Jamun Cultivation

Jamun is a popular indigenous fruits Of India. It has got very valuable place in Auyurvedic medicines. It is believed to be a boon for diabetic patients. But in India, its organised orcharding is still lacking mainly because of lack of proper information on cultivation practices and non-availability of dwarf and high yielding varieties. In this booklet all the information on jamun cultivation has been collected and presented in a simple and interesting form.

The jamun is an important indigenous minor fruit of commercial value. It is also known as black plum, Indian black cherry, Ram jamun etc. in different parts of India. The tree is tall and handsome, evergreen, generally grown for shade and windbreak on roads and avenues.

In India, the maximum number of jamun trees are found scattered throughout the tropical and subtropical regions. It also occurs in the lower range of the Himalayas up to an elevation of 1,300 meters and in the Kumaon hills up to 1,600 meters. It is widely grown in the larger parts of India from the Indo-Gangetic plains in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South. The data about its total acreage in India are not available.

Species

The genus Eugenia comprises of 1,000 species of evergreen trees and shrubs, most of them being tropical in origin. Some of the old world Eugenia species are now placed in the genus Syzygium. It belongs to the family Myrtaceae. Many of these species yield edible fruits and some of these are of ornamental and medicinal value. A wild species S.frniticosum with small edible fruits is grown as windbreaks. The large evergreen tree has small dark purple fruits with prominent elongated seeds. The fruit is an astringent (causing contraction of body tissue) even when ripe. A popular fruit is the rose apple or gulab-jamun (S.jambos). It is found in South India and West Bengal. The tree is very ornamental. The fruit is yellow in colour, generally insipid in taste and has high pectin content.

S. zeylanica, small tree with edible fruits, is found on the Western Ghats and S. malaccensis (Malay rose apple) found in South India. Another related fruit found in South India is Surinam cherry (S.uniflora). It is a small tree with blight red aromatic fruits. S. javanicum (water apple) is also found in South India and West Bengal. S.densiflora is used as rootstock in jamun (S. cumini) and is resistant to the attack of termites.

Varieties

There are no standard varieties of this fruit under cultivation. The common variety grown under North Indian conditions is “Ram Jarnun”. It produces big sized, oblong fruits, deep purple or bluish-black in colour at full ripe stage. The pulp of the ripe fruit is purple pink and the fruit is juicy and sweet. The stone is small in size. The variety ripens in the month of June- July and it is very common both in rural as well as in urban markets.

Planting

Jamun is an evergreen tree and can be planted both in spring i.e. February -March and the monsoon season i.e. July-August. The latter season is considered better as the trees planted in February- March have to pass through a very hot and dry period in May and June soon after planting and generally suffer from mortalities from the unfavourable weather conditions. Prior to planting, the field is properly cleared and ploughed. Pits of 1 x 1 x 1 m size are dug at the distance of 10m both ways. Usually, work of digging of pits is completed before the onset of monsoon. The pit are filled with mixture of75% top soil and 25% well rotten farmyard manure or compost. Another common way of growing jamun trees is to plant them as shade trees near the farm dwellings and wells. Here they provide a welcome shadow besides fruit.

What are some commercial uses of Jamun?
Commercially, jamun is used to make jellies, jams, wines, vinegar and other beverages. It is also used to make squash when combined with sugar, water, citric acid and sodium benzoate. The last one is added as a preservative. Ripe jamuns are used in making fantastic wines while unripe fruits are employed to produce tart vinegar. Packaged jamun juices are also available in the market, however, it is much better to make organic jamun juice at home.

What is the nutritional value of Jamun?
Jamun is loaded with nutrition that makes it a great snack to have in summer. The dark colour of the skin is because of anthocyanin, which is a potent phytonutrient. This provides the body with an ample amount of antioxidants, that protect the cells in the body from harm caused by oxidative stress and free radicals. Jamun is rich in naturally occurring sugar called fructose and contains very few calories. 100 grams of Jamun gives you just 62 calories and 18 mg vitamin C, 15 mg calcium, 15 mg phosphorus, 26.5 mg sodium, 55 mg potassium, 5 mg magnesium and small amounts of thiamine, riboflavin, carotene, folic acid, fibre and negligible fat. Jamun is loaded in glucose and water content, making it a suitable fruit to have during the hot summer months.

Fertilizer Application

The jamun trees are generally not manured. This is not because they do not require manuring or fail to respond to it but because they can stand a good deal of neglect. An annual dose of about 19 kg faI1nyard manure during the pre-beating period and 75 kg per tree bearing trees is considered.
Normally, seedling jamun trees start bearing at the age of 8 to 10 years while grafted or budded trees come into bearing in 6 to 7 years. On very rich soils, the trees have a tendency to put on more vegetative growth with the result that fruiting is delayed. When the trees show such a tendency, they should not be supplied with any manure and fertilizer and irrigation should be given sparingly and withheld in September-October and again in February-March.
This helps in fruit bud formation, blossoming and in fruit setting. Sometimes this may not prove effective and even more drastic treatments such as ringing and root pruning may have to be resorted to.. A fruit grower has, therefore, to be cautious in manuring and fertilizing jamun trees and hence, has to adjust the doses according to the growth and fruiting of trees.

Irrigation

In early stages, the jamun tree requires frequent irrigations but af1cr the trees gets established, the interval between irrigations can be greatly decreased. Young trees require 8 to 10 irrigations in a year. The mature trees require only about half the number, which should be applied during May and June when the fruit is ripening. During autumn and winter months, just an occasional irrigation may be applied when the soil is dry. This will also save the trees from the ill effects of frost in winter.

Harvesting and Yield

The seedling jamun plants start bearing after 8 to 10 years of planting, while grafted ones bear after 6 to 7 years. However, commercial bearing starts after 8 to 10 years of planting and continues till the tree becomes 50 to 60 years old. The fruit ripens in the month of June -July. The main characteristic of ripe fruit at full size is deep purple or black colour. The fruit should be picked immediately when it is ripe, because it can not be retained on the tree in ripe stage. The ripe fruits are hand picked singly by climbing the tree with bags slung on the shoulder. Care should be taken to avoid all possible damage to
fruits.
The average yield of fruits from a full grown seedling tree is about 80 to 100 kg and from a grafted one 60 to 70 kg per year.

Uses and Composition

Jamun fruit possesses considerable nutritive value. Apart fi’om minerals, sugars, and proteins, it is a good source of iron also.