In this article we will discuss about:- 1. Introduction to Vegetables 2. Scope of Vegetables 3. Cultivation 4. Rabi Season Vegetable Crops.
Introduction to Vegetables:
Vegetables are an important part of human’s diet. Plant’s succulent parts like roots, stem, leaves, flowers, fruits etc. are either consumed fresh as salad or consumed after cooking are called vegetables. Vegetables play an important role in human diet as they contain high quantity of carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins which are very essential for proper maintenance of human body.
In countries like India, there is a great importance of vegetables as its large population is vegetarian. According to the scientists, an adult requires 284 g of vegetables daily to maintain good health. Out of which, one should consume 114 g leafy vegetables, 85 g root vegetables and 85 g other vegetables.
Scope of Vegetables:
There is a great scope of vegetables in our country as availability of vegetables is less as compared to the requirement. Therefore, there is a great need to increase the vegetable production as these are also a rich and cheap source of dietary nutrients. Moreover these are short duration and 2 to 4 crops of vegetables can be raised in a year.
The yield of vegetables is 5-10 times more than wheat- rice rotation and income is also higher and that too on daily basis. Vegetable cultivation is a good source of employment as it requires more labour per unit area. Thus, farmers’ family members can get employment in their own fields and moreover, agricultural resources can be utilized efficiently all the year round.
Cultivation of Winter Season Vegetables:
Basic information is very essential for successful cultivation of winter season vegetable which is given below:
1. Selection of Soil:
Vegetable can be grown on wide variety of soils but sandy loam or clay loam soils are ideal for vegetable cultivation. Sandy loam soil is good for root vegetables like carrot, radish and turnip and tuber vegetable like potato etc.
2. Manures and Fertilizers:
There are mainly two types of manures:
(i) Organic Manures or Bio-Fertilizers:
Organic manures provide organic matter and other essential nutrients to plants. Organic matter improves the physical and chemical structure of soil and also improves the aeration in the soil.
(ii) Inorganic or Chemical Fertilizers:
These fertilizers are produced in factories by chemical means and they consist various nutrients such as Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potash etc.
3. Seed and Sowing:
Always use the seed of an improved variety and it should be free from any disease, insect-pest and seeds of weeds and other varieties.
There are two methods of seed sowing:
(a) Direct Sowing:
Some vegetables like carrot, radish, turnip, peas, spinach, methi, coriander and potato are sown by direct sowing.
(b) By Transplanting:
Only those winter season vegetables can be sown through transplanting method which can bear the transplanting shock e.g. cauliflower, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, onion, lettuce etc.
4. Irrigation:
There should be proper availability of irrigation water during growing and flowering period of crop. It is important to irrigate the crop before wilting.
5. Control of Insect-Pests and Diseases:
(i) By using correct crop rotation, potato and peas can be protected from some diseases.
(ii) Summer ploughing is helpful in controlling various types of insect- pests, fungi and nematodes.
(iii) By destroying the diseased plant debris and by clean cultivation, crop can be protected from various diseases.
(iv) By early sowing and destroying the insect-pests mechanically, crop can be protected from the insect damage.
(v) By treating the seed with Captan or Thiram and by sowing disease resistant varieties, crops can be protected from the attack of insect-pests and diseases.
(vi) Use insecticides like Seven, Fame etc. to protect the crop against caterpillars and beetles and for sap sucking insects and aphids, use Rogor, Metasystox and Malathion against sap sucking insects and aphids.
Rabi Season Vegetable Crops:
1. Carrot:
Carrot is an important winter season vegetable crop which is used for salad and vegetable. In Punjab, two types of carrot are available i.e. Desi and European. Desi varieties can tolerate high temperature and give more yields. But European varieties give more yields in low temperature. In Punjab, two carrot varieties are mainly sown i.e. Punjab Black Beauty and PC 34.
The colour of Punjab Black Beauty is purple-black having abundant juice and yield is 196 q/acre. While PC 34 is red in colour and yield is 200 q/acre. Sow carrot always on ridges and maintain 45 cm distance between ridges. For sowing one acre area, 4-5 kg seed is sufficient. After one month of sowing, thinning of plants is essential to maintain 7-8 cm distance between plants.
To control weeds in carrot field, spray Goal 23.5 EC @ 200 ml in 200 litre of water per acre within two days after sowing. Apply 1st irrigation immediately after sowing and 2nd irrigation after 10-12 days of sowing. Total 3-4 irrigations are essential. Excessive irrigation causes poor coloration of roots, induce more foliage and delays maturity and it should be avoided. Carrots take 90-100 days from sowing to harvesting depending upon different varieties.
