HORTICULTURE

Dr T Pradeepkumar, Dr T E George

ropicalisation of cool season

vegetables like cabbage and
cauliflower is one of the most
wonderful contributions of vegetable
breeders in the last decade. Thanks
to this, tropical hybrids like cabbage
and cauliflower can now be grown
successfully in the plains of Kerala.
These hybrids will yield beautiful
edible heads in cabbage and curds
in cauliflower under the agro-climatic
conditions prevailing in the Kerala

plains. Truck loads of cabbage and

cauliflower from neighbouring States,
more often drenched with toxic
pesticides, will become a thing of past
once the potential of these tropical
hybrids are exploited in the State in
the right earnest.
Cabbage and cauliflower,
belonging to the mustard family,
Brassicaceae, are rich sources of
vitamins and dietary fibre. Compared
to other vegetables, hybrids are highly

Cabbage and Cauliflower

Now not
Foreigners

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KERALA CALLING

February 2009

Agathi is a tropical cabbage

variety that can tolerate high
temperature. F1 hybrids of
cabbage like Quisto and Hari
Rani Gol also perform very
well under Kerala conditions.
Both cabbage and
cauliflower are raised as
transplanted crops and proper
nursery management is
important for raising good
quality seedlings. The
nursery beds should be well
prepared by addition of well
rotten FYM / vermicompost
@ 10 kg/m2. Recommended
seed rate is 400-500 g/ha. The
seedlings will be ready for

Tropicalisation of cool season

vegetables like cabbage and
cauliflower is one of the most
wonderful contributions of
vegetable breeders in the last
decade. Thanks to this,
tropical hybrids like cabbage
and cauliflower can now be
grown successfully in the
plains of Kerala.
popular in these crops due to their
high yield, uniform maturity, earliness
and wider adaptability. Both cabbage
and cauliflower can be grown on a
variety of soils from sandy loam to
clayey loam, which are well-drained
and rich in organic matter and
nutrients. These crops come up well
during October March under
Kerala conditions. Pusa Deepali and
Pusa Early Synthetic are
potential cauliflower varieties
suitable for Kerala plains. F1
hybrids of cauliflower
like
Greeshma,
Atisheeghra
and
Basant from private
entrepreneurs
are also found
to yield good
quality
curds. Pusa

transplanting in three to six weeks

after sowing. Main field is ploughed
two to three times to a fine tilth and
ridges are taken at a spacing of 60-75
cm. Seedlings are transplanted in
ridges at a spacing of 30-60 cm. FYM
is incorporated at the time of field
preparation @ 25 t/ha. A fertilizer
dose of 150:100:125 kg NPK/ha is
recommended for realising better
yield. F1 hybrids respond to higher
dosage of nutrients. Half of N and
whole of P and K should be applied
as basal dose and the rest of N in two
to three split doses. Weekly spraying
of one to two percent urea from the
20th day after transplanting onwards
is advised for good growth. Special
attention must be paid to the
availability of elements like boron,
molybdenum and magnesium.
Earthing up should be carried out one
February 2009

month after transplanting. Optimum

moisture supply is essential during the
entire growth period. The
intercultural operations should be
done regularly to keep the crop free
from weeds and for ensuring adequate
aeration of the root system. Very
shallow hoeing will be helpful to
remove weeds without causing injury
to the roots.
Cauliflower is harvested when
curds remain compact and smooth,
attain proper size and retain original
colour. As the curds develop and
approach harvestable stage, one or
two inner leaves are bent inward at
the midribs (some cultivars do this
automatically) to protect the curd
from sunlight and keep the
curd white. Curds exposed
to sunlight will turn yellow.
Cabbage heads should
be harvested when they
attain full size. After that,
they burst or loosen.
Cabbage should be
handled carefully from
field to storage and only
solid heads with no
yellowing, decay or
mechanical injuries should
be stored. Storage of
cauliflower is generally not
recommended for more
than three weeks. Before storage, all
the loose leaves should be trimmed
away leaving heads with three to six
tight wrapper leaves.
Black rot, downy mildew and
alternaria blight are the serious
diseases that affect cabbage and
cauliflower. Cabbage Diamond back
Moth (DBM) is the most serious pest
of these crops under high temperature
conditions. An integrated pest and
disease management strategy
involving maintenance of field
hygiene, growing marigold as trap
crop and use of bio-control agents and
pesticides of plant origin will
adequately protect the crop from these
pest and diseases.
The writers are Associate Professor and
Professor & Head respectively, Department of
Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Kerala
Agricultural University.

KERALA CALLING

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