• Growth and development of plant depend on climate

as well as soil factors.

• Weather is the state of the atmosphere with respect to
temperature, moisture, solar radiation, air movement
and other meteorological phenomenon over a short
period of time.
• Climate is the average weather at a specific location
over a period of many years and is the integrated effect
of weather.
• The weather changes each day and assumes a
certain pattern which repeats itself year after year.
• The pattern is the climate of that particular location.
• Climate differ in the extent of change with distance from
ground level e.g. temp changes greatly in the first few
cm form the soil surface into the air.
• Humidity is highest near the surface and wind speed
is minimum.
 Factors

Genetic Physiological
Factors Biotic factors
A biotic factors Factors
Temperature Diseases
Light Varieties Insects Plant growth
Moisture Hybrids weed regulators
Soil
Nutrient
Water
Atm
Gases
Pollutant
Wind
 Temperature
• Affect all living organisms i.e. plant and animals.
• The source of energy is sun; each minute about 2.0
g cal/cm3 is transmitted to the earth.
• Definition- Movement of heat between two
particles. Measured by -Thermo meters
• 1. Celsius - 0-100 o C --- 100
• 2.fehranhite - 32-212 o F--------180

It also affect the various processes of the plant

• Seed germination, flowering, sex expression
,pollination, fruit setting, fruit quality, seed production
,seed storage etc.
 Global temperature distribution
• Earth is rotating sphere and temperature of any particular point
is governed by its proximity to other land masses and to the air
and ocean currents.
• The equatorial zone is consistently warmer and polar
region consistently colder than mid latitudes.
• Due to the 66 1/20 inclination of the earth portion of the earth
receiving different amount of insulation, varying with time of
year and latitude resulting in different season.
• If the earth was not tilted there would not be distinctive season. The
season temperature difference is as little as 30C to 45 0C in polar region.
• The range of temperature variation is more over the continent then
over oceans because moderation is provided by large heat capacity
of the water.
• Diurnal fluctuation occurs due to rotation of the earth, each day
temperature maximum occur shortly after noon and minimum occur at sunrise.
• Temperature also decrease with increase in altitude,
usually decrease of about 60C occur with 100 m in elevation.
 Temperature effect on plant
 Temp is important factor to deciding the crop.
 Influences physiological activities by
controlling the rate of chemical reaction.
 Temperature does not supply energy or
constituents to the plant but primarily control
the rate of chemical reaction.
 It affects flowering and pollen viability, fruit set,
hormonal balance, rate of maturation and
senescence, quality, yield and shelf life of the
edible product.
 Cardinal Temperature;
minimum,
• Minimum andmaximum and
maximum temperature optimum.
is where growth cease
• Optimum is where growth is most favorable and /or rapid.
• Each vegetable grows and develop most rapidly at a favourable
temp or range of temp ka optimum temp range at which
photosynthesis and respiration occur at rates resulting max
marketable yield (high photosynthesis and normal respiration).
• Temperature requirements
0
are usually based on night temp.
0
Those
can grow below 18 C are cool season and those above 18 C are
the warm season.
• Crop originated in temp area are called cool season and of
tropical are warm season.
• At high temp, the night temp influences the amount of crop yield.
While photosynthesis occurs during the day, respiration occurs
mostly at night.
• When respiration is high at night net photosynthesis is low
thus potential yield is reduced.
• Usually night temp is high during rainy season.
• Thermo classification: is the grouping according
to climatic preference as cool and warm season.
• Cool season vegetable have growth and
development between 16 – 18 0 C in this few can
tolerate freezing spinach, beet and other which
are damaged by freezing like potato, cauliflower,
lettuce etc. have frost tolerance.
0
• Warm season optimum temp 18-30 C and
intolerance to frost cucurbits, tomato, pepper.
Other warm season like sweet potato, yam cassava
and okra optimum temp range is 21 to 35 0C and
will not grow if temp is less than 21 0C. All warm
season suffer chilling injury by exposer of
extended period of temp less than 100C.
• Vegetables grow within a narrow temp range. At
0 0
0 C plants are killed by frost and at 40 C they are
killed by heat. At higher or lower temp
abnormalities are expressed by slowdown in
growth and development and by external
symptoms. Extreme temp inhibit seed germination,
reduce pollen viability or germination on the
stigma, decrease fruit set, retard tuber growth or
slow down development of yield component.
Van’t Hoff’s law: every 100C rise in temperature the rate of
dry matter production or growth doubles. This response is
commonly called as Q10 factor. However this is usually only
applicable in the range of 10 to 35 0C and can vary depending
on organisms.
• Freezing and chilling injury: Most of the vegetable plants are
injured by temp at or slightly below freezing, unless they can
acclimate to tolerate this level. But cold climate plant may be
frozen by low temp without injury. Many tropical and subtropical
plants can be damaged at non freezing temp below 100-12 0C. This
damage is called chilling injury. The metabolism of the crop is
altered resulting in discoloured areas, poor colour development or
sunken areas on the surface of the leaves or fruits (surface
pitting). This kind of injury has time and temp interaction. A short
pd of 50C exposer may not cause as much damage as 120C exposer
to long period. Susceptibility also varies with the stage of plant
development, flowering and fruit development are highly
susceptible period.
• Hardening: plant can be modified and made relatively tolerant to
cold temp by subjecting the plant each day to lower and lower
