RTS) drink

Materials:
Bael pulp - 1 kg
Sugar - 1.5 kg
Citric acid - 20 g
Water - 8.0 l

Method: Dissolve required amount of sugar in water and filter through

muslin cloth to remove the impurities. Mix sugar solution with preserved
bael pulp and heat up to 90ºC. Add citric acid (dissolved in little amount
of water). Fill the ready RTS drink in pre-sterilized glass bottles and seal.
Keep the sealed bottles in boiling water for 20 minutes. Cool the bottles at
room temperature and store at room temperature.

Jam
Materials:
Pulp - 1.0 kg
Sugar - 1.5 kg
Citric acid - 11.0 g
Water - 200 ml

Method: Mix required sugar in water and heat till it is completely

dissolved. Filter it through muslin cloth to remove impurities. Mix the sugar
syrup with preserved bael pulp and heat till TSS of the mixture reaches to
68ºB. Dissolve citric acid in little amount of water and add to the mixture.
Continue heating till end point (starts dropping as clots from spoon) is
achieved. Fill the prepared jam in pre-sterilized jars, sealed with caps and
stored at room temperature.

36
Toffee
Materials:
Pulp - 1 kg
Sugar - 400 g
Glucose - 50 g
Milk powder - 100 g
Butter - 80 g
Potassium metabisulphite (preservative) - 500 mg
Method: Heat the preserved bael pulp in stainless steel pan with
regular stirring. When quantity of pulp is reduced to one third, mix sugar,
glucose, milk powder and half quantity of butter and heat further. When
end point (TSS 83ºB) is achieved, add rest amount of butter. When toffee
material is about to be ready, add preservative (dissolved in little amount
of water). Spread the toffee material in 0.5 cm thick uniform layer in butter
smeared trays. After cooling, cut the material in to toffee sized pieces and
put them in electric dehydrator at 60ºC. When moisture level comes down
to 9-10 per cent, remove toffee from dehydrator, cool and wrap them in
butter paper.

Marketing and economics

Bael fruits are mainly sold in domestic market exclusively for
processing. Due to its hard outer shell, it can be transported to longer
distances for marketing. Now-a-days, its demand is increasing in Ayurvedic
system of medicines. It is used in many ayurvedic preparations and there is
need to create more awareness about its medicinal attributes internationally
to increase its demand globally.
Under north Indian conditions, a five year old tree of commercial
variety NB-5 gives about 30-40 fruits per tree. The average weight of fruits
is about 0.8-1.0 kg. With this level, yield is about 30-40 kg per tree. As per
estimate from baelorcharding the net return is of about Rs. 1,00,000 per ha.
There is good demand of baelproducts in the domestic market and one can
fetch good income by establishing a small scale processing unit.

Future thrust
• Since, rich genetic diversity in bael germplasm is available in our
country, particularly in the states of U.P., Bihar, Jharkhand, M.P., Orissa,
Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, etc., proper attention is needed for selection
of superior genotypes with good quality and high yield potential.
• Some of the major problems associated with bael are fruit drop, fruit
cracking and rotting of fruits, for which identification of resistant/

37
 tolerant genotypes and work for the management of pathogens involved
with these problems is required.
• Development of cultivars with minimum seed and mucilage content
is also very necessary.
• More emphasis on post-harvest technology should be given for value
added and export oriented processed products.
• Promotion of small scale processing industries is a must to increase
the processing.
• To increase the production of fruits in wasteland, screening of
genotypes/cultivars is now essential for drought resistance, moisture
stress and biotic stresses.
• Development of suitable varieties for high density orcharding.
• The medicinal properties of the fruit should be highlighted to global
community to enhance awareness about this fruit.
• Research should be focused on bael based farming systems for proper
land utilization.
• The traditional knowledge of bael needs to be protected through
patents.
• Establishment of model nursery and availability of genuine planting
material needs to be promoted.
• For achieving commercial cultivation of bael fruit, utilization of
wasteland and orcharding in problem soils needs to be undertaken,
as this crop can give dividend in these conditions.

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