Everything you need to know about peach cultivation and harvest! Learn about: 1. Botany of Peach 2. Origin of Peach 3. Climate and Soil 4. Orchard Cultural Practices 5. Propagation and Rootstocks 6. Planting and Operation 7. Flowering and Fruiting 8. Training and Pruning 9. Harvesting and Handling 10. Diseases and Insect Pests.
Botany of Peach:
The peach belongs to the genus Prunus of the family Rosaceae.
The important species of peaches and nectarines are as follows:
1. Prunus Persica (L.) Stokes [Syn. Of Prunus Persica Batsch]:
It is a low headed tree with glabrous twigs. Much like the almond in botanical characters. Leaves broadly lanceolate or oblong lanceolate, 10-22.5 cm long, acuminate, finely sharp-serrate when young, otherwise, coarsely crenate-serrate, shinning above and somewhat lighter beneath.
The petiole usually gland bearing, flowers solitary, pink, appearing before the leaves, the sepals more or less pubescent on outside, fruit soft, pubescent at maturity, the stone deep pitted and very hard.
There are two well-marked horticultural forms, the clingstones (Persica vulgaris, Risso) and the freestones (Persica domestica, Risso).
Ornamental forms of Peach:
A. Prunus Persica Var. Nucipersica, Schneid- The Nectarine- A smooth-skinned form of peach, Fruit smooth, usually smaller, leaves usually more strongly serrate but not always so.
B. Prunus Persica Var. Platycarpa, Bailey- Saucer Peach- Fruit much flattened endwise and scarcely thicker in that direction than the length of the stone, with a calyx-like eye or broken cavity at apex. Stone is small, clingstone, flat, compressed, rough and irregular. Fruit is greenish with a red cheek, medium in size, flesh light yellow and of good flavour but with a slight bitter-almond taste.
2. Prunus Davidiana, Franch- Father David’s Peach:
It is a slender willow-like tree. Leaves are narrower and smaller than those of the common peach, tapering from near the base into very long acuminate points, very sharp-serrate, light green, willow-like. Flowers are appearing very early, one inch or more in diameter, light pink, solitary, the sepals glabrous. Fruit is nearly globular. The suture prominent, pubescent, greyish or yellowish, stone small nearly spherical, ruminated, free from the whitish dry flesh.
3. Prunus Mira, Wilson:
The tree is small, bushy, with rather slender branches. Leaves narrow, long, pointed. Fruit roundish or oval, pubescent, flesh white and freestone. Stone is unusually small and smooth. The tree has late blooming habit.
Origin of Peach:
Whereas in the family Rosaceae, the fruits of apple and pear are pomes, those in the genus Prunus are drupes. Botanically, it is the same type of fruit as found in mango. These fruits include peach, plum, apricot, cherry and almond.
The peach (Prunus persica) requires the warmest climate of all temperate fruits and is generally grown in lower hills except for the varieties belonging to the honey group, which can be grown under sub-tropical conditions. Peach is generally self-fruitful except the variety J. H. Hale, which is male sterile. There are many varieties of peach, but Elberta has the widest climatic adaptability other varieties cultivated in India include Alexander, Early Rivers, July Elberta, World’s Earliest, Triumph, Duke of York and J.H. Hale.
A honey type of peach called Sharbati does well in the sub-montane areas of U.P. Another variety with flat fruit called Chakli grows on the plains but its fruit quality is very poor.
Low chilling varieties of peach, such as Flordasun, Flordared, Sun Red and 16-33 (named Shan-e-Punjab) have now become popular. These are introductions from Florida in USA. Pratap is another early variety (7 days earlier than Floradasun).
Its flesh is yellow, firm with red coloration and better keeping quality. Florda Prince (early ripening) and Earlygranade (mid-season maturity) are the varieties recommended for commercial cultivations for the plains of Punjab and adjoining areas. Prabhat is a hybrid of Sharbati (white flesh variety) with Flordasun developed at Saharanpur. Its attractive fruit is sweet and early maturing.
Peach is generally propagated by budding on seedlings of peach. This root-stock is suitable for light soils. The seeds of peach are stratified before sowing by keeping them between layers of wet sand at a low temperature. For heavy soils and water-logged conditions, plum is a better root- stock.
However, most of the plums are incompatible with peach. The planting distance is generally 6 to 7 metres. Peach responds to frequent cultivation, which should not be too deep. It requires a higher amount of nitrogen than other temperate fruits.