temp, this process is known as hardening. It causes adaptation of
cell protoplasm to low temp. Hardening is not protection against
freezing. Hardening also occur when plant are subjected to
gradual water stress or nutrient deprivation. Both condition are
useful to accumulate plant for high or low temp stress.
• High temp Injury (Heat stress): occur in arid and semi arid region high temp is the
limiting factor. Reduction of temp on the leaf surface depends on cooling by
transpiration and heat flow i.e conduction to atm. When heat is not effectively
removed, leaf in full sunlight have 100 -15 0C higher temp(Under high insulation
and high humidity, leaf temp 80C above that of ambient air temp have been
reported). When temp rise is too great (45-500C), heat destruction of protoplasm
result in cell death. In tomato above 38 0C fruit temp of 42 -52 0c. have been
observed leading to sunbirn and sunscald. Transpiration can reduce heating by 15
to 25 %. If high temp occur for long pd, the leaves develop chlorosis or show
sunscald (brown area appear). Heat injury can be due to starvation, toxicity or
destruction of protein structure. At temp above 30 stomata remain partially
closed, thus effectively preventing CO2 form entering and leaving. When this occur
for long period starvation results. Toxicity occur when respiration is so rapid that
eventually oxygen intake is reduced and leading to anaerobic respiration and
production of ethanol and other acetaldehyde that damaged the cell. Protein are
denatured by high heat leading to chlorophyll deficiency as enzyme responsible
are destroyed. Change in mitochondrial membrane due to heat may also cause
starvation, toxicity or destruction of protein as they are composed of protein and
lipid. In case of heat stress cell membrane becomes porous and release of their
cellular content; so they become more susceptible to diseases, as the release
substance serve as food for microorganisms. Vegetables normally grown in the
temp regions cannot withstand the stress imposed by high temp and can rarely
tolerate temp above 350C.
• Heat Units or Degree Days: plant development is
dependent on the amount of heat experienced during the
growth and is calculated by subtracting the minimum
threshold temp for the average temperature for a given
day. The min threshold temp usually range from 5 0- 15 0C.
The daily average temp is obtained by adding the min and
max temp and divided by 2. Heat unit and degree days are
equivalent. Eg. If the average temperature for a day is equal to or
less than threshold tmep, the degree day value is 0. If the average
were 50C above the threshold value , the degree day value would be
5. This concept is useful for crop scheduling and harvest prediction
and generally more accurate than reliance on previous cropping
histories, such as days from planning to harvest.
• Diurnal Change (thermoperiodicity): large dieuranel change is
favourable for net photosynthesis. High night temp increase
respiratory rates thereby less progress in growth or development.
•Seed germination
•Survivability and growth
•Development of economic parts
•Flowering, pollination, fruit set and
seed production
•Viability in storage, germination
and dormancy of seeds
•Quality of produce
•Incidences of diseases and pests
 Seed germination
• Minimum soil temperature: 2 -15 o C
• Cool season crops (mini temp.):1.7-4.4 o C
• Warm season crops:15 o C(mini)&20-30 o C(max.)
Soil temperature( o C )
Crops mini Optimum range optimum Max.
Tomato 10.00 15.5-25 25 30
Brinjal 15.5 24.0-32.0 28.0 35.0
Cucumber 15.5 15.5-35.0 30.00 40.5
Bittergourd 15.5 20.0-35.5 32.0 37.8
Cabbage 4.4 10.0-30.0 20.0 37.8
Onion 1.6 10.0-35.0 23.9 35.0
Reset and dormancy in seed and organs: there is little or no growth in the life cycle. Under
natural condition this period concedes with unfavorable environment i.e. temp, moisture or
some time photoperiod. However, even when the environment conditions are favorable seeds
seed or vegetative, reproductive organ is are said to be at rest when organ shows no sign of
growth resumption. This period is called internal or innate dormancy. Sometime seed or other
do not germinate due to unfavorable environment is ka external, imposed and quiescent
dormancy. The phases of rest and dormancy are not abrupt, but occur gradually as changes in
inhibitor and /or hormonal concentration occur over time.
 Survivability, Growth and development
• The temp. influence cell growth especially
cell elongation and cell division
• Base temperature of different
vegetables Pea: 4.4 oC
French bean: 10 o C
Asparagus : 5.5 oC
Spinach : 2 oC
Tomato: 15 oC
Pumpkin: 13 oC
The mini.& max. temp for G&Dof vegetable crops :7-35 o C
 Growth & development
• Tomato root growth - 30 oC
• Peas - 10 oC
• Germination of okra seeds - 20 oC
• Cucurbits - 20-22
o
C 2 groups: cool season crops
warm season crops
In cauliflower: Very early varieties produce curd at 22-27 oC
Late varieties produces curds at 10-12 oC
 Development of economic parts
• Potato: sprouting and initial growth:20-24 o
C Tuberization:18-20 o C
Tuber formation check: >30 o C
• Onion: Bulb formation: 20-22 o C
• Garlic: bulb formation:10-15 o C
• Carrot: root development:15-20 o C
• Radish: early root growth:20-25 oC&10-18 in the later part
• Cauliflower: curd initiation&
development: Group I(early):20-
27 o C
Group II(mid):!6-19 o C
Group III(mid-late):12-16 o
C Group IV(late):10-12 o C
• Knolkhol: 15-18 oC(European cultivars)
• Monoecious cucurbits:Max.fruit set at 20-25 oC and short
day condition
• Asparagus: Spear production:16-18 o C throught the growing season
 Flowering, pollination, fruit set and seed
production

• Sex expression in cucurbits:

• High temp. induce male flowers where as
• Low temp. induce female flowers.
Under glasshouse condition
A. water melon plants exposed to different temp . as 5
,10, 15,--------50 o C .
Results-1. At 43.5 o C day temp . plant produced only
male flowers.
2. At 8-10 o C day temp . plant produce female flowers
B. Cucumber plant produce female flowers under low
temp. below 26 o C .and male above 27 o C .
 Contd..

