Vegetable Agronomy

Importance of Vegetables in Indian Agriculture

Vegetables play a Key role in Indian agriculture –

● To feed the increasing population

● Changing food habits of people and so their food

baskets

● Increasing awareness of people towards balanced diet

and concept of nutritional security

● The productivity & profitability of the vegetables are

high in per unit area

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 Indian Vegetable Scenario
● India is the 2nd largest producer of vegetables in
the world and accounts for about 15% of the
world’s production of vegetables

● Total area under cultivation- 8 million hectares,

which is 3% of the total cropped area

● Average productivity stands at 16 MT/ ha. with

annual production 135 Mio MT

● About 25-40 per cent of the produce gets wasted

due to lack of adequate post-harvest handling

● In India, about 40 kinds of vegetables belonging to

different groups are being cultivated

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 Vegetables belong to different groups or families
Solanaceae crops Brinjal, Tomato, Chillies & Sweet peppers
Cole Crops Cabbage, cauliflower, Knol Khol.
Bulbous vegetable Onion, Garlic
Large seeded Okra, Sweet Corn
Muskmelon, Watermelon, Cucumber, Pumpkin, Squash, Bitter gourd,
Cucurbits Bottle gourd, Pointed gourd (parwal), Ridge gourd, Round gourd, Snake
gourd, Sponge gourd
Root vegetables Carrot, Radish, Turnip

Leguminous vegetables Broad bean, Cluster bean, Cowpea, Dolichos bean, French bean, Peas

Leafy vegetables Coriander, Spinach, Fenugree

Salad vegetables Lettuce

Perennial vegetables Drumstick

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Key operations for Success in Vegetable cultivation

● Nursery Management
● Land preparation
● Transplanting
● Nutrition Management
● Irrigation Management
● Pest & Disease Management
● Harvesting & Post Harvesting Management

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Nursery Management
 Nursery Management

Importance of Nursery in vegetable cultivation

● 80% success in vegetable cultivation depends upon the healthy & good quality seedling

● Transplanted crops are very delicate in the early stage and need careful handling

● Infection in nursery – leads to poor growth in main fields thus need intensive care

● Ease & Convenience : It is easy to operate in small piece of area than on entire field

● Raising seedling in nursery enables the grower to select well grown, vigorous, uniform &
disease free seedlings

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Criteria for Healthy Seedlings:

 Strong stem
 Profuse root development
 Dark green leaves
 Free from pest and diseases
 Uniform height
 Straight stem & roots
 Right age of seedling is 21 days after
emergence or 6-8 leaf stage

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Site Selection for Nursery

● Away from – border /FYM pit / standing crop / tree / cattle shed - To protect
from insects / diseases / shadow

● Should be leveled land - For uniform irrigation / germination

● Avoid low laying land - To avoid water stagnation

● Should be protected from stray animals - To avoid damage

● Soil with excellent drainage capacity, pH around 6-7 - For good growth

● Water source should be near by – accessible - Easy to operate

● Nursery may be in the same field preferably - For transport purpose

● Nursery should not be under the big tree/Shade

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Types of Nursery

Raised beds – open

● Beds are raised after the soil is brought to fine tilth

● No structure are required

● It is traditional way of raising seedlings

Raised beds – Covered

● Beds are covered with poly sheets or shade net

● The roof helps in maintaining the temp in summer and winter

Pro trays – (Nursery raisers)

● Seedlings are grown in partially controlled condition

● Coco peat and tray are used

● The trays are kept in net house / poly house

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Land preparation for Raised bed (Open/Covered)

Procedure:
● Bring the soil to a fine tilth by deep plough followed by
clod crushing

● Remove plant debris and weeds

● Prepare the raised bed of 180x90x15cm, for 1 acre 10 to

12 beds are required

● Mix Thimate @ 50g + DAP 100g + 5g Carbendezim

thoroughly in the soil

● Irrigate the bed fully and wait for Vapsa condition

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Raised bed - Sowing

● Mark the line over bed with sticks

 Distance between two row : 8-10 cm (4 fingers) apart
 Distance between seed to seeds : 3-4 cm ( 2 fingers)
 Seeds are sown in line at 0.5-1.0 cm deep at Vapsa