Under Indian conditions, a fertilizer dose of 55 to 65 kg N, 55 to 65 kg P and 110 to 135 kg K per hectare is recommended for bearing orchard. On per plant basis application of 20: 15: 15g of N, P and K per year of age of the plant is recommended. The rate should be increased annually at the same rate and after 10 years the dose is not increased any further. Band placement of fertilizers in the soil within the tree canopy is recommended.
Peach bears fruit mostly on one-year-old wood and its pruning is important. In the training of a peach tree, three to four main limbs with two secondary branches on each are allowed to develop. The pruning of the bearing trees consists of heading back the one-year-old shoots to two-thirds of their length and thinning out some of these.
Some of the older branch-lets are headed back even, year to prevent the tree from becoming very tall. Heavy pruning causes excessive vegetative growth and poor cropping. Light pruning leads to over-bearing and restricted vegetative growth, resulting in poor crop the following year. The standard open vase form is the most efficient system. Fruit- thinning is done in May and June to improve fruit-size.
Chemicals are used for fruit thinning in peach. Some of the most commonly used chemicals are CEPA or Ethephon or Ethrel, DNOC, NAA, 2, 4, 5 T.P, GA-3, Carbaryl and Thiourea. Application of 50 to 100 ppm ethephon is effective. It also improves fruit quality. In early maturing cultivars blossom thinning is more effective than later thinning. In mid-season and late cultivars thinning should be done at petal fall or at fruit set, before the pit hardening stage.
Peaches are harvested when they are still hard. Their quality improves after harvesting. They can ripen well in storage or in transit. The bearing life of the peach varies from 10 to 20 years in India. The fruit yield is 20 to 40 kg per tree.
Peach leaf curl aphid is most serious pest of peach, causing damage to floral and vegetative buds, resulting in small distorted pale, curled leaves. Spraying systemic insecticide like methyl-demeton and dimethoate at 0.02 to 0.03% during leaf emergence controls the pest.
Fruit flies puncture and lay eggs inside the fruit during maturity to ripening. The infested fruits develop brownish patches due to rotting and drop. Spraying with 0.05% fenthion or fenitrothion and 0.03% dimethoate at fruit maturity controls the pest effectively.
Leaf curl is a fungal disease. High temperature and high humidity favour the incidence of this disease. Spraying carbendazim or copper oxychloride controls the incidence.
Climate and Soil Required for Peach Cultivation:
In India, peach is mainly grown in mid-hills at a height ranging 1000-1600 metres above sea level and certain varieties are grown in sub-tropical areas which require only 250-300 hours of chilling during the year for proper flowering and fruiting. Peaches do well in wet and humid climate with cold winter and dry summer. It is like mild climate. The varieties of superb quality and good taste do not grow well in plains, because their chilling requirements are not met with. They also require protection from hot desiccating wind.
On the other hand peaches do not grow well where winter temperature falls to 10-15°F below the freezing point as it gets injured. Peach trees require chilling period below 7°C for breaking the dormancy and flowering. The chilling requirement varies from 200-850 hours depending upon the variety. The variety like Red-haven has a relatively high chilling requirement (800 – 850 hours) and should not be grown in areas experiencing mild winters.
Sub-tropical climate of Punjab is ideally suited for the cultivation of low chilling peaches. Availability of chilling temperature upto 300 hours during winter months is enough to break the dormancy of low chilling cultivars. After fruit setting from March to June, the climate is warm to hot (35 – 42°C). This is favourable for the development and maturity of fruits provided adequate water supply is available. The annual rainfall of 45 cm is sufficient for peach. Spring frost is more harmful for peach cultivation.
The peach thrive well on light sandy soil. Deep fertile loam or sandy loam with lime content less than 10 per cent and having good drainage considered best for successful peach growing. The pH of the soil should be in between 6 to 8. Fertile and heavy soils are hazardous as it makes heavy growth and hence results in winter injury. It does not tolerate imperfect drainage. Poorly drained soils resulted into spotty planting, short duration trees with low yield and high cost of production. Such soils should be rejected for peach cultivation.
Orchard Cultural Practices for Peach:
i. Irrigation:
With the onset of spring, the trees put forth new growth flush. Consequently, they need much greater amounts of water than was being applied in winter. The young as well as the old peach trees should be irrigated regularly and more frequently. The need for irrigation is going to build up further as the weather becomes warmer. During April as the season gets quite hot, both newly planted young plants and bearing peach trees require frequent irrigations. Watering of the trees would depend upon-type of soil, age of plant, locality, etc. However, irrigation may be given at about 8-10 days interval. The newly set plants would require watering at still shorter intervals.
