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Types of Vegetable Gardens
Vegetable farming can be classified into various types depending on the acreage
cultivated, method of cultivation and purpose of vegetable production. Based upon these
facts, vegetable cultivation is divided into the following types of gardens.
(iii) Quick growing fruit trees e.g. papaya, kagzi lime etc. should be located on north side
of the garden so that they do not shade other crops.
(iv) Climbers e.g. cucumber, pea etc. can be trained on the fence.
(v) Several sowings or succession of sowings of one particular crop e.g. fenugreek,
radish, okra, cauliflower, etc., at short intervals should be done to ensure a steady
supply of vegetables for a longer period.
(vi) Ridges which separate the beds should be utilized for growing root vegetables e.g.
radish, turnip etc.
(vii) Inter-space of slow growing crops e.g. cauliflower, cabbage, eggplant etc. should be
used for quick growing crops like turnip, radish, leaf beet etc.
Selection of crops for kitchen garden depends on two factors i.e. size of the garden and
choice of the family. Only those vegetables are grown which are suited to the region and
produce satisfactory yield. The cultivars should be selected according to the suitability for the
region and season. Preference is given to those crops where freshness is important from the
edibility and food value point of view. Such crops include tomato, chilli, beans, pea, salad
crops, leafy vegetables etc.
October: Sow/ plant parsley, lettuce, parsnip, potato, turnip, beetroot, radish, garlic, pea,
French bean, onion and knol-khol.
November: sow the crops mentioned for October. Also sow pea, tomato and spinach.
December: Sow tomato, spinach, late cauliflower and pea, if not planted already.
Another method of producing early cucurbits is riverbed cultivation. The available weed
free fertile soil in river beds provide ideal conditions for cultivation of a number of cucurbits
including muskmelon, watermelon, longmelon, cucumber, bitter gourd, ash gourd, pumpkin,
bottle gourd and sponge gourd. Tomato, eggplant, carrot, radish and spinach are also grown
successfully. Trenches are dug 2-3 m apart in late October and most of cucurbits are sown in
November or December. Due to low temperature, pre-sprouted seeds are used and young
seedlings are protected from frost. Seedlings of tomato, eggplant and chilli are transplanted in
September-October.
processing mainly canning, freezing and dehydration is distinct from fresh market vegetable
production. The vegetables meant for processing are grown exclusively in field under
naturally occurring conditions. A significant quantity of vegetables meant for fresh market
consumption especially tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumber and lettuce is grown in green houses
where the environmental conditions are artificially manipulated. For processing, only one or
two varieties of one or two crops are grown on a large scale to produce in bulk. The farming
is generally mechanized and away from the cities. The varieties are selected in such a way
that there is a continuous supply of raw material to feed the processing units for a longer
period. There are specific varieties for processing purposes. For example, in tomato recovery
of processed product is determined by the TSS (total soluble solids) content of fruits. The
processing varieties, therefore, ought to possess higher TSS content. The pH of fruits ranges
between 4.0-4.5 to restrict the growth of thermophyllic organisms. Besides, the fruits have a
balance acid: TSS ratio to impart desirable flavour to the product. The fruits are firm to
withstand distant transportation, bulk handling and mechanical harvesting. The fruit colour is
deep red (high in lycopene) to impart attractive colour to the processed product. Otherwise,
the processors add synthetic dyes, which may prove health hazardous. Further, there are
different varieties for different processing methods viz. canning, freezing, paste, powder,
juice, etc.
Gardens for vegetable processing are very common in countries like the USA, Canada,
Australia and some of the European countries because of the well-established processing
industry. This type of farming is not very well developed in India. Vegetables meant for
processing are grown on contract basis. For example, tomato and chilli are commercially
grown in Punjab for processing. Disease free seedlings of the suitable varieties are raised and
supplied to the growers by the processing units. Farmers raise the crop and supply the
produce to the processing units under pre-decided terms and conditions. Some of the units
engaged in processing include Hindustan Levers, Zahura (tomato), Nijjar Agro, Nijjarpura
(tomato and chilli) and PepsiCo, Channo (chilli), PAGRO Foods Ltd., Fatehgarh Sahib, etc.
when bees are inactive. A proper isolation distance between varieties of the same crop and of
other crops those are cross-compatible, is maintained to produce true-to-type seed. The
isolation distance depends upon the crossing behavior (self, often or cross-pollinated) of the
crop and category (breeder, foundation or certified) of the seed. Off-type plants from the seed
production block are removed at vegetative, flowering and fruiting/ pod formation stages.