● Cover the seeds with top loose soil, gently irrigate and
then cover by gunny bag to enable quick germination
● Remove the gunny bag after 2-3 days
● Drench the bed with Ridomil +Actara (2g+2g /lit) 5 to 7
DAG (2 leaf stage)
● Seedling will remain in Nursery up to 20 days, protect
them from Insects and disease

*DAG – Days After Germination

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Precautions taken in case of Raised Bed Nursery

● Avoid over crowding of seeds; use standard spacing while sowing

● Avoid over irrigation of nursery bed

● Maintain vapsa condition all the time

● One irrigation 1-3 days before transplanting

● To avoid root damage, uproot seedlings at vapsa condition

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Raised bed with cover:

● This is improvement over the raised bed open method

● After sowing, the beds are covered with – Shade

net/Insect net/Plastic sheet

● This method normally helps from adverse conditions like

high rains, high temperature & winter season

● Also helpful for preventing the insect damage

● Once the seedlings are ready, the plastic sheets are

removed during morning / evening hours

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Pro-Trays method of nursery

● Seedlings are grown in sterilized media i.e. coco peat

● Selection of Pro trays’ cavity may vary with crops
(example: for Solanaceae crop- 74 cavity and for
Brassica- 98 cavity)
● Sow single seed per cavity
● Sowing depth 0.5 cm
● Pro trays arranged in stacks and tightly covered with
plastic sheet or gunny bags
● At regular intervals, check for seedling emergence
● Remove the cover after 48 to 72 hours, during evening
hours and place the pro trays inside net house

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Pro-Trays Method: Continued----

● Irrigate the Pro trays immediately after spreading in

net house to enhance germination
● Irrigate daily in morning hours depending on coco
peat moisture by rose can
● 8-10 days after germination provide drenching of
NPK-19:19:19 @ 2 gm/lit, followed by foliar spray of
calcium nitrate @2gm/lit at weekly intervals
● Provide two subsequent foliar sprays of calcium
nitrate at weekly intervals
● If seedling growth is slow, extra dose of fertilizers
are given

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Nutrient management: Pro trays method

Stage of
Nutrients Dose Process of application
application
8-10 DAG* NPK (19:19:19) 2gm/ lit Drenching

14-16 DAG* Calcium nitrate 2 gm/ lit Drenching (if deficiency)

*DAG – Days After Germination

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Benefits of Pro-Tray method:

● Uniform growth of seedlings as there is no competition

between seedlings for nutrients
● No damage to the root system during uprooting for
transplanting
● Can restrict the spread of damping off
● Can raise the seedlings during adverse climatic
conditions
● Root development is comparatively good

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Hardening of Seedlings:
● Hardening means preparing the young
seedlings to withstand the harsh field
conditions

● A week before transplanting, seedlings are

hardened by reducing irrigations and
gradually exposing to sun light for 2-3 days
Age of hardening Exposure time

● Expose the seedlings to sunlight in the 7-5 days before

2-4 hr
transplanting
morning and evening hours and cover during
noon time 4-3 days 4-8 hr

Fully expose to
2 days
sunlight

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Recap…

 Select good piece of land

 Avoid crowding of seedlings
 Do not over irrigate
 Raise healthy seedlings – free of diseases & pests
 Transplant just in time

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Disease control in Nursery (Damping Off)…
 Two types of damping off: Pre-emergence
and Post-emergence
 Pre-emergence: results in the death of
young seedlings after germination but
prior to their emergence above the soil
 Caused mainly by Pythium & Fusarium
 Major reason is: infected soil and
untreated seed
 Control: Seed treatment and soil
solarization / sterilization
 Note: If seed germinates but doesn’t come up
then its pre-emergence damping off

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Disease control in Nursery (Damping Off)…