• French bean: short day and mod.temp:18-25 o C

• Tomato: setting of fruits:15-21 o C
fruits fail to set at13 o C or below& above 32 o C
Chilli and Sweet Pepper :fruit set (night temp):18-20 o C
temp>24 o C causes flower drop
Potato: Long day Length with10-12 o C -induces the
emergence of inflorescence and fruit set
Biennial and temperate annual crops:vernalization(4-7 o C
for 6-8weeks)
• Vernalization: exposer of certain plants to low
temperature induces or accelerate flowering or
bolting. This inductive stimulus is called
vernilization. In some species devernilization or
reverse of vernilization occur if plant is
immediately exposed to high temp above 300C,
following low temperature exposer. In some
species, seedling and young plant are insensitive
to low temp condition that promote flowering in
older plants. Such plant at that growth stage are
considered juvenile or non responsive. While,
other species even imbibed or newly germinated
seed can be vernalised.
High Temp. Impact on Potato

 Increase in temperature favours the potato cultivation by

prolonging the crop growing season in high altitudes and
temperate regions of the world like Europe, Russia and in
India, Himalayan and other mountain regions and frost prone
states like Haryana and Punjab (Table 1)
 Whereas, it disfavours the potato production by shortening
the growing period in subtropical plains such as West Bengal
and Bihar during winter season (Singh et.al 2009)
.
 Viability in storage, germination and dormancy
of seeds
• If the seed moisture is high ,the storage temp
should be low & vice versa
Tempo C Seed Moisture Content

26 5-10%

7 11-15%

Freeze drying: seed moisture is brought down

to 6-7%- 10 times more storage life of seed
than conventional methods
 Quality of Produce
• Tomato: red and yellow colour develop :10-25 o C
below10 o C: both red&yellowcolors do not develop
>30: o C Red colour is supressed &>40 o C lycopene destroyed and
no red colour
• Carrot: best colour development at 16-21 o C
• Cauliflower:riceyness: fluctuation in temp both high and
low than optimum
• Cabbage:loose heads:>18-20 o C
• Chilli: higher capsaisin content: high night temp
• Pea:30 o C &above:toughening the pea &less sugar content
• Spinach: more sugar and drymatter:16-21 o C.if temp 25 o
C &above then yellow leaves ,less sugar and dry matter
• Potato: cold storage at 4-5- o C conversion of starch to sugar
 Incidences of diseases and pests
o
• Late bligh of potato and tomato: cool temp(10-20)
C &high humidity(>80%)
o
• Early bligh of potato and tomato :high temp.(20-25
C)&under rainy condition
• Black rot of cole crops :warm and humid climate
• Fusarium wilts of vegetables: growth of fungus
is inhibited at 35 o C
• White fly :LCV in tomato & YVMV in okra
• Aphid:
 Physiological disorders due to high & low temp.

Chilling injury in potato Blossom End Rot in

Tomato

Tomato sunburn Blossom End Rot Capsicum sunscald

Blotchy ripening
in chilli
 Light
 Light from sun travel to earth in wave measured in nanometers (nm).
 Each wavelength corresponds to certain colour, thus sun light is composed of light of
different colour (as rainbow), though it appears white to a naked eye.
 Sunlight available from Sun in the form of photon particles
 Day length (actually the length of dark period) is important.

Ultraviolet radiation is packed with excessive amounts of energy. It can break bonds and destroy organic
Infrared radiation contains minimal energy and is responsible for the warm temperature. Most of this ene

Light supplies the energy by controlling photo­morphogenetic and also directing this energy along the v
Light quality: refers to predominating wavelength.
 Red and blue light have the greatest effect on plant growth and
violet and red wavelengths are most effective in photosynthesis. Red
light when combined with blue light, encourages flowering in plants.
 Light not used in photosynthesis is transmitted or reflected.
 Green light is least effective to plants as most plants reflect green
light and absorb very little that is why plants appear green.
 The blue, red, and farred are active in photomorphogenesis, the
regulation of plant development by light.
 Light in shorter wavelength (blue light about 450nm) is absorbed by
carotenoids and chlorophyll and in longer wavelength it is absorbed
by chlorophyll only.
 The pigments involved in light absorption are the phytochrome,
the carotenoids, and flavins. The pigments that are responsible
for phototropism, the directional response of plants to unilateral light,
absorb light in the violet, blue, and green regions . Blue light is
primarily responsible for vegetative growth or leaf growth.
Light Intensity: the amount of brightness of light
 Light intensity is measured in Footcandle or lux. One footcandle means
the degree of illumination 1 foot away from a lighted standardized wax candle.

 Lux (pl. luces) is the unit of illumination that a surface receives one
meter away from a light source. One footcandle is equal to 10.76 luces.
 Various gases and clouds are commonly present and reduce the
amount of energy reaching the earth surface.
 Photosynthesis occurs at verily low light intensity. The light compensation
point (photosynthesis = respiration) for many plant is about 1000 lux.