Owing to the diverse agro-climatic conditions, strong production infrastructure, abundant
manpower and market opportunity, India holds tremendous promise for vegetable seed
exports especially of hybrid seeds.
being improved and earth’s environment being sustained. The concept of organic farming is
to feed the soil and not the plant.
Organic farming, therefore, is a production system that avoids or largely excludes the use
of synthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators etc. To the maximum
extent feasible, organic farming systems rely upon crop rotation, crop residues, animal
manure, green manure, legumes, off farm organic waste, mechanical cultivation, mineral
bearing rocks and aspects of biological control to maintain soil productivity and tilth, to
supply nutrients and to control insects, diseases and weeds. The crops and the crop varieties
are selected carefully as some crops are less prone to the attack of insects and diseases and
thus can be grown easily without any chemical sprays. These crops include beet, carrot,
onion, garlic and leafy vegetables. However, some losses/ damages caused by insects,
diseases and weeds are expected in Organic Vegetable Gardens. There are many techniques
that will reduce the need for synthetic pesticides and improve soils without chemical
fertilizers.
the soil. Crop rotation plays an important role not only for weed control and soil management
but also for the supply of nitrogen. Green cover of soil is maintained as much as possible with
green manure and under sowing. The practice increases soil organic matter, soil nitrogen, as
well as other nutrients. This also helps to reduce soil erosion and leaching of nutrients.
Bio-fertilizers fix atmospheric nitrogen with the help of specialized soil micro-organisms.
Micro-organisms e.g. bacteria, blue green algae and some fungi are either free living in soil or
symbiotic with plants and directly or indirectly contribute towards the nitrogen nutrition of
the plants. In areas where legume vegetables are being sown for the first time, seed is treated
with Rhizobium culture to ensure proper nodule formation and early growth. Rhizobia are
naturally occurring soil bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil. They live in
symbiosis with legume plants and are found in nodules on plant root system. There are
different cultures for different crops. The culture emulsified in 10 per cent sugar (jaggery)
solution is rubbed thoroughly to give a fine coating to the seed. Treated seeds are dried in
shade before sowing. The non-symbiotic micro-organisms like nitrogen fixing
cyanobacterium (Aulosira fertilissima) and non-nitrogen fixing cyanobacterium (Spirulina
subsulsa) are helpful in fixing atmospheric nitrogen and release of unavailable nitrogen
present in soil. Mycorrhizae fungi live symbiotically with crop plants. It obtains
carbohydrates from the plants and in return supply nitrogen and moisture to the plants.
Application of basic slag, rock phosphate and potash of magnesia supplies other plant
nutrients. For example, limestone and marl supply calcium; gypsum supplies calcium and
sulfur; rock phosphate supplies phosphorus and calcium; dolomite supplies calcium and
magnesium; and basic slag supplies iron, calcium, magnesium and manganese. Gypsum as a
source of calcium is preferred in soils where pH is high. Other trace elements are also
supplied through various types of rock dusts e.g. basalt.
• Soil borne pathogens like Sclerotium rolfsii, causing collar rot of tomato, are
controlled by soil solarization. For solarization to be more effective, the moist soil is
covered with transparent polythene sheet in hot summer months. Double-layered
polythene mulches are more effective than the single-layered ones. The practice is
also effective against soil inhabiting nematodes. Mulches, both polythene and plant
debris, serve as barrier against diseases like buckeye rot of tomato that is spread by
soil splashing onto the plants. Mulches also reduce a number of soil insects like
Colourado potato beetle and prevent decay of fruits touching the soil.