The fruit development period in peach fruit starts after fruit set in March and continues during April to June till maturity depending upon the variety. This is a critical period of irrigation for the trees. Peach trees should not suffer from any moisture stress particularly 25 – 30 days before maturity of fruit, because the maximum weight gain in fruits takes place during these days.
The critical period of irrigation for Partap and Florida Prince is end-March to third Week of April, for Shan-i-Punjab and Earli Grande is mid-April to first week of May and for Sharbati is from end-May to end June.
In plains for proper development of fruit size and quality, frequent irrigations should be given during April and May. In early maturing varieties, irrigation should be given during the first 3-4 weeks after fruit set at weekly intervals. Thereafter, from the second week of April to start of harvesting, the trees may be irrigated at 3-4 days interval. In the hills, atleast two irrigations during fruit development period are useful.
During November, the atmospheric temperature cools down considerably, irrigation to peach orchards should be given at longer intervals. The peach tree would become dormant and there will be less transpiration because of shedding of leaves. The irrigation at this time should be withheld, so that they enter into dormancy and become sufficiently hardened to withstand cool weather. By giving frequent irrigations at this time, the trees would continue to grow and become prone to winter injury.
ii. Cultivation:
Cultivation helps in better soil aeration, destruction of weeds, increased nitrification and destruction of pupae/grubs of hibernating insects. However, only shallow cultivation is recommended, as deep cultivation may do harm by damaging fibrous roots of the fruit tree, which are mostly in the upper soil.
Cultivation is most essential for getting a profitable crop of peach. Without good cultivation, the fruit will be inferior and the tree will get devitalized and fall a ready prey to pests and diseases. Ploughing should not be done deeper than 10 cm as otherwise, the root system may be severely injured.
Cultivation should be started in winter and continued till April-May. A suitable cover crop may be sown in the rainy season after the fruit is picked and the same ploughed in during winter. This proves to be a very useful practice.
iii. Peach as Filler Tree:
In the orchards of mango, litchi and pear which came into bearing rather late peach may be planted as fillers. Peach came into bearing quite early and yield good income before the permanent trees start bearing commercial crops.
iv. Weed Control:
Weeds are common in peach orchards during spring and the rainy season. They can be kept under control by using the following doses of herbicides. Diuron 5 kg/ha or Glyphosate or Gramoxone at 4-5 l/ha are very effective in controlling the broad spectrum of weeds in peach orchard. Diuron should be used at the pre-emergence stage of weeds in the first week of March, whereas glyphosate or gramoxone should be used at the post-emergence stage of weeds when they grow 15-20 cm tall.
Dissolve the required quantity of weedicide in 500 litres of water per ha and spray during calm days. The spray of post-emergence herbicides may be repeated as and when required particularly during the rainy season when the weeds are abundant.
v. Manuring and Fertilization:
In peach, balance nutritional schedule is important in order to maintain tree health and productivity. Application of 60 kg FYM, 500 g N, 250 g P2O5 and 600 g K2O per tree of 6 years of age has been recommended for growers of Himachal Pradesh. In sub-tropical climate of Punjab, a recommendation of 25 kg FYM, 500 g N, 120 g P2O5 and 500 g K2O per tree to full grown tree of 5 years and above has been made. In Uttaranchal for 6 years and above old peach trees, 10 kg FYM 300 g each N and K2O and 500 g P2O5 is recommended.
To July Elberta peach, application of 600 g K2O can be supplemented with two foliar sprays of 0.5 per cent potassium chloride for higher yield and quality fruits.
In Arunachal Pradesh to 7 years old trees and above , 50 kg FYM, 350 g N and 210 g P2O5 and K2O each is applied.
Whole the quantity of farmyard manure along with phosphorus and potassium is given during December. Half of nitrogen should be given before flowering and the remaining half after the fruit-set. The manure or fertilizer should always be applied by evenly broadcasting in the tree basins which should be sufficiently large and should encompass the entire canopy of the tree. The manures should be thoroughly mixed with the soil by shallow hoeing done by Khurpa and spade. The trees should be watered immediately after the application of manures.
Propagation and Rootstocks of Peach:
Peaches are commercially propagated by budding and grafting. Among budding methods, T-budding is commonly used. In case of grafting, the method employed depends upon the thickness of stock. If scion and stock are of the same size, tongue grafting is recommended.
But when the stock is of more thickness, cleft or wedge grafting is done. Budding can be done from April to September and grafting is done during dormant season i.e.in December-January before the scion and stock start sprouting.
