Corm and cormel harvesting and handling

1. Lifting of corms/cormels: Corms are ready for lifting when 25% of the cormels turn brown,

leaves start yellowing which take 45-55 days from flowering. They are weak geophytes, so special care should be taken. Cormels are collected by pulling the plant gently after loosening the soil around the plant.

2. Curing: The corms and cormels are kept in a shady well-ventilated place for about a fortnight. They should be cured at 210C.
3. Cleaning and grading: The corms are cleaned and treated with 0.3% copper fungicide or Bavistin (0.1%) before storage. Corms and cormels are graded in different standard size grades

Corms treatment:

➢ Corms stored at 350C for 10 days followed by cold storage at 00C for 10-15 days are also the most effective way of breaking dormancy.

➢ Corm treatment with ethylene or ethylene producing chemicals like ethephon (etherl) at 100 ppm is also useful to breaks the rest period.

➢ Soaking the corm in hot water (40-450C) for 3-4 hours before sowing has earlier sprouted. Hot water has two-fold action i.e. heat influences ethylene production and the water leaches inhibitor.

➢ Thiourea and KmNo4 at 1000 to 2000 ppm and GA3 and NAA at (10-250 ppm) also favors sprouting but reverse effect on high concentration or dose.

Treatment of cormels

• Cormels are treated with 0.2% Captan solution then dipped in warm water (50- 55⁰C) for 30 minutes followed by cold running water.
• Then, the cormels are air dried and stored at 2-4⁰
• Cormels are planted in well prepared beds to a depth of 5 cm. Cormels between 1.0 and less than 2.5 cm in diameter are grown for the production of planting stock.