• Use disease free seed especially to manage seed borne diseases. Rogue-out diseased
plants as early as possible to check their spread to healthy plants. Other cultural
practices followed to minimize diseases and insects include field sanitation, proper
plant spacing, bed planting where ever possible, crop rotation with non-host crops,
drip irrigation, vertical training of crops like tomato, beans, cucumber, bitter gourd,
luffa etc. Training of plants e.g. tomato, beans and some cucurbits on fence or trellis
improves air circulation thus minimizes chances of appearance of diseases and
insects. This also minimizes contact of fruits with the infected soil and reduces
chances of diseases like buckeye rot of tomato and other fruit decays. Keep the field
clean by removing plant debris and weed plants. This is important because many
plant pathogens and insects survive on plant debris and weed hosts.
• Increasing soil organic matter controls nematodes as micro-organisms attack them,
which proliferate in high organic soils. Application of organic manures also helps in
controlling common scab of potato by favouring micro-organisms antagonistic to the
scab pathogen. Fertilization with compost suppresses the incidence of Colourado
potato beetle in potato.
• Handpick and destroy larvae of insects that appear sporadically. This method of
control is very successful in small gardens and with large insects especially the
caterpillars. Use strong water sprays to wash-off small insects e.g. aphid, thrip,
whitefly, mite, etc.
• Avoid watering, especially through sprinkles, in late evening hours to minimize
occurrence of foliar diseases.
• Soil insects like grubs, cutworms etc. are exposed by soil tilling and are picked by the
birds. Young plants are protected from cutworms by placing a tinfoil collar around
the plant stem at ground level.
• Incorporated host plant resistance is an integral part of organic vegetable farming.
Some of the commercial vegetable varieties possessing resistance to various insect-
pests, diseases and nematodes are listed in Table 3.3.
• Grafting on resistant rootstocks is helpful to combat soil borne diseases, especially
the wilts and the root knot nematodes. Use of grafted seedlings is also recommended
in hydroponics culture of tomato, eggplant, pepper and cucumber.
• Powdery mildew, a serious disease of cucurbits, is controlled by spray of cow milk @
10 per cent twice a week or 20 per cent once in a week. Cow milk has more than one
TYPES OF VEGETABLE GARDENS 29
mode of action in controlling the disease. One, it directly affects the disease due to its
germicidal properties and secondly, various salts and amino acids present in the milk
act as a foliar fertilizer thus boosting the plant immune system.
• Various plant extract based natural pesticides are affective against insect-pests and
diseases.
The three types of natural pesticides used are biochemical/ botanical, microbial and
mineral based pesticides.
(i) Botanicals
Nicotine sulfate: It is extracted from tobacco or related Nicotiana species and is effective
against sucking pests like aphids, thrips, spider mites etc.
Rotenone: It is resinous compound produced by roots of several tropical and sub-tropical
plant species belonging to genera Lonchocartus and Derris. It is effective against caterpillars,
beetles, aphids, flea beetles, weevils and thrips.
Azardirachtin and Salannin: These are extracted from neem (Azardirachta indica), an
Indian origin tree, and are effective against gypsy moths, leaf miners, white flies, caterpillars
and mealy bugs.
Sabadilla: It is extracted from seeds of Sabadilla lily and is effective against caterpillars,
leafhoppers, thrips and bugs.
Pyrethrins: It is derived from dry chrysanthemum like flowers and is effective against
sucking pests.
