-Arecanut (Areca caiechu L.) or betlelnut is an extensively cultivated tropical palm, the nuts of which form a popular masticatory in India, the Middle East and the Far East. It is a tall-stemmed erect palm, reaching varied heights, depending upon the environmental conditions. Palms attaining a height of 30 metres are not uncommon. Arecanut is consumed both as a raw/ripe nut (adaka or kacha tamul), as dried ripe nut (chali supari) and as semi-mature, cut and processed varieties `Bateldike’ or `Kalipak’ and also is an essential ingredient of ‘gutka’. There areover 150 trade types, differing in maturity, processing conditions and varying in their taste characteristics as per market conditions prevailing at different centers of the country. The drying of the whole fruits for making chali supari requires up to 40 to 45 days of good sun-shine, so as to get a moisture level of about 10 per cent. Drying ripe nuts on cement

floors reduces fungal infection of the nuts to a minimum level of about 5 per cent. A drier designed recently has been found to be most suitable to produce good-quality `chali supari’. The cup-shaped nuts `Batladike’ or `Kaplipak’ is prepared by boiling tender arecanuts after husking and cutting into halves. Frequent additions of the decoction, commonly known as `Chogaru’, obtained by the pressure-boiling of tender dried over mats in the sun for about 7 days. An important by-product of the arecanut industry is the husk of nuts which can be utilized for making boards, paper etc. ‘Chogaru’, a by-product obtained from the processing of tender nut is rich in tannins which can be used for converting hides into leather for treating the fishing-nets and for preparing ink. The spathe covering of the inflorescence, and the leaf-sheath can be used for making caps and for packing. The palm-trunk is a useful building material. The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative (Campco) has set up Arecanut Research and Development Foundation in Mangalore to find alternative uses or arecanut ot face the impending ban on the manufacture and sales of gutka.

Of the several species of the genus Areca, A. Catechu is the most commonly cultivated species. Five exotic introductions, viz. `VTL-3’, 11, 12, 13 and 17, and an indigenous one, `Mohitnagar,’ have been found to be superior to the local variety in economic attributes. Release Committee under the name `Mangala’. `Mangala’ is an introduction from the Orient. It is a semi-tall early-bearing variety, about 70 per cent more than the local variety.

Areca thrives well in a variety of soils, the laterite soils of the West Coast, the red loamy soils of the Mettupalayam (Tamil Nadu), the alluvial soils of Assam and West Bengal and the loam of Orissa. The foremost factor that has to be considered in establishing an arecanut plantation is that the site selected should have adequate facilities for irrigation. The soil also should be deep and well drained, without a high water-table. Being highly susceptible to a sun-scorch, the areca palms need adequate protection from exposure to the south-western sun.

It is crucial to select genetically superior planting-material for which mother-palms possessing characters of high habitability, correlated with high yield are to be identified. Of the many mother-palm characters studied, the age at first bearing and the percentage of the nuts set were found to be correlated with yield and having high habitability. The selection of seed nuts may be commenced only after the stabilization of yield of the palm. This stabilization generally takes 4 to 5 years from the first bearing. Only fully ripe nuts should be selected as seed nuts, discarding underdeveloped and malformed ones.

The selected seed nuts are sown soon after harvest, 5 to 6 cm apart, in beds of sand under partial shade, with their stalk-ends pointing upwards. Sand is spread over the nuts just to cover them. The nuts are irrigated daily. Germination starts about 40 days after sowing and the sprouts are ready for transplanting when they are about three months old. Nursery-beds of 150 cm width and of convenient length are prepared for transplanting sprouts. The sprouts are to be transplanted at a spacing of 30 cm X 30 cm with the onset of the monsoon. A basal dose of well-decomposed cattle manure at the rate of 5 tonnes per hectare may be applied to the second nursery. Partial shade to the seedlings can also be provided by erecting an artificial pandal, of by raising crops, like Coccinia indica as an overhead pandal. The seedlings would be ready for transplanting when they are 12 to 18 months old. Seedlings having the maximum number of leaves and the minimum height alone should be selected for planting. Correlations worked out between plant characters, recorded after one or transplanting and the girth at the collar, one year after transplanting and the number of nodes two years after transplanting are highly correlated with the yield potential of the palm.