Raising of Rootstock:
Rootstock for peaches is raised from the seeds of Desi peach trees. The seeds of Flordaguard and some commercial cultivars like Sharbati and Khurmani are also used to grow the rootstock for peach propagation. Peach plants can also be raised on peach almond hybrid, apricot, almond seedling, plum and Behmi. Procure ripe fruits of Flordaguard or Sharbati in June-July.
Extract stones from pulp, wash and dry under shade for 4-5 days. Treat the stones with Ziram or Thiram or Captan @ 300 g/quintal of stones. Pack the stones in dry gunny/plastic bags and store them under cool dry place till these are used for stratification from November to January.
Flordaguard is recently recommended rootstock for peaches by PAU, Ludhiana. It is resistant to root knot nematodes. Its trees are spreading, self-fertile and precocious having red leaves. Flowers produced in abundance, deep pink and showy. Fruits pubescent with dull red colour, yellow fleshed and free stone. It ripens from end June to first week of July.
Peach seeds need certain chilling hours to germinate. The process of meeting the cold requirement of seeds is called stratification. The stratification of peach seeds can be done under natural conditions and under cold storage conditions at 10°C or below.
(a) Stratification of Seed under Natural Conditions:
The stratification under natural conditions can be done either in the wooden boxes or directly sowing the seeds in the nursery beds. The seeds in wooden boxes are placed, for stratification during middle of November in layers with alternate layers of sand at or below 7.2°C for 100-120 days till the seed dormancy is broken and germination starts. These boxes are watered from time to time to keep the seed in moist condition. The boxes used are usually 75 cm in length and 45 cm high.
Four or five layers of sand and seeds can be accommodated in such boxes. When the seeds from the upper layer start germinating the stratification is thought to be completed. Then these layers of seed are separated one by one and are planted in the nursery beds. The seeds which have not germinated in boxes should also be sown in the beds as there is every possibility of its germination in the field.
The seeds are sown in lines 30 cm apart and a distance of 60 cm is left after every two rows. This will facilitate the budding process and cultural operations in the nursery beds. The seeds within a line are sown at a distance of 15 cm. The seeds in the boxes start germinating in the second or third week of January and are immediately transplanted in the nursery beds.
The nursery beds should be prepared on well drained fertile soils. The sandy loam soil is considered the best for raising the peach nurseries. The field once used for raising the nursery should not be used again for the same purpose atleast for two years, as there is every possibility of attack of fungal diseases, nematodes and production of toxins by the peach roots.
The land where the beds are to be prepared should be treated against fungal diseases and nematodes at least about 15 days before sowing the seed. For direct stratification, seeds are sown in lines in the nursery beds where they are to be budded or grafted. These nursery beds are irrigated from time to time to keep the soil in moist condition.
The mulching of beds with Sarkanda is also recommended. This helps in better retention of moisture which gives more germination of peach seeds. The nursery beds should be kept free from weeds. The seedlings start coming out in third week of January and are allowed to grow at the same place where they have germinated.
The seeds before placing for stratification are soaked in water. Only those seeds are used for stratification which sink in water as they are thought to be viable. Treat the stones with Ziram or Thiram or Captan @ 300 g per quintal of stones. Peach seeds are collected in the month of July and are stored at a cool place till they are placed for stratification in the month of November. It is important that ripe fruit should be collected for extraction of seed. This will ensure better germination of seed. Seeds extracted from un-riped dropped fruits do not germinate. So only mature fruit should be collected for raising the peach rootstock.
(b) Stratification in Cold Storage:
The wooden boxes containing seed and sand are placed in cold storage in December to meet the cold requirement of seed. The boxes are taken out from the cold storage in mid-January when the chilling required by the seed is met. Then these seeds are sown in the nursery beds to obtain the seedlings.
Planting Operation for Peach:
Peach should be planted in the end of January when the plants are dormant. Planting should be done after digging 1 x 1 x 1 metre pits refilling them with fertile top soil, mixed 40 kg of well rotten farmyard manure per pit. Add 15 ml of chlorpyriphos 20 EC mixed in 2 kg soil to each pit to prevent the attack of white-ants.
Peach plants should be planted at the distance of 6.5 metres apart, thus accommodating 225 plants in square system and 259 plants in hexagonal system per hectare. In the hills, peaches are planted at a distance of 5 x 4 m. In the high density plantations the distance can be reduced to 3 x 3 m.