TABLE 3.3. List of some of the vegetable varieties possessing host plant
resistance
Crop Variety Resistant to
Potato Kufri Pukhraj Early blight
Kufri Pukhraj, Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Megha, Kufri Late blight
Swarna
Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Giriraj, Kufri Kanchan Wart
Kufri Swarna Cyst nematodes
Tomato Punjab NR 7, Hisar Lalit, Arka Shreshtra, Root knot nematodes
Arka Vardan
Rupali F1, Naveen F1 Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt
Punjab Varkha Bahar 1, Punjab Varkha Bahar Leaf curl virus
2 and Punjab Varkha Bahar 4
Eggplant Arka Nidhi, Arka Keshav Bacterial wilt
Chilli Punjab Lal, CH-27 Leaf Curl virus
Bell pepper Bharat F 1 Tobacco mosaic virus
Watermelon Arka Manik Powdery mildew, Downey mildew
Muskmelon Arka Rajhans Powdery mildew
Cucumber Poinsette Powdery mildew, Downey mildew,
Anthracnose, Angular leaf spot
Pea Jawahar Pea 54, Jawahar Pea 83, Azad P-2 Powdery mildew
Jawahar Pea 15 Powdery mildew and Fusarium wilt
Arka Ajeet, Arka Karthik Rust and powdery mildew
Cowpea Pusa Komal Bacterial blight
Cowpea 263 Cowpea mosaic virus
Bhagyalakshmi Anthracnose
Badhan Barbati 1 Cowpea mosaic virus, golden
mosaic virus
French bean Phule Surekha Anthracnose, Leaf Crinkle, bean
mosaic
Arka Anoop Rust and bacterial blight
Pant Anupama Angular leaf spot and common
mosaic virus
SVM 1 Angular leaf spot
Cabbage Bajrang F1 Fusarium wilt
Pusa Mukta Black rot
Okra Punjab No. 7, Punjab No. 8, Hisar Unnat, Yellow Vein Mosaic virus
Arka Anamika, Arka Abhay, Parbhani Kranti,
Varsha Uphar
TYPES OF VEGETABLE GARDENS 31
garden. This is a specialized type of farming and is, more or less, restricted to the Kashmir
valley.
3.10. HYDROPONICS
Hydroponics is generally defined as the science of growing plants without using soil by
feeding them on solutions of water and mineral salts instead of relying upon traditional
method of cultivating the earth. The term hydroponics is derived from the Greek words
hudro-water and ponos-work means water working. Advantages of hydroponics over the
traditional method of crop raising include better quality produce, quick growth, no soil or
seedbed preparation, clean culture, consistent results and crop production even if the soil is
sick or unfit due to salinity, poor structure and drainage problem. Hydroponic systems have
some clear environmental benefits with the most significant being that they use 70-90% less
water compared with many forms of conventional crop production. There should be no
nutrient run off and hence reduced concerns about contamination of ground water, rivers,
streams etc.
The most widely used type of hydroponic system where a timer controls a nutrient
solution to drip on to the base of each plant from a small drip line. Some include a recovery
system where the excess nutrient solution that runs off is collected back to a reservoir for re-
use. Hydroponics is popular in the Netherlands, Spain, Canada, Japan, UK, USA, Italy, New
Zealand and Australia. Tomato, cucumber, lettuce and bell pepper etc. respond favourably to
the hydroponic culture. The worldwide area of hydroponics production has increased four to
five times in the last ten years or so.
Dr. William F. Gericke pioneered the technique of hydroponics. His soilless cultured
tomatoes attained height of 25 feet. After that, he started raising a wide variety of other
vegetables as well as flowers, root crops, fruits and cereals. The technology quickly spread to
other parts of the USA as well as some parts of Europe. During the world wars, millions of
tonnes of vegetables were produced for supply to the allied forces. The American armed
forces still continue with their soilless gardens in the Far East. There are full-fledged
hydroponics systems in Russian Space Station and American submarines. In countries like
England, Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, etc. flower firms prefer to employ the
soilless culture for commercial purposes.
Green house cultivation throughout the world is generally hydroponics where plants are
grown with or without the artificial medium i.e. sand, gravel, vermiculite, rock-wool,
peatmoss or sawdust, all meant for only mechanical support to the roots. In India,
hydroponics center was established in 1946 at the Experiment Station near Darjeeling in West
Bengal with the objective to evolve simple and inexpensive methods of soilless gardening.
SUGGESTED READING
Lee Jung Myung (2003). Advances in vegetable grafting. Chronica Horticulturae, 43 (2): 13-19.
TYPES OF VEGETABLE GARDENS 33