The land is prepared well by digging or repeated ploughing and is leveled and terraced, if necessary. Channels are to be provided if the palms are to be grown under irrigation. The drainage of soil is also to be attended to. Pits of 90 cm³ dug at 2.7 m apart both ways are in the centre of the pit, covered with soil up to the collar. The soil is to be pressed on all sides. Planting is done usually in May-June in well-drained soils, but in clayey soils, subject to water-logging, planting can be post poned till August-September to obtain a better establishing of the plants. A shade-crop such as banana, can be raised with advantage. This shade-crop in addition to giving protection to seedlings from sun-scorch, also gives good return. A proper alignment of the plantation will totally prevent the scorching of the stem. In the square system of planting at a spacing of 2.7 m x 2.7 m, the north-south line should be deflected at an angle of 35° to the west. The outermost row of plants on the southern and south-western sides can be protected by growing tall and quick-growing shade trees.

A steady and high yield will depend much on the adequate availability of plant nutrients in the soil. This is all the more important in the case of such a perennial crop. Since almost all the arecanut-growing areas are in heavy-rainfall tracts, the soils are liable to leaching and erosion thus making them poor in major plant nutrients and organic matter. The annual application of 100 g of N, 40 g of P₂O₅ and 140 g o K₂O in the form of fertilizers and 12 kg of each of green manure and compost or cattle manure per bearing palm is recommended. The fertilizers may be applied in two split doses during September-October and February, and green manure and compost in single dose in September-October. Under rain-fed conditions, the application of the second dose of fertilizers may be given in March or April after adequate summer showers. For young palms, a full dose of green manure and compost or cattle-dung may be applied from the first year of planting along with one-third of the quantity of fertilizer, followed by two-thirds of the fertilizer in the second year and the full dose from the third year onwards. Manuring during September-October is done in basins of 0.75 m to 1 m radius, made around the palm to a depth of 15 to 20 cm. The second dose of the fertilizer can be applied to the base of each palm all around and mixed with the soil by a light forking. The soils of the arecanut-growing areas are mostly acidic. The application of lime at the rate of 500 g per palm once in two or three years corrects the soil acidity, increases the availability of plant nutrients, reduces the phosphorus fixation in the soil, enhances the microbiological activity and improves the to be completed at least three weeks before manuring in September-October.

The palms may be irrigated once in 3 to 5 days, depending upon the soil type. In southern Kerala, where arecanut is mainly grown under rain-fed conditions, it has been found that manuring along with irrigation gives three times more yield than manuring alone. Adequate drainage should also be provided, since the palms are unable to withstand water-logging. The main cultural operations, such as light forking or digging to break the irrigation crust and to control weeds, are performed towards the close of the monsoon, generally in October-November. Where the land is sloppy, terracing has to be done to prevent and erosion. The raising of green manure-cum-cover crops, such as Minosu invisa, Stylosanthes gracillis and Calopognoium mucnoides, was also found to be advantageous. Owing to the long pre-bearing age of this palm, practically no income is obtained during the first several years. Intercropping with suitable crops, such as elephant-foot-yam, banana, guinea-grass or mixed cropping with cacao, pepper and betel-vine can be taken up in areas gardens without any detriment to the yield of the main crop. The culling out of uneconomic trees and replacing them with good seedlings is important in maintaining a high level of productivity (of the garden).

The pre-bearing age of the palm ranges from 5 to 8 years. Though inflorescence initiation has been observed in every leaf axil, there is absorption of inflorescences to about 5 per cent. The plant is monoecious, producing both male and female flowers on the same tree. The spadix of a grown-up palm produces on an average, 294 female flowers. The colour of the fruit during its growth changes from green to different shades of yellow and red during ripening. In some places, tender nuts are mature nuts are harvested. Tender nuts are harvested from July to December and ripe nuts from December to March or from May to July. Three or four plucking are done during the whole season.