High density planting of peaches in sub-tropical climate of Punjab can be adopted with good success. Peach trees should be planted at spacing of 6 x 1.5 m with ‘Y’ system of training. This will ensures higher yield and better fruit quality than the traditional planting system.
After planting, the young peach plants need staking so as to make them grow upright and straight. The supports should be strong, preferably of bamboo or other wooden logs and should be well fixed in the soil. The young plants should be watered at frequent intervals. Modified basin method is best suited for young peach orchards. The stock sprouts should be removed carefully after every 10-15 days.
The strings or tying materials tied at the bud or graft union may also be removed carefully so as to avoid constrictions. Training of young peach plants should be given utmost attention for developing proper framework and shape. If there is any indication of white ant attack, chlorphyriphos 2 ml per litre of water with irrigation should be given.
Flowering and Fruiting in Peach Trees:
The flowers in peach are perfect, solitary, sessile, in advance of foliage, pink in colour. The pistil is simple. Flowering starts in the first week of February and continues till end of February.
Under low temperature conditions, swelling buds are injured at – 6.5°C. Sites which are free from spring frost are more suitable as peaches bloom early in the season. The flowering can be delayed by application of GA3 200 ppm before leaf fall or by application of ethephon, to avoid the risk of spring frost.
Peaches are pollinated through insects. The mode of pollination is through homogamy. The pollen of peach is highly viable. Commercial peach varieties are self-fruitful and set good crops without cross-pollination. J.L. Hale is perhaps the only variety which is self-unfruitful and requires to be pollinated by other varieties.
Fruit-setting starts in the beginning of March. The fruit of Flordasun peach took eleven weeks to reach the stage of harvest maturity from the time of setting63 days. The pattern of increase in the length, diameter and fruit weight followed a ‘double sigmoid curve’.
Fruits are borne on one year-growth. A small proportion of the crop, however, is also borne on short-lived spurs. Peach is a drupe fruit and its edible portion is mesocarp and Epicarp. Endocarp . The growth in terms of length and diameter showed three rapid growth phases- (i) upto 28 days (ii) between 35 and 56 days and (iii) 63 days and onwards and two slow growth phases, i.e.- (a) between 28 and 35 days and (b) between 56 and in hard, stony that contain seed in it.
Training and Pruning of Peach:
The peach is trained to the ‘Modified Leader System’. For admitting more sunlight for better colouration of the inside fruits, ‘Open Centre System’ may be favoured. But under subtropical conditions, where sunshine is plenty and there are strong winds during summer, this system is not suitable, in view of the weak frame-work and other obvious defects.
Training in First Year:
Plants should be headed back to a height of 90-100 cm at the time of planting in the field. All the branches on the plants are also cut back to two buds. After three to four weeks, plants develop many branches. Four to five laterals, which are well-oriented around the trunk, are selected as main scaffold branches and all other branches are removed. The lowest branch should not be below 40-50 cm from the ground level. The top most central branch is called leader.
Training in Second Year:
Many new branches develop on the selected primary branches. The leader of the plant also grows in height and some side branches are developed on it. Select 3-4 more well placed branches on the central branch and remove all others. In the second year very little priming is done. The branches which are crowding in the centre or interfering with each other are removed. The dominance of the central leader is maintained and no lateral is allowed to outgrow the other.
Training in Third Year:
The leader in the third year should be suppressed by cutting it back to a suitable lateral. The leader is restricted in its vertical growth.
Pruning of Young and Old Trees:
Peach fruits are borne on one-year growth. A small proportion of the crop, however, is also borne on short-lived spurs. Pruning should be done so as to produce 50 to 100 cm of growth in young trees and 30 to 70 cm in old trees, annually. About 40 per cent of one year old branches should be thinned out to ensure proper tree growth and improve fruit size and quality.
Some thinning-out of branches is also done to allow adequate sunlight for the growth of fruits and the development of good colour. Pruning of peaches should be carried out in early January. Cuts thicker than 5 cm should be covered with Bordeaux paste followed by Bordeaux paint after one or two weeks.
Harvesting and Handling of Peach Fruits:
Peach fruits are harvested quickly when ready for harvest. It is a climacteric fruit. Fruits are picked when they are still hard as they ripen in storage or transit. The days taken from full bloom to maturity, change in ground colour, flesh firmness and fruit size are the reliable maturity indices for peach. The days from full bloom to maturity in different cultivars are Partap 76 days, Shan-l-Punjab 83 days, Alexander 86 days and Elberta 127 days.