2. Radish:
Radish can be used as salad, vegetable preparation and for parantha making. Punjab Pasand and Pusa Chetki are two important varieties of radish which are mainly sown in Punjab. The yield of Pusa Chetki is 105 q/acre and Punjab Pasand is 215 q/acre. With careful selection of varieties, radish can be grown almost throughout the year.
A seed rate of 4-5 kg is sufficient for one acre. Always sow radish on ridges. Maintain a spacing of 45 cm between ridges and 7.5 cm between plants. Apply 1st irrigation immediately after sowing. After that irrigate the crop at 6-7 days interval in summers and at 10-12 days interval in winters according to the soil type. Radish becomes ready for harvest in about 45-60 days depending upon variety and season.
3. Pea:
Pea is a cool season crop which contains a sufficient amount of protein. Matar Ageta-6 and Arkel are early maturing varieties. The yield of these varieties is about 20-24 q/acre. Mithi Phali and Punjab-89 are main season varieties and the average yield ranges between 47-55 q/acre. Mithi Phali is an edible podded variety and its shelling is not required.
The best time of sowing is mid Oct.-mid Nov. Seed rate is 45 kg for early maturing varieties and 30 kg for main season varieties per acre. Line × plant spacing should be 30 × 7.5 cm for early and 30 × 10 cm for main season varieties. In areas where pea crop has not been sown earlier, it is advisable to treat the seed with Rhizobium culture to ensure nodule formation and it increases the yield.
For weed control, use Stomp 30 EC @ 1 litre per acre or Tafalon 50 WP @ 500 g per acre as pre-emergence within two days of sowing in 200 litre of water solution. Seed should be sown in proper soil moisture condition. First irrigation should be given after 15-20 days of sowing. Next irrigation should be given at flowering and then at fruit set. Harvest the crop at proper edible maturity.
4. Cauliflower:
The optimum temperature requirement for cauliflower cultivation is 15-20° C. Giant Snowball for main season and Pusa Snowball-1 and Pusa Snowball K-1 for late season are important varieties. The best transplanting time is June-July for early varieties, August to Mid-September for main season varieties and Oct.-first week of Nov. for the late sown varieties. The seed rate for main and late season varieties is 250g per acre, whereas for early season varieties, 500 g seed is required.
The spacing for main season crop is 45 x 30 cm. For weed control, apply Stomp 30 EC @ 1 litre/acre in 200 litre of water. Stomp should be applied one day before transplanting of seedlings in the moist soil conditions. First irrigation should be given just after transplanting. The total number of irrigations required is 8-12. Crop is ready for harvesting in about 90-100 days of transplanting.
5. Cabbage:
The ideal time for transplanting of cabbage is Sept.-Oct. 200-250 g seed is sufficient for one acre area. The distance between rows and plants should be 45 x 45 cm in early season varieties and 60 × 45 cm for late season varieties. For early crop, cabbage can be grown by direct sowing. For this method, maintain 60 cm distance between ridge and 15-20 cm between seeds. The weed control and irrigation practices are the same as in cauliflower.
6. Broccoli:
Punjab Broccoli-1 is an improved variety and its average yield is 70 q/acre. The ideal time of nursery sowing is mid-August-Mid Sept. Transplant the nursery seedlings in field after one month of sowing. Use 250 g seed for an acre. Maintain 45 cm distance between rows and plants. The weed control and irrigation practices are the same as in cauliflower.
7. Chinese Cabbage:
Chini Sarson-I and Saag Sarson are its improved varieties. Nursery sowing should be done in Mid Sept. and transplant the seedlings in field in Mid-October. Use 200 g seed per acre for transplanting method and one kg seed per acre for direct sowing. Keep 45 cm distance between rows and plants respectively. It takes 30 days for 1st cutting and gives total of six cuttings.
8. Potato:
Kufri Surya and Kufri Pukhraj are early season varieties which take 90-100 days for harvesting and give yield of 100-125 q/acre. Kufri Jyoti and Kufri Pushkar are mid-season varieties which are ready for harvesting in 100-110 days after sowing and give yield of 120-170 q/acre. Kufri Sindhuri and Kufri Badshah are late season varieties which give 120-130 q tubers from one acre in 110-120 days.
Use 12-18 quintals of seed for sowing one acre. In Punjab, the best time of sowing for autumn season crop is last week of Sept.-Mid Oct. and for spring season is first fortnight of January. For spring season crop, use 8-10 q/acre of seed for early varieties and 4-5 q/acre for late varieties.
Keep 60 cm distance between ridges and 20 cm between tubers. To control the weeds, use Stomp 30 EC @ 1 litre or Arelon 75 EC @ 500 g or Sencor 70 EC @ 200 g in 150 litres of water at pre-emergence stage after first irrigation. Apply first irrigation just after sowing which helps in quick germination of the crop.