सिंधाडे का पोषण मूल्य तथा आर्द्रभूमि पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र में सिंघाड़े की खेती
Water Chestnut (Trapa bispinosa Roxb.) is one of the most important aquatic nut crop grown in wetland ecosystem. Water Chestnut, Commonly known as Singhara or Panipha, is one of the few neglected but economically important aquatic crops of tropical and sub-tropical origin.
It is a floating aquatic plant that grown in marshes, shallow lakes, railway track side depression and highway side depressions. It belongs to the family Lythraceae or Trapaceae and has three different species like T. bispinosa, T. natans and T. quadrispinosa or T. bicornis.
In India, Water Chestnut is mainly cultivated in Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, M.P. and lower parts of Uttaranchal, UP, Jammu and Kashmir and Orissa. In Bihar particularly extensively cultivated in Darbhanga, Madhubani and Samastipur districts. It is easy growing water plant, thrives best in soft nutrient rich water of lakes and shallow ponds.
On the basis of morphology of fruit of water chestnut, it is of two types, one is thorny and another one is thornless. It is a knobby edible nut with a reddish black and pure green skin and a white crunchy flesh. Singhara crop is planted in June and bear fruit in November. In Bihar, only red thorny fruit type water chestnut is found.
The fruit of Water Chestnut can be consumed as raw, boiled, roasted or dried to make flour. When the fruit has been dried and is grinded to flour called Singhare ka atta, which is used in many religious rituals and can be consumed as a phalahar diet. The fruit of water chestnut have nutritional as well as medicinal value, it has been widely used in ayurvedic and unani systems of medicine.
Plant Biology
The water chestnut is an aquatic plant and bears a rough, thick-skinned, fruit that has a single large white-colored seed inside. The plant is grown in ponds, marshes, and seasonal and perennial lakes. More than two-thirds of the plant remains submerged in the water. The upper leaves float on the surface of the water while the lower ones remain submerged just beneath the surface.
The petioles are swollen and contain air to help keep the upper leaves afloat. The plant has no primary roots, while the secondary adventitious roots are of two types. One type of root fixes the plant to the muddy substrate, while the other type floats free, being attached to the underside of the leaf base.
The flowers open above the water surface. The inconspicuous white flowers consist of four 8 mm long, white petals and four green sepals, and are located in the centre of the rosette. In water chestnut flowering begins in August. After pollination they submerge themselves so that the fruit can develop. Therefore, the fruit or singhara is always found under the leaves.
Nutritional Value
The plant is commercially cultivated for its nutritious nuts. The dried fruit contains about 70% carbohydrate, 13% protein, 2 to 7% sugar, 0.8% fat, 3% mineral elements and plenty of iodine including significant amounts of vitamins including thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, vitamin C, vitamin A and phosphorylases, whereas the raw fruit contains 70% water, 23.3% starch (carbohydrate), 4.7% protein, 0.3% fat, 0.6% fibre and 1.1% minerals.
Trapa bispinosa is an important plant of Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine which is used in the problems of stomach, genito-urinary system, liver, kidney, and spleen. It is bitter, astringent, stomachic, diuretic, febrifuge, and antiseptic.
Cultivation
Tropical and subtropical climatic condition, water temperature is 12 to 150C is optimum for fruit germination and 200C is suitable for flower development, organically rich water bodies are suitable for growth, development and cultivation of water chestnut crop. A water body where 0.3 to 0.6 m water depth is maintained throughout the year is an ideal site for its cultivation.
The local varieties like, Kanpuri, Jaunpuri, Desi Large, Desi Small, JR (Jabalpur Red), JG (Jabalpur Green) and DR (Darbhanga Red) are used by grower. The average yield of water chestnut 13 to 14 t/ha under recommended cultivation practices can be obtained.
Propagation of the plant is commercially done by seeds. The fully mature nuts are placed in container with little water to germinate the seeds. The sprouted seeds are sorted out and broadcast in the nursery tanks.
At the beginning of monsoon, the seedlings are lifted from the nursery tanks and planted in pond, at a spacing of 1-2 meters.
Fertilizer (N:P:K, 40:40:60/ha) Organic manures in form of oil cakes, poultry manure, FYM (@ 8t/ha) are the best for growth and development of water chestnut crop.
Harvesting of nut is usually done at the month of October and it is continued up to month of November. For the purpose of harvesting, specially made rafts are used by the growers.
References
Singh IS, Thakur AK, and Prakash D (2018) Scientific cultivation of water chestnut crop. Indian Farming, 68(03): 23–27.
Authors:
Dr. Shailesh Kumar (Assistant Professor), Dr. A. K. Singh (Professor)
CBS&H, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University,Pusa, Bihar-848125, India
Dr. Sweta Mishra (Associate Professor, COB, SVPUA&T, Meerut-250110)
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