The brinjal , also knows as "Guinea squash," is a member
of the nightshade family, along with the tomato, pepper, and potato.
The plant is grown for its purple fruits that are usually baked, boiled,
or fried.
The common large-fruited forms are believed to have originated in
India, with a possible secondary center of origin in China for the small-fruited
types.
Although several different types of eggplants are grown around the
world, they are not considered as major crop except in Asia, where the
plants are grown on a fairly wide scale in China, India, and Japan.
It is one of the most common vegetables grown throughout the Country.
This can be grown successfully under the climatic conditions prevailing
in South India and the Deccan Plateau.
It comes up well even in hilly regions where the temperature does
not come down below 5o C.
The brinjal is believed to have been domesticated in north-eastern
India where wild forms still grow.
The seeds were carried to China more than 1500 years ago where small
fruited types were later developed.
It was introduced from India by early traders from Arabia and Persia
to the countries of the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean
early in the Middle ages.
Portuguese colonies took it to Brazil. It is now widely cultivated
for its fruits in the tropical, subtropical and warm temperate zones,
especially in southern Europe and the southern United States.
In 1806, it was introduced to American gardens primarily as an ornamental
curiosity and was probably introduced into Europe during the Moorish
invasion of Spain.
It gained popularity in 1890s, as minor vegetable.
The ancestral form was very likely a spiny plant with small, bitter
fruit, but selection for improved palatability and for relative spinelessness
resulted in gradual emergence of an acceptable type.
Brinjal has been cultivated for many centuries in India, Bangladesh,
Pakistan, China, Arabia and Philippines.
There are several names by which the crop is known in India, but brinjal
is the most familiar. Brinjal is also called 'eggplant' or 'aubergine'.
The name eggplant is believed to derive from Gerard's description
of early forms with small, white fruit resembling eggs.
In early years, eggplant was also termed 'Male insana' and
the 'Italian Melazana', both of which translate to "made apple".
Ikisan - Area, Production and Productivity of Brinjal
Area, Production and Productivity
Brinjal is produced comparatively by few countries, located in the
warm areas of the far east and is grown extensively in India, China,
France, Italy, Spain, USA, Korea, Japan.
The area and production of brinjal in major horticulturally advanced
countries are presented in Table.
China is the largest producer of brinjal and contributes about 68.7
per cent of the world's brinjal production while India occupies second
position in production with a share of 23.3 per cent.
However, the productivity of brinjal is quite low (16 MT) in India
compared to that of other advanced countries, where the productivity
ranges from 17.8 - 32.9MT/ha.
In India, brinjal occupies fourth position in area and sixth position
in production among the vegetable crops (Table) and contributed 8 %
of the total production.
The area under brinjal in India during 2002-03 has been reported as
5.07 lakh hectare with a production of 8.0 million tonnes.
The major brinjal producing states in India and their production figures
are presented in Table.
Andhra Pradesh stands first with 24.8 per cent of total area and 31.8
per cent of total production to its credit.
The other states namely, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh
and West Bengal comprise about 61.5 per cent of the total area under
brinjal.
Tamil Nadu has 8.84 thousand hectares and 1.74 lakh MT brinjal production
to its credit.
In Tamil Nadu, Vellore district occupies the highest area (1465 ha.)
under brinjal followed by Tiruvannamalai, Coimbatore & salem districts.
The productivity of brinjal is high in Vellore, Coimbatore, Erode
, Salem and Chengalpet districts as compared to the other brinjal growing
districts.
Area, Production and Productivity in Different Countries
during 2005
Country
Area in Ha.
Production in Mt
Productivity in Kg/Ha
China
951,615
17,030,300
17,896
Egypt
43,000
1,000,000
23,255
India
510,000
8,200,000
16,078
Indonesia
43,012
252,216
5,863
Italy
12,619
373,635
29,608
Japan
12,000
395,000
32,916
Philippines
21,000
182,000
8666
Sudan
12,000
230,000
19,166
Thailand
12,000
68,000
5,666
Turkey
35,000
880,000
25,142
World
1,765,076
30,523,867
17,293
Source: Faostat Citation
Area, Production and Productivity of Major Vegetable in
India (2002-03)
Vegetables
Area (1000 ha)
Production (1000 MT)
Productivity (MT)
Potato
1337
23161
17.3
Onion
424
4209
9.9
Tomato
478
7616
15.9
Brinjal
507
8001
15.8
Cauliflower
254
4444
17.5
Cabbage
234
5392
23
Green peas
305
2061
6.8
Okra
329
3244
9.9
Source: Statistical Abstract, India, 2003
State wise Area, Production and Productivity in India (1998-99)
State
Area (1000 ha)
Production (1000 MT)
Productivity (MT)
Andhra Pradesh
79.34
1606.63
20.25
Maharashtra
65.26
1249.00
19.14
Karnataka
49.20
780.80
15.87
Orissa
33.00
405.90
12.30
Madhya Pradesh
30.14
317.37
10.53
West Bengal
18.16
203.39
11.20
Uttar Pradesh
9.27
95.94
10.35
Tamil Nadu
8.84
174.67
19.76
Assam
3.42
28.10
8.25
Rajasthan
3.20
20.47
6.36
Bihar
3.14
21.98
7.00
Gujarat
3.57
37.48
10.50
Punjab
2.80
23.66
8.45
Haryana
2.45
23.59
9.63
Manipur
2.12
12.72
6.00
Kerala
2.10
22.68
10.80
Mizorum
1.33
6.31
4.75
Tripura
1.26
8.31
6.60
Arunachal Pradesh
1.19
5.23
4.40
Pondicherry
0.45
4.86
10.80
Total
320.24
5049.00
15.76
District wise Area, Production and Productivity in Andhra
Pradesh (2003-04)
History
