Aonla or Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) is one of the important indigenous fruits of Indian subcontinent and is known as the king of medicinal fruits and a beautiful gift of God to human being. It is also known as “wonder medicinal fruit” of the twenty-first century. Today, it has become the crop of commercial significance and is a very important fruit in India and other countries due to its high vitamin C content and health and medicinal value. Aonla is being successfully cultivated in all types of soils and climates in all states of India due to its hardy nature. As per the recent estimates, aonla has spread approximately over 100 to 1.48 thousand hectares area in the country with approximate production of 1,026.17 thousand MT. The crop play an integral part in the lives of many, not only by being a rich nutrient source and medicinal properties but also as a source of livelihood for millions of people.

The book “Hand Book of Aonla” authored by Dr. A.K. Misra, Dr. D. Pandey and Dr. Himanshu Pandey focuses primarily on different aspects of aonla crop cultivation including its mythological and medicinal importance. The information on the aonla crop cultivation is given in crisp manner, so that it is easily understandable and is of practical utility. High-quality coloured photographs are included in the book on the various aspects of the aonla crop, including varieties, propagation, cultivation, diseases, pests and post-harvest aspects for the better understanding of the operation, identification, understanding and concept. In this book, important and latest varieties, new varieties developed are described with photographs, which is very useful for aonla lovers to identify the varieties. Typical symptoms of the diseases, pests and disorders and life cycle of different diseases and pests are also depicted, which give better understanding about protection aspects. The photographs of the symptom will be useful for identifying the diseases and pests by the fruit workers. Post-harvest aspects are described in a manner that it is useful for aonla lovers, farmers and entrepreneurs. Though significant work has been done in the country and abroad on aonla crops over the years, consolidated handy useful information on the crop in one place is lacking. The information presented in this book would be very useful for aonla research workers, fruit workers, horticulturists, consultants, managers, extension workers, teachers, students, agribusiness representatives and aonla lovers, growers/farmers, who are concerned with the aonla cultivation, production, protection, post-harvest and commerce.

Specifications:

Dr. A.K. Misra, a recipient of Award by President
of India, former Project Coordinator, AICRP on
Subtropical Fruits and Head, Division of Crop
Protection, CISH, Lucknow has unique blend of
outstandingly contributions in the field of
horticulture and fruit pathology. He joined ICAR
during the year 1978 and superannuated after 38
years of glorious service. He worked at CRRI,
Cuttack and CISH, Lucknow and superannuated in
September, 2016. As project coordinator (2008-
2013), he guided and monitored researches on mango, guava, litchi and
grapes at 20 centers of AICRP on Subtropical fruits. He published the
monumental useful catalogues of mango wealth of Maharastra, Andhra
Pradesh and Gujarat, which are permanent asset for mango workers
throughout the world. He also published catalogue of grapes and litchi,
which are unique guide for grape and litchi workers. He has about 580
publications to his credit with 70 books/ bulletins/ proceedings/annual
reports, etc. He was chief editor and editor of “Journal of Eco-friendly
Agriculture” for 14 years, besides two periodicals for 7 years each.
He received Award from President of India - Rajeev Gandhi
Rashtriya Gyan Vigyan Maulik Pustak Lekhan Puraskar during 2014 for
his book on mango diseases and disorder in Hindi.
On the basis of his contributions, in the field of Plant Pathology,
he was conferred “Life Time Achievement Award 2018” by Doctor’s
Krishi Evam Bagwani Vikas Sanstha, Lucknow, K.C. Mehta and
Manoranjan Mitra Memorial Award, IPS 2006, Plant Pathology Leadership
Award, 2013 IPS (MEZ), Sharda Lele Memorial Award, IPS, 2017, Dr.
Panjab Singh Distinguished Agricultural Scientist Award- 2017 by UP
Council of Agricultural Sciences, Lucknow and Recognition award 2023
by IPS, New Delhi.
He is Fellow of UPAAS, Lucknow; IPS, New Delhi; ISMPP,
Udaipur; ISPP, Ludhiana; SDSH, Lucknow and CHAI, New Delhi.
He was President of Indian Phytopathological Society for the year
2014-16, Zonal President (MEZ) of IPS, New Delhi (2012), Vice President,

ISPP, Ludhiana (2012-13), Vice President, SDSH, Lucknow (2010-13),
President, ARS forum CISH unit (2012-13). Besides, he was Councilor,
IPS, New Delhi, ISMPP, Udaipur, ISPP, Ludhiana, ARRW, Cuttack and
Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Lucknow. He was also member IMC of
several institutes, member RAC, NRC on Banana, member, University
Accreditation Committee, Sri. Konda Laxman Telangana State Hort. Univ.,
Mulugu and member QRT of IIHR and AICRP (Fruits), Bangalore.
Dr Devendra Pandey

Dr Devendra Pandey, Principal Scientist
(Horticulture), Central Institute for Subtropical
Horticulture, Lucknow also worked as acting Head,
Division of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology
and acting Director, CISH, Lucknow. He has been
actively engaged in research and coordination for
more than 39 years. He did his post-graduation in
Horticulture from Narendra Deva University of
Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Ayodhya and Ph. D from Indian
Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He was awarded university
merit scholarship for his graduation programme at NDUA&T and junior
and senior research fellowships of ICAR for M.Sc (Ag) and Ph.D
programmes respectively. Dr. Pandey has contributed significantly in
various fields of Horticulture (Pomology), especially in crops viz. aonla
and bael. Two Aonla varieties namely CISH A-1 and CISH A-2 and three

bael varieties namely Awadh Arpan (CISH-B-1), Awadh Shresth (CISH-
B-2) and CISH-B-3 are to his credit. These varieties are gaining popularity

throughout in India. Besides, he also contributed significantly in collection
and evaluation of subtropical fruits germplasm, standardization of root stock

and propagation techniques in mango and guava, standardization of agro-
techniques including crop regulation in guava, salt tolerance studies on

bael and aonla and causes and control of mango malformation. Dr. Pandey
earlier also monitored and coordinated the activities of AICRP on subtropical
fruits for 12 years. He was also project leader of five externally funded
projects and published more than 56 research papers in the reputed journals,
85 articles, 33 book chapters, 11 bulletins, 9 folders and 4 books.

Dr Himanshu Pandey

Dr Himanshu Pandey is currently Research
Associate at the Indian Institute of Vegetable
Research, Varanasi. He has successfully qualified
the Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board
(ASRB) National Eligibility Test (NET) and the
DBT Graduate Aptitude Test. He holds a Master’s
degree from the University of Agricultural Sciences,
Bangalore and completed his Ph.D from Dr. YS
Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry. Dr.
Himanshu has published 7 research papers, 12 book
chapters and 10 review articles through renowned publishers such as
Frontiers, Springer and Elsevier. One patent is also to his credit. He also
serves as a ‘Review Editor’ for Frontiers in Agronomy.