Brassica oleracea var botrytis, Cruciferae
Cauliflower is one of the most required vegetable as it is used in most of the dishes. It is rich in fibre and vit B and helps to cure obesity, cancer, diabetes and other health issues. It also promotes heart health and lowers cholesterol levels. Fiber helps in weight loss and digestion, choline that is essential for learning and memory, The major cauliflower producing states are Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana and Maharashtra.
Varieties and hybrids
Pusa early synthetic, Pusa katki, Pusa sharad, Pusa himjyothi, Pusa snowball, Pusa deepali, Pant shubra, Suhasini, Barsati etc.
Season
Early season variety : June-July is best transplanting time
Main season variety : August to mid-September and October to first week of November is best transplanting for late varieties.
Climate and soil
It requires temperature of 15-30 degrees and rainfall of 120-125mm.It can grow well in wide range of soil from sandy loam to clay. For late sown variety, clay loam soils are preferred and for early maturing varieties sandy loam soil is recommended. pH of soil should be in range of 6 to 7. Add lime in case of low pH soil.
Land preparation
Bring soil to fine tilth by ploughing the land thoroughly. Add well decomposed cow dung and mix well in soil at the time of last ploughing.
Seed rate
Early season variety : 500 g/acre is required
late and main season variety : 250 g/acre is required.
Seed treatment
Dip the seeds in hot water (50°C for 30 min) before sowing. After treatment dry them in shade and then sow on bed. Blackrot mostly observed in Rabi. For that dip seeds in Mercury chloride@1 gm/Ltr solution for 30 min after that dry them in shed. Crop grown in sandy soils are more prone to stem rot. To prevent it do seed treatment with Carbendazim 50%WP@3 gm/kg of seeds.
Spacing and depth
Use spacing of 45×45 cm for main season crop and 45×30 cm for early and late maturing crop. Sow the seeds at the depth of 1-2 cm.
Method of sowing
Dibbling and transplanting methods can be used for sowing.
Sow the seeds in nursery and apply irrigation. Seedlings are ready to transplant within 25-30 days after sowing. For transplantation use three to four weeks old seedlings.
Manures and Fertilizers
Apply well decomposed FYM @ 40 t/acre, Urea @110 kg/acre, SSP @ 155 kg/acre and MOP @ 40 kg/acre. Apply whole quantity of FYM, SSP and MOP and half quantity of Urea before transplanting. Apply remaining quantity of Urea four week after transplanting as top dressing.
To get better flowering (Curd) and yield, spray Water Soluble Fertilizer (19:19:19)@5-7 gm/Ltr water during the early plant growth. 40 days after transplanting take spray of 12:61:00@4-5 gram + micronutrients@2.5 to 3 gram + Boron@1 gm per Ltr water. To improve curd quality, apply Water Soluble Fertilizer 13:00:45@8-10 gm/Ltr of water at the time of curd development.
Weed management
Apply Fluchloralin (Basalin)800ml/150-200 ltr water before transplantation followed by hand weeding 30 to 40 days after transplanting. Apply Pendimethalin@1 Ltr/acre one day before transplanting of seedlings.
Irrigation
Give first irrigation immediately after transplanting. Depending upon the soil, climatic condition, apply irrigation at the interval of 7-8 days in summer season and 10-15 days during winter season.
Harvesting
Harvesting can be done after complete development of the head. Carry out harvesting in morning or evening time. After harvesting keep product in cool place.
Yield
We can obtain an average yield of 150-200 q/ha in main season varieties whereas early season varieties gives 80-120 q/ha of yield