The Pratap peach cvs. takes 11 weeks to reach the stage of harvest maturity from the time of fruit-setting. The peach comes into bearing within two years after planting in the field. The fruit of Pratap and Flordaprince cultivars starts maturing earlier of all i.e. by the end of April.
The peak harvesting period of different peach cultivars in plains is from earth May to middle of June and in hills is from June to July. The pattern of increase in the length, diameter and fruit weight followed a ‘Double Sigmoid Curve’. All peach fruits do not mature simultaneously. These may be harvested in 3-4 pickings at an interval of four days.
Field heat of the fruits can be effectively removed by giving them 10-15 minutes quick dip in cold water followed by surface drying the fruits in shed. This process slow down the ripening process of fruit and is helpful in extending the shelf life.
The peach fruit being perishable in nature needs to be handled quickly when it is ready for harvest. Even a few hours delay results in considerable economic loss to the grower. Fruits picked at the right stage of maturity, on ripening, give excellent taste and flavour, characteristic of a particular cultivar. For successful orcharding, harvesting the fruits at its proper stage of maturity is of utmost importance.
For sending the fruit to distant market, they should be harvested when they are still hard-ripe. i.e. when the ground colour of fruit begins to change from green to yellow in yellow fleshed varieties and fruits yield to pressure very slightly in between cupped hands. For the local market, the fruits may be picked when nearly ripe. In white fleshed varieties, colour of the fruit changes from green to straw with pink blush on the sides.
The average yield of full grown tree of different varieties varies from 70 to 120 kg. Sharbati and Stark Red Gold are high yielding cultivars and produce 100 to 120 kg fruit per tree.
Grading and Packaging. Before packaging, remove the injured, damaged and undersized fruits from the lot and grade the fruits according to size and stage of maturity. Different grades of fruits are packed separately for better marketing.
Generally 2 and 4 kg CFB boxes are used for packaging of fruits. These are better than wooden boxes.
The harvested fruits must be disposed off as expeditiously as possible. Peach fruits should be graded and then packed in wooden boxes or CFB cartons of suitable size.
Shelf Life:
Peach fruits harvested at optimum maturity can be kept in cold storage for about 2-4 weeks (0-3.3°C, temperature 85-90% R.H.) in perforated polythene bags. Pre-cooled peaches can be stored for one month. The shelf life of peaches can be extended further by storing them in controlled atmosphere storage. Pre-cooled peaches can be stored for 28-36 days. Peach cv. Shan- i-Punjab treated with 1-MCP (1000 ppb) can be stored for 4 weeks at 0-1 °C and 90-95% RH.
Dipping of peach fruits cv. Shan-i-Punjab in calcium chloride @ 2 per cent for 5 minutes and kept at 0-1 °C and 90-95 per cent RH and packing in CFB boxes can be stored for 30 days.
Diseases and Insect Pests of Peach:
Some of the common diseases of peach are:
(i) Mildew caused by Sphaerotheca pannosa, which can be controlled by dusting with sulphur powered.
(ii) Leaf curl caused by Taphrina deformans, which can be controlled by pruning affected twigs and spraying 1% Bordeaux mixture before buds swell.
(iii) Die-back caused by Botryosphaeria pruni-spinosae, which can be controlled by pruning affected branches and spraying with 1%, Bordeaux mixture.
(iv) Mosaic.
(v) Line pattern, both are caused by virus and can be controlled by using certified virus-free bud-wood.
Some of the common insect pests of peach are:
(i) Aphids (Brachycaudus helichrysi Myzus persicae), which can be controlled by spraying 0.03% Phosphamidon, Dimethoate or Monocrotophos.
(ii) Peach borer (Sphenoptera laferei), which can be controlled by swabbing the infested trunks with high concentrations of Aldrin or Dieldrin.
(iii) San Jose Scale (Qudriaspidiotus perniciosus), which can be controlled by spraying dormant trees in winter with 3% Miscible oil @ 6 to 8 litres per tree and using 0.04% Diazinon as summer spray.
(iv) Peach bugs (Lygaeus pandurus, L. hospes), which can be controlled by spraying 0.1% Malathion in April.
(v) Peach twig borer (Anarsia lineatella), which can be controlled by removing and destroying infested shoots, spraying 0.05% Endosulfan or 0.1% Carbaryl in the nursery as well as on young plants.
(vi) Peach leaf roller (Cacoecia epicryta), which can be controlled by destroying rolled leaves and webbed flowers and spraying 0.05% Fenitrothion or 0.03% Endosulfan or Phosphamidon in April.