Post-emergence: Causes

 Primary injury by nematode and penetration by the Fungus

 Fungus can be Pythopathora, Pythium, Fusarium, Rhizoctonia
 Soil borne, requires humidity 90-100% and soil temp nearer 20 degree centigrade
 Over crowding of seedling is favorable for the disease

Symptoms

 Disease starts in patches at the nursery

 Seedlings turn pale yellow in color
 Brownish water soaked lesions at the basal portion of the stem
 The affected tissues rot and the seedlings are collapsed

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Damping Off (Post-emergence) : Control Measures

Cultural Practices

 Soil solarization / sterilization

 Use of light soil
 Avoid over-irrigation
 Avoid using undecomposed FYM

Chemical Measures
 Use treated seed
 Oomycetes (Pythium & Phytophathora ) : Soil Drenching
with Ridomil Gold(2gm/liter) 10-12 days after sowing
 Fusarium & Rhizoctonia : Soil drenching with Blue copper
3gm + Carbendezim1gm/liter of water at 12th & 20th
Day of sowing

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Aphids

Nature of Damage

 Nymphs & adults suck sap from young leaves and

tender shoots
 The leaves curl downwards
 Excretion of honey dew by these insects attracts
ants and sooty mold
 In turn results into stunted growth
 Aphids are vector for Cucumber Mosaic Virus

 Control: Soil drenching with Actara 2gm / liter of water at two leaf stage
(Drenching with Rose Can)

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Jassids

Nature of Damage
 Adults and Nymphs suck sap from young leaves
 Leaf margins turn upwards
 Leaflets become cup shaped with yellow edges and tips
 Seedlings are stunted with red-brown leaflets followed
by defoliation

 Control: Soil drenching of Actara 2gm / liter of water at two leaf stage (Drenching
with Rose Can)

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Thrips
Nature of Damage

 Both nymphs and adults lacerate the tissues and feed on the
oozing sap

 Nymph and adults feed in growing points and inside flowers

 Attack plant tissues by scrap feeding, leaves become

shortened, curl upwards, crumbled and ultimately shed in
severe infestation

 Control : Spray with Matador 0.5ml/liter of water at two-leaf stage

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Whitefly

Nature of Damage
 On hatching nymphs/crawlers, settle down on a succulent spot
on ventral surface of leaf, and keep sucking sap.

 Sucks phloem sap

 Affected parts become yellowish, leaves wrinkle, curl

downwards and are ultimately shed. Honey dew excreted by
nymphs attracts sooty molds which form black coating on
leaves

 Virus (TYLCV) vector

 Control : Soil drenching of Actara 2gm / liter of water at two leaf stage

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Mites

Nature of Damage

 Colonies of mites are found feeding on ventral surface of leaves

under protective cover of fine silken webs

 Resulting in yellow spots on upper surface of leaves; affected

leaves gradually curl downwards, get wrinkled and crumpled

 Control : Spray with Curacron 1.5 ml/ liter or Ekalux 2 ml/ liter of water

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 Leaf Miner

Nature of Damage

 Yellow and black colored adult female flies puncture leaf

surface during egg laying

 The hatched larva feeds on mesophyl tissues (between the

two surface of leaf), leaving behind white colored serpentine
mines in which larva and fecal deposits are visible

Chemical Control
 Soil drenching of Actara 2gm / liter of water at two leaf stage followed by spray with
Polytrin C 1 ml/liter of water after 8-10 days in the morning hours.

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 Leaf eating Caterpiller

Nature of Damage

● Feed on the leaves and affect the seedling growth

● Heavy infestation causes the complete defoliation or

destroy the seedling in the nursery

Chemical Control
 Spray with Cigna 1.25 ml / liter of water

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Soil Insects
Nature of Damage
 Roots of the seedlings are cut & the seedlings are killed
reducing the plant population

Cultural Methods of Control

 Deep ploughing of soil during summer

Chemical Control
 Seed treatment with Cruiser 3-5 ml/kg WA, WG, WW
 Soil drenching of Actara 2 gm/liter of water at 2-4 leaf stage
 For cutting worms, drench the soil with Karate 1 ml/ liter of
water in the evening (because of their nocturnal habit)

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Thank You!

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