 Light saturation point is when further increase in light does not

increase in photosynthesis.
 The light intensity at which saturation occurs can increase as CO 2
conc. Increase and a point is reached when increase in both does not
increase the yield.
 Optimum light intensity is the intensity range at which rate
of gross photosynthesis is high and rate of respiration is
normal resulting in high net photosynthesis in the particular
crop. Crops can be classified into four groups :
a. Shade plant : require low light intensity of 500 – 1000
foot candle e.g. ornamental house plant
b. Partial shade and sun plant : require moderately high light
intensity of 1000 – 3000 foot candle e.g. black pepper,
tea, coffee
c. Sun plant : 3000 – 8000 eg. Tomato, brinjal, chilli & cucurbits
d. Slight shade and direct sun tolerant plant : these plant
thrive well over wide range of intensity of 20008000 foot
candle eg. Cabbage, potato, etc.
Duration of light: due to rotation of earth on its axis
 Flowering response of plant to length of the light period or its absence is called
photoperiodism.
 The duration of light is the number of hours from sunshine or sunset.
 The farther the area form equator the grater the difference between the shortest
and longest day.
 Some vegetables crops are qualitative in response, they flower when a specific
day length threshold has been passed.
 Short day plant flower rapidly when the days get shorter and long day plants
flower when days are longer. In reality, it is the night duration that is
important.
 Short day plant flower within a constant of days when daylength is shorter than
critical period (11-14 h). when the length of light
 Plants which are not affected by day length are called day-neutral plants.
These can flower under any light period.
 Long day hasten bulbing in onion, short day hasten tuber formation in potato, root
enlargement in sweet potato and corm formation in taro. In case of cucurbits
daylength coupled with light intensity and temp is known to influence sex expression.
 Induction of flowering
 relative length of light and dark period determine the time of flowering in some of the
vegetable crops while in other photoperiod has no effect on flowering. Accordingly
vegetable crops are grouped as long day, short day and day neutral
 Long day plant: require long light and short night (generally 810 h of continuous dark)for
induction of flower buds. E.g. potato, onion, lettuce, cabbage, palak, radish, spinach beet &
carrot.
 Short day plant : require short light and long dark period (1014 h of continuous dark period)
for the induction of flower buds e.g. sweet potato, Indian spinach, cluster bean, winged bean
 Day Neutral plant : these plant s are insensitive to photoperiod e.g. tomato, brinjal, chilli,
sweet pepper cucurbateous crop, cowpea, okra etc.
The relative length of light and dark period influences the vegetables in 3ways
1. Relative amount of CHO made/ synthesized/ built
2. Induction of flowering.
3. development of economic plant parts.
Long day- stimulates bulb formation and development of onion and garlic and taproot
enlargement in radish and beet.
Short day- stimulates tuber formation of potato, sweet potato and
yam. Long day rabi cultivar do not form bulb in short day
condition
 In photo period two conditions are occur in the plant
.
A . When short day plants are grown during long days conditions---------
then what happen !
1. Plant manufacture more CHO and Protein. thus excess amount of
CHO and Protein are used for the development of stem, leaf,
roots etc,
These short day plants produce
. More vegetative growth
. Non flowering / unfruitfulness during long day conditions.
B. When long day plants grow in short day conditions-----then

1. Plant show suppression of growth and

2. Some time check the growth/ reduce the growth

3. Other physiological processes are also affected due to less synthesis of CHO.
 Water/ Moisture
• Water is a life of all the livings, It is a basic need of
every plant for survivable
• The plant turgidity is mainly due to the presence of water.
• which is mandatory for osmosis, transpiration and plant growth.
• Vegetables contains large amount of water (more than 85%) and product quality viz.,
tenderness, succulence, crispness and flavor is very much related to the water supply at
proper stage.

• Vegetables require more total water and more

frequent irrigation than most agronomic crops
• Veg. water requirement vary from 20 to 40 acre-
inches(543,000 to 1,086,000 gallons per acre) for each
growing season, depending on kind of vegetable
grown, location & environmental condition
 Water requirement of
vegetables
Crop Water Crop Water
in acre- inch in acre- inch
cabbage 12 cauliflower 12
Onion 15 Fenugreek 15
Lettuce 18 Radish 18

Cucumber 15 Bottle gourd 15

Turnip 18 Sweet potato 18
Broad bean 20 Potato 30
Tomato 24 French bean 24
Musk melon 24 Water melon 24
 Vegetable crops are classified to following groups
according to water requirements
• High water requirements : palak, amaranthus,
lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli
• Moderate water requirements : onion, cucumber,
chilli, brinjal, tomato,carrot, potato etc.
• Low water requirements : Pea, frenchbean,
cowpea, cluster bean, winged bean etc.
• Very low water requirements: watermelon,
muskmelon, pumpkin, wax gourd
 Affects of Excess water
• Reduce the quality and production in tomato
and onion.
Bulb splitting in onion and fruit cracking in
tomato
• May also causes several disorders/diseases such as
- late blight in tomato and potato
- Flower drop in chilli .
- YVMV in okra.
- Sprouting in garlic and onion at maturity.
 Water deficient in plant cause
a. Decrease in stomatal opening
b. Reduction in transpiration and photosynthesis
c. Dehydration of protoplasm
d. Reduction of cell division and enlargement
e. Decrease in dry matter production and growth
f. Hastening of maturity
• the frequency of irrigation and amount of water applied
depend on the depth of root system, water use efficiency,
stage of growth, soil type and prevailing weather
condition
 Shortage of water causes
• No germination of seeds without moisture / water
• Early blight in potato
• Reduction in pollination and fertilization
• Wilting of the plants
• Change the orientation of leaf
• Narrow size of leaf
• Small size of fruits
• Poor growth
• Less production
• Poor quality of produce
 Critical stages of irrigation in some vegetable crops

