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Cabbage(Brassica oleraceae var. Capitata); Brasicaceae

Varieties

• Hills:   Pusa Mukta
• Plains: Golden Acre and Pusa Drum Head

Soil

• It is grown in varied types of soils ranging from sandy loam to clay.
• It requires a pH range of 5.5 to 6.5

Season of Sowing

• Hills :     January – February, July – August and September – October.
• Plains :  August – November.

Seed Rate

650 g/ha.

Nursery

• 100 sq.m nursery area/ha.
• Apply FYM at 300 kg and 10 kg of No.5 mixture (9:9:9) along with 50 g of sodium molybdate and 100 g of borax.
• Sow the seeds in rows drawn at 10 cm spacing in raised seed beds after drenching it with Copper oxychloride (2.5 g/l).
  Seedlings will be ready for transplanting in 40-45 days after sowing.
• Avoid land infected with club root disease‘.

Protected Nursery

• Raise the seedlings in shade net house.
• A nursery area of 5 cents with a slanting slope of 2% is required for the production of seedlings for 1 ha.
• Cover the nursery area with 50 per cent shade net and the sides with 40/50 mesh insect proof nylon net.
• Form the raised beds of 1m width and convenient length inside the nursery and above the beds, the portrays are placed.

Protray

• The Protrays of 98 cells are ideal for cabbage seedling production.
• Around 300 protrays are required for the production of 29,400 seedlings required for one hectare at spacing of 60 x 45 x 45 cm in three row planting

Growing Medium

The sterilized cocopeat @ 720 kg / ha is mixed with 10 kg of neem cake and
Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria each @ 1kg. About 1.25 kg of the cocopeat medium is required for each tray.

Seed Treatment

• 250 g of hybrid cabbage seeds are required for the production of seedlings for 1 ha.
• Treat the seeds in hot water @ 50C for 30 minutes.
• 25g of Azospirillum is required for the seed treatment of 250g cabbage seeds.

Sowing

• Sow the seeds in protrays @ 1 seed per cell.
• Cover the seeds with cocopeat and keep the tray one over the other (8-10 Nos) and covered with polythene sheet for 5 days or till germination starts.
• After 5 days when the seeds are germinated arrange the protrays on the raised beds inside the shade net nursery.
• Water the tray by rose can everyday (twice / day) upto seed germination.
• Drench with 19:19:19 + MN @ 0.5 % (5g/lit) solution using rose can or spray micro nutrient of 0.5 % at 18 days after sowing.
• The cabbage seedlings are ready for transplanting in 25 days

Preparation of Field

• Bring the soil to a fine tilth.
• Pits should be taken up at a spacing of 40 cm either way
  in Hills.
• Ridges and furrows are formed at 45 cm apart in plains.

Spacing

Hills : 40 x 40 cm
Plains : 45 x 30 cm

Irrigation

Provide continuous supply of moisture

Drip Irrigation

• Install drip system with main and sub-main and place the inline laterals at the intervalof 1.5 m.
• Place the drippers at the interval of 60 cm for 4 LPH or 50 cm for 3.5 LPH in the
  lateral system.
• Form the raised beds at 120 cm width at an interval of 30cm and place the
  laterals at the centre of each bed.

Application of Fertilizers

Hills

• Apply 30 t/ha FYM, 90 kg N, 90 kg P and 90 kg K as basal and 45:45:45 kg NPK/ha 30 to 45 days after planting.
• Apply departmental micronutrient mixture (borax & molybdenum) @ 2 kg per ha as basal dressing.
  Plains
  Apply 20 t/ha of FYM. 50 kg N, 125 kg P and 25 kg K/ha along with 2 kg Azospirillum as basal and 50 kg N after one month of planting and earth up.

Micronutrients

• Basal soil application of 50kg ZnSo4 ha-1 or 37.5 kg ZnSo4 enriched with FYM (1:10 ratio)
• 10 kg borax ha-1 for B deficient soil.
• 10 kg CuSo4 as basal or 7.5 kg CuSo4 as enriched FYM (1:10 ratio)
• 1 kg Sodium molybdate ha-1 as soil application
• Foliar Spraying: – 0.5 % ZnSo4 twice on 45 days after planting and 10 days later – 0.2% CuSo4 twice on 45 days after planting and 10 days later

Spacing

60x 45 x 45 cm in paired row system

After Cultivation
Deep hoeing should be avoided, as the Cabbage roots are surface
feeders.
Fertigation Schedule

Recommended Dose: 200:125:150 kg/ha

Plant Protection

1.Diamond back moth: Plutella xylostella

Management:

• Remove and destroy all debris and stubbles after harvest of crop
• Grow mustard as trap crop at 2:1 ratio (cabbage: mustard) to attract DBM 
• Spray mustard crop with dichlorvos 76 WSC 0.076% to avoid dispersal of the larvae
• Pheromone traps @12/ha

2.Cabbage borer: Hellula undalis

Management:

• Collect and destroy mechanically caterpillars in the early stages of attack
• Bacillus thuringiensis @ 2g/lit at primordial stage
• Cartap hydrochloride @ 500g/ha or malathion 50 EC @500ml/ha

3.Leaf webber: Crocidolomia binotalis

Management:

• Remove and destroy the webbed leaves with caterpillars within
• Set up light traps@1/ha
• Encourage the activity of parasitoid: Cotesia crocidolomiae
• Spray malathion 50 EC @ 0.1% or carbaryl 0.2%

4.Cabbage green semilooper : Trichoplusia ni

Management:

• Hand pick and destroy the caterpillars
• Set up light trap @1/ha
• Spray insecticides like malathion 50EC @ 0.1% ha

5.Cabbage butterfly: Pieris brassicae, P.rapae

Symptoms of damage:

• Defoliation
• Bores into the heads of cabbage

Management:

• Collect and destroy caterpillars in the early stage of attack
• Conserve parasitoids like Cotesia glomeratus
• Spray insecticides like quinalphos 25 EC @1000 ml.