• Tomato: flower development, fruit set and after each harvest

• Brinjal : Same

• Potato: stolen formation, tuberization and tuber enlargement

• Cucurbits: flower bud development and early fruit development

• Cabbage: head formation and enlargement

• Onion: bulb formation and development

As under irrigation affect the yield and quality, the over irrigation also harms the
vegetable crops e.g. brusting of cabbage head, branching of carrot root, cracking of
tomato fruit etc. Abundant irrigation during ripening of fruit increase water content of
the fruit and subsequently reduceses the sweetness and storability, so irrigation
should be stopped before fruiting in water melon and pumpkin etc. in potato, onion ,
sweet potato etc. irrigation should be stopped 15 days before harvest of tuber/bulb
which greatly extend their storability or shelf life.
 Atmosphere Composition
• The atmosphere is the mixture of different types of gases,
including water vapour and dust particles.
• Nitrogen and Oxygen are the two main gases of the atmosphere.

• Other gases like argon, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, neon, helium

etc. form the remaining part of atmosphere.
 Carbon di oxide CO2
• Play important role in the production of CHO
• It is a main component of photosynthesis
• In the atmosphere - 0.03% or 300ppm co2 is available.
• Higher and lower both conc. affect the veg. production.
• Also used in cold storages/green / glass houses to
increase the production by providing artificially because it
is a basic item of carbon assimilation
Due to shortage of co2 there is no proper development of
tuber in potato and bulbs in onion
• 6CO2 + 6H2O + light + chlorophyll C 6 H 12 O6 + 6O2
 Negative effects of Rising atmospheric CO2
• Increased CO2 concentration will decrease rate of germination.
• Food quality is declining under rising levels of atmospheric CO2 that
we are experiencing.
• Trace elements are also effected.
• There was a 14% increase on lead and 8% decrease in iron content of
crop.
• The amount of food proteins in the whole world could drop as much
as 3% in just a few decades.
• CO2 enhanced plants will need extra water both to maintain their
larger growth as well as to compensate for greater moisture
evaporation as the heat increases.
• Too high concentration of CO2 causes a reduction of photosynthesis in
certain of plants.
 Oxygen
• Oxygen is an important factor responsible for
respiration , exchange of several toxic gasses
like CO2, CO, SO2 etc.
• In the absence of O2 plant or any life can not be
survive
• In the atmosphere O2 is easily available to the
plant as well as human being.( 20 % ) .
• In the absence of O2, the plant cells are disrupted
because of higher amount of other toxic gasses . Thus,
for the removal of toxic gasses O2 is very essential.
 Air Pollution
• The air pollution is not only harmful to the human
being but also causes injuries to the vegetable
crops too.
• The air pollutants are not only affect the
production but also affect their qualities and make
the produce unattractive and unmarketable.
• Many vegetables have been found to be sensitive
to the air pollutants.
• Source of pollutant: Automobiles ,
Industries, chemicals, electric thermal power
generating plants.
 The Important air pollutants are
Fl - Fluoride / fluorine
SO2- Sulpher di- oxide
NO2 - Nitrogen di- oxide
PAN- Per oxy acetyl
nitrate H2O2- Hydrogen per
oxide HF- Hydrogen
fluoride
O3 - Ozone,
CH4 - methane
N 2O - Nitrous Oxide
 Pollutant and sensitive crops
Pollutant Name Of Pollutant Sensitive Crops

Fl HF Fluoride / fluorine
SO2, Sulpher di oxide Ozone
O3 Hydrogen per Oxide
H2O2
Nitrogen di oxide Per
NO2
oxyacetyle nitrate
PA
Hydrogen fluoride
N
- ttuce, Kidney bean

Bean, Lettuce, tomato, bean

Carrot,
Lettuc -
e ,Pum
pkin,
Radish

M.M.,
onion,
potato
,
Radish
,
tomat
o.

e
• Amongst the most common and distructive atmospheric
pollutant ozone cause 90 % of damage, the symptoms of
toxic level include pigmented lesion, surface bleaching
and necrosis or chlorosis. Spinach, radish, potato,
tomato, onion etc are amongst the most sensitive to
ozone damage.
• SO2 an another important pollutant cause degdration
photosynthetic tissues. It is absorbed into the
mesophyll cells and react with water and ultimately
form sulphate and is toxic to number of vegetable
crops are sensitive to SO2.
• Other air pollutant includes fluorides, nitrogen oxide,
ethylene, chlorine. These pollutant tend to be
localized problem near source of industries or by
automobile emission.
 Winds
• Winds are caused by difference in air pressure. Temp
difference produce pressure gradients which give rise to air
movement and it flows form high to low pressure areas.
• Winds affect the plant in many ways such
as pollination and seed dispersals.
• Winds affect atm humidity by introducing humid or dry
air, increasing transpiration and decreasing the leaf temp.
• Wind also affect the temp by the movement of
cold and warm air.
• Strong wind can injure or break the above ground
portion of plant.
 WIND SPEED AND ITS EFFECT ON PLANT

1. Calm 02 km/h smoke rise vertically

2. Light air 26 smoke drift
3. Light breeze 712 leaf movement
4. Gentle breeze 1319 small twigs in motion
5. Moderate breeze 2029 small branches move
6. Fresh breeze 3039 small trees with leaves began to sway
7. Strong breeze 4050 large branches move
8. Gales 51100
9. Strom 100120,
10. Hurrican, typhoon >120
 Nutrients
Supply and absorption of inorganic elements needed for growth and
development is defined as nutrition and these elements are called
nutrients.

>19 elements are essential for better growth and development of the
plant.
i. Marco- C.H.O.N,P,K , Ca, Mg, S,
ii Micro –Zn, B, Cu, Mn , Cl, Mo, Fe, NaCo, Si.
• The balance of each element is important for better production.
• Due to the shortage of these elements several disorders taken
place in the plant
• Root crops- require more K
• Leafy vegetables – require more Nitrogen
• Seed crops- need more P for pollination and fertilization
• Nitrogen: Nitrogen deficiency symptoms are generalized over the whole plant.
N deficiency symptom are yellow lower leaves and with purple veins and light
green upper leaves in tomato, in cole crop older leaves have orange to purple
and young leaves are pale green. N difficency occur in light soil where leaching
is more due to heavy rainfall.
• P: P difficiency delay in starch development, accumulation of sugars and
consequeltly development of anthocyanin pigment, poor root development,
delay in flowering and maturity. Purple coloration in undersurface of tomato
leaf, in carrot dull green leaves with purple pigmentation in lower surface. P
difficiency occur in acidic soil pH below 6.0.
• K : appear on lower leaves, slow and stunted growth with weak stem. In older
leaves interveinal chlorosis near margin. Yellowing of older leaves with browning at
margin in cole crops. K difficiency occur in light soil and where leaching is high due
to rainfall.
• Ca : young leaves are affected which becomes small and gets distorted and twisted
e.g. blossom end rot in tomato, sweet pepper, and watermelon, cavity in root phloem
in carrot and black heart of celery and tip burn of lettuce. Deficiency symptoms
occur in highly leached sandy soil.
• Mg : interveinal chlorosis and necrosis in older leaves (tomato,
brinjal), intervenal chlorosis and puckering of older leaves of cole
crop. Browning of pea leaves. Deficiency occur in acidic soil.
• S: Uniform yellowish green appearance of younger leaves. In
severe case older leaves turn pale green stem and petiole gets
brittle. Deficiency occur in soil having low OM and in excessive
leached soil.
• Fe: Inetveinal chlorosis of young leaves. Deficiency occur in soil
with pH above 6.8 and in soil which contains considerable amount
of Ca and Na.
• Cu: yellowing of younger leaves, leaves becomes elongated and tip
may curl. In onion bulbs becomes soft with thick pale yellow
scales. Deficiency occur in soils with 5% or higher OM content
and on peat soil. It may also occur on heavely cropped sandy
acidic and on alkaline soil.
• Zn: occur on 2nd or 3rd mature leaves from top, leaves becomes mottled or
chlorotic and thick. Yellowing with marginal burning in beat, tomato leaves
becomes smaller, chlorotic and inward curved. Onion leaves turn yellow.
Deficiency occur in neutral to alkaline sandy soil, also occur due to heavy P
fertilization.

• Mg : inetveinal chlorosis and necrotic spots on leaves. Specific symptoms are

narrow, yellow stripping in leaves of onion and yellow leaves with interveinal
yellow mottling of cabbage. Interveinal chlorosis in pea and forward roll leaf
in tomato. Deficiency occur in soil with pH above 6.7 and in sandy, peat and
calcarious siol.

• B : death of tip, rosette appearance of plant due to shortening of terminal

growth, terminal buds are light green, thick, curled and brittle. Typical
symptoms include browning of cauliflower, hollow stem of cole crop, hollow
heart in carrot and beat. Deficiency occur in soil with pH above 6.8 or soil with
high P.

• Mo: deformation of shoot and older leaves show interveinal chlorosis. Typical
symptoms include whip tail of cauliflower.
 Mineral deficiency in vegetables
• Hollow stem in cole crops due to boron
• Marginal firing and burning due to K.
• Yellowing and dwarfing due to N
• Fruit end rot in tomato due to Ca
• Poor pollination and fertilization due to P
• Little leaf and browning in many crops due to Zn
• Whip tail in cauliflower due to Mo.
• Narrow petiole and Pencil Strip in celery due to P
• White young upper leaf in chilli due to Fe
deficiency
• Uniform Yellow upper young leaf due to Mg.
Nutrients shortage!
● Malthusian limit started approaching
without sufficient nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium
● 1830 – a magic ingredient was discovered:
Guano – In dry seabird islands of S. America
and S. African coasts
● What was Guano? Immense deposits of bird
droppings, rich in N & P, deposited over
centuries

• In 1843- a tiny island of Ichaboe (S.W.