6.Tobacco caterpillar: Spodoptera litura

Management:

• Plough the soil to expose and kill the pupae
• Grow castor along border and irrigation channel as trap crop
• Flood the field to drive out the hibernating larvae
• Set up light trap @1/ha
• Pheromone traps (Pherodin SL) @ 15/ha to attract male moths

7.Cabbage aphid: Brevicoryne brassicae

Management:

• Install yellow sticky trap @12 no/ha to monitor “macropterous” adults (winged adult).
• Spray neem oil 3 % with 0.5 ml Teepol/lit
• Spray any one of the following insecticide

8.Mustard aphid: Lipaphis erysimi

Management:

• Set up yellow stick trap to monitor aphid population.
• Conserve the natural enemies viz., Cocciniella septempunctata, Menochilus sexmaculata,
• Spray dimethoate@ 2 ml /lit

Nutritional Deficiency

Diseases

1.Club root disease – Plasmodiophora brassicae

Symptoms

• Stunting and yellowing of plants
• Leaves become yellowish and wilt on hot days.
• Club like swelling of root and root lets

Management

• Soil fumigation with Methly bromide 1kg/10m 2  followed by covering with plastic film.
• Seed treatment with Captan/Thiram 4g/kg, followed by T.viride 4g/kg.
• Application of lime 2.5 t/ha.
• Soil drenching with Copper oxychloride 0.25%.

2.Downy mildew: Peronospora parasitica

Symptoms

• It may attack young plants and also at the seed production stage when high humidity prevails during seed production stage.
• The fungus when attacks the young seedlings, discoloration occurs and in severe cases the whole plant perishes.

Management

• Seed treatment with Metalaxyl (Apron 6g/kg of seed )
• Foliar spraying with Metalaxyl (Ridomil) 0.4%

3.Root rot: Rhizoctonia solani 

Symptoms

• Young plants show soft, water soaked lesion on the stem near soil level, the cotyledons wither and the plant eventually falls over and perishes.

Management

• Nursery beds: Soil drenching with Methyl bromide @ 1 kg/10 m 2 and covered with polythene sheet.
• Seed treatment with Captan / Thiram 4g/kg, followed by seed treatment with Trichoderma viride 4g / kg.

4.Black spot: Alternaria sp.

Symptoms

• In older plants, leaves, petioles, and stems small, brown to black circular 
• It causes damage to cabbage heads and cauliflower curds after maturity and during seed production stage.

Management

• First foliar spraying with Tridemorph 0.1% followed by spraying with Mancozeb 0.25% a month interval.

5.Black leg: Phoma lingam

Symptoms

• It is caused by Phoma lingam and occurs in most regions, with rainfall during the growing period.
• The fungus is carried by the seed and hence it may occur from the early stage.

Management

• Spraying the seed plants with copper oxychloride or with an organo mercuric compound.
• Seed treatment with Captan or Thiram 4g/kg of seed, followed by seed treatment with Trichoderma viride 4g/ kg.

6.Powdery mildew: Erysiphe polygoni

Symptoms

• Initially, white tufts of mould arise on the upper surface of the leaves and later run together and the entire leaf becomes covered with greyish white mycelium.

Management

• Spary inorganic sulphur 0.25% or Dinocap 0.05%

7.Damping off: Pythium  debaryanum 

Symptoms

• Black and reddish brown lesion on the collar region.
• Finally infected seedling are toppled on the ground surface.
• The disease is promoted by high humidity and high temperature and the damage in the seed bed, in general, is considerable.

Management

• Seed treatment with Captan/Thiram 4g/kg, followed by seed treatment with T.viride 4g/kg

8.Black rot: Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris 

Symptoms

• The infection of the foliage results in yellow ‘V’ shaped spots arising along the margin which extend in the direction of the midrib.
• These spots are associated with a typical black discoloration of the veins.

Management

• Seed treatment with Aureomycin 1000ppm for 30 min is effective in killing seed-borne pathogen.
• Drenching the nursery soil with formaldehyde 0.5% helps in checking the disease.
• Application of bleaching powder at 10.0 to 12.5 kg/ha controls the disease.

Yield

Hills: 70 – 80 t/ha in 150 days.
Plains: 25 – 35 t/ha in 120 days.

Market Information

Crop Growing districts                           Nilgris, Krishnagiri, Theni, Erode
Major markets in Tamil Nadu               Mettupalayam, Ottanchathiram, Hosur and Dindigul
Grade Specification                                Size and Weight