Africa) was discovered; covered in 25 feet
of Penguin and gannet excrement
• It led to - “Guano Rush” followed by mutinies and
battles
• During 1840-1880, guano nitrogen made a vast
 difference to European agriculture
• But soon the vast deposits were exhausted
Search for more nitrates
• In late 19th century, the rich mineral
nitrate deposits of Chile took the
place of Guano. These nitrate mines
fuelled Chilean economy and
fertilized Europe’s farms
• Presently Chile is the first country
where farmers get government
support for Ozone threat!
Mining the sky – A historic solution
On 2nd July, 1909 - Carl Bosch (BASF) and
Fritz Haber combined Nitrogen (from air)
with hydrogen (from coal) to make ammonia
Then in few years, BASF started mining sky
for nitrogen
 Constraints For Yield Decline
● Excess mining of nutrients from soil-(70-
76 % nutrients are coming from soil sources,
including residues of past)
● Indiscriminate and imbalance use of
chemical fertilizers
● Poor soil physical condition- Puddling
● Intensification of cropping
● Monoculture or mono cropping
● Lack of proper crop rotati Variety, Pests,
on
● Others ie.and manegement
 Soil
● Capacity of
Health
a soil to function within
ecosystem boundaries to sustain
biological productivity, maintain
environmental quality and promote
plant and animal health.
● In the context of agriculture, it may
refer to its ability to sustain
productivity.
● A healthy soil would ensure proper
retention and release of water and
nutrients, promote and sustain root
growth, maintain soil biotic habitat,
respond to management and resist
degradation
 Measure of Soil
● Governed by
Health
a quality
number of physical, of
chemical and produce.
biological attributes
and processes.
● Expressed by different

ICAL EN VIRO
SOIL
quantitative and

BIO L O G
HEALTH

NM ENT
qualitative measures INDICATORS
of these attributes as
also by outcomes that
are governed by the
soil such as
productivity, nutrient
and water use
efficiencies and
 ORGANIC MATTER

ENT
CHEM IC AL ENV IR O NM
PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENT
 Production of Foodgrains & Fertilizer
Consumption
Fertilizer Consumption Vs. Foodgrains Production

30000
250
25000
200
20000
15000 150

10000 100
5000
50
0
0

Fertilizer Consumption (MT) Foodgrains Production (MT)

● Making N,P, K fertilizers available to farmers at

affordable prices was one of the three main planks
on which Green Revolution was launched.
● Fertilizers in adequate quantity were made
available to achieve higher foodgrain production.
Nutrients (NPK) addition through fertilizers
and removal by crops
30
Nutrients (Mt/ annum)

25
20 Removal
15
10
Addition
5
0

Year
 Declining Fertilizer Response

Low Fertilizer Response - Irrigated Areas

16
14 13.4
Response ratio (kg
grain/kg NPK)

12
11

10
8 8.2
7
6 5.8
4.9
4 4.1
3.7

2
0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Emerging Multi-Nutrient Deficiencies
in Soils
?
B B
Mn Mn Mn
S S S
K K K K
Zn Zn Zn Zn
P P P P
Fe Fe Fe Fe Fe
N N N N N N
Year 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
 Nutrient Status
Indian soils poor in N and P S, Zn, B, Mo, Fe, Mn
with 89 and 80 percent soil
samples in low to medium
and Cu deficient to the
category; relatively better in tune of 41, 49, 33, 22,
K with 50 percent samples 12, 5 and 4 %
only low to medium. respectively.
70
63 60
60 LOW MEDIUM HIGH
50
50 50

% d e fic ie n t s a m p
% d eficien t sam p

42 49
40 38 33
37 41
40
30

26 20
30
13
les

12
le s

20 13
11 20 5
3
10 10

0
0
S Zn B Mo Fe Mn Cu
N P K
 Low nutrient use efficiency

Nutrient Efficiency Cause of low efficiency

(%)
Nitrogen 30-50 Immobilization, volatilization,
denitrification, Leaching
Phosphorus 15-20 Fixation in soils Al – P, Fe – P,
Ca – P
Potassium 70-80 Fixation in clay - lattices
Sulphur 8-10 Immobilization, Leaching with
water
Micro 1-2 Fixation in soils
nutrients
(Zn, Fe, Cu,
Mn, B)
Soil : Unconsolidated, soft and changeable mass of earth’s crust
developed through mixing of soil particles with different inorganic
and organic material and capable of supporting plant growth. Soils
are the source of nutrient and water for the crop as well as the
anchor of the root. Productivity of crop largely depend on the
physical and chemical composition of the soil.
• Soil type
• Soil texture
• Soil reaction ( pH)
• Minerals / Soil nutrients Soil Factors
• Salt concentration
• Salt Stress Conditions
• Soil water
 Soil type
• Heavy soils are not well suitable for root
and tuber crops.
• Light soils are well suited for leafy
vegetables as well as for root crops.
• Coriander can be successfullygrows in
heavy soils,
• Sandy loam soils or loam soils are most
suitable for vegetable crops
 Soil texture
• Proportion of sand, silt and clay
• 2-0.2 mm sand, 0.2-0.02 silt, 0.02-0.002 loam,
< 0.002mm clay soil
• Sandy soils have more space between two
particles, their water retention capacity is very
low
• Clay soils have very narrow space and their
water holding capacity is very high, therefore,
• Shallow rooted vegetables grow well in heavy
soils and root and tuber vegetables grow
successflly in light soils.
• It determine the water holding capacity, ease of tilling the soil,
soil reaction and influence the soil fertility.
• In heavy soil small soil particles are held tightly with very little
open space and very little room for water to flow into the soil. So,
clay soil are difficult to wet, drain and till, but have high moisture
holding capacity and low heat conductivity and have considerable
quantity of nutrients.
• These soil are unsuitable for root, tuber and bulb vegetable
crops due to poor development of underground part. Heavy soil
are made suitable by adding organic matter. High yield and late
maturity of vegetable like brinjal, cabbage often realized when
vegetable are grown on heavy soil.
• In loose texture soil are easy to till, good aeration, easily wetted
but dry rapidly and loose nutrient easily not rich in humus. In
loose soil early harvesting of vegetable occur. Loose loam soil
with sufficient organic matter is most favorable soil for
vegetables.
• Structure : it is combination of primary particles e.g. sand, silt
and clay into large unit. It influences the rate of infiltration of water.

• Density: calculate the water holding capacity and to evaluate

soil compactions for root penetration and aeration for vegetable
growth and development. Bulk density should be below 1.4 g/cc3
for clay and 1.6 g/ cc3 for sandy soil.

• Porosity : pore space of the soil is the space occupied by air

and water. Soil oxygen is needed for oxygen supply to root,
organic matter decomposition and water infiltration and
storage.

• Soil temperature : regulate seed germination, root growth and

water uptake. Plant uptake / extract water from warm soil more
quickly and rapidly than from cold soil. As a thumb rule, the
average annual soil temperature can be approximately
calculated by adding 10C to the mean annual air temperature.
• Soil Productivity: is the capacity of the soil to sustain plant
growth. It is determined in terms of yield of a given crop which
reflects the combined influence of all factors that affect the plant
growth viz., seeds, climate, organisms in the soil, water,
toptgraphy and soil characteristic and soil fertility.

• Soil fertility: ability of a soil to supply nutrient elements in

amount, form and proportion required for successful plant
growth and development. It determined in terms of the amount of
the available forms of essential elements in the soil.

• If any particular element is deficient in the soil plant will not be

able to grow and develop properly i.e. not able to complete its life.
The deficiency of the particular element is expressed in terms of
specific deficiency symptoms and can only be corrected when that
particular element is supplied to the plant.
 Soil reaction / pH
Most of the vegetables are best suited in slightly
alkaline soils and some are in acidic soils.
• The soil p H near the neutral 7.0 is best for
almost all the crops.
• Very high acidic and high alkaline soils are
harmful to the vegetable production.
• The pH range between 6.8 to 7.5 is found to be
the best for all most all the crops.
• On the basis of soil pH requirement vegetables are
• Optimum availability of P, Ca, Mg and Mo sharply decline if soil
pH falls below 6.5, while N,P and S decline below pH of 6.0.
 Soil pH: The – ve log. of H2 ion concentration
Soil acidity Soil pH Crops
range
High acidic soil 4.8-5.0 Potato, Sweet
potato, w.melon
Medium acidic soils 5.5-6.0 Beans,broccolicabbage,Peas ,
cucumber,radish,pepper,toma
to,turnip, garlic, sweet corn.
Slightly acidic 6.0-8.0 Asparagus beet leaf, carrot,
lettuce, m.melon, spinach
Alkaline soil >8.0 Beetroot , onion, cauliflower
 Optimum Soil pH for vegetables
Crop pH range Crop pH Crop pH range
range
Potato 4.8-6.5 S. potato 5.5-60. squash 6.0-7.5
Chicory 5.0-6.5 Pumpkin 5.5-7.5 Cole crops 6.0-7.5
Parshey 5.0-7.0 Ruberb 5.5-7.0 Leek 6.0-8.0
Egg plant 5.5-6.5 Pepper 5.5-7.0 Spinach 6.0-7.5
Turnip 5.5-6.8 Endive 5.8-7.0 Onion 6.0-7.0
Cauliflower 5.5-7.0 celery 5.8-7.0 Okra 6.0-7.5
carrot 5.5-7.0 Pole bean 6.0-7.5 lettuce 6.0-7.0
Tomato 5.5-7.5 Sugar beet 6.0-8.0 Asparagus 6.0-8.0
W. melon 5.5-6.5 Beet root 6.0-7.5 Konl kohl 6.0-7.5
cucumber 5.5-7.0 Broccoli 6.0-7.0 Cabbage 6.0-7.5
Garlic 5.5-8.0 B. sprout 6.0-7.5 Lima bean 6.0-7.0
Parsnip 5.5-7.0 Corn 5.5-7.5 chive 6.0-
 Effect of soil reaction
Mg deficiency occurs in acidic soils ( < 7. pH )
• At < 7 pH the availability of Mo reduced.
• At > 7 pH the availability of B reduced
• High conc. of Cl and SO4 reduce the curd
yield and uptake of P and K
• Beet root and brinjal can be grow
successfully in Under higher salinity soils
Tomato and coriander can be grow in acidic soils .
Soil salinity : Saline soil contain an excess amount of soluble
salt. The electrical conductivity is grater than 4mmhos/cm
(at 250C) and exchangeable sodium percentage is less than
15.
The pH is usually less than 8.5. soluble salts are mostely
chlorides, sulphate and bicarbonate of Na, Ca, and Mg. soil
salinity is harmful for plant as its asmotic and toxic effect on
metabolic processes of the cell.
Relative tolerance of vegetable crop to soil salinity.

 Less tolerance: beans, radish, potato, brijal etc.

 Moderate tolerance : tomato, broccoli, chilli, cucumber, cauliflower,

 Tolerant: beet, kale, palak, ash gourd, lettuce etc.

• Saline soil are reclaimed by leaching for the root zones.

 Salt stress conditions
• Excess amount of soluble salts are found
in the soils influences plant growth.
• Salt stress conditions affect the
vegetable production in many ways.
• At higher conc. reduce the germination
of seeds.
• Shoot growth reduces in almost all the crops
under high salinity level.
• Poor tuberization in potato and other
tuber crops due to excess salt
concentration.
 Genetic factors
Genetic factors are also play an important role in
vegetables.
• The early breeders, although they made significant
genetic improvement, had no knowledge of the
laws of heredity.
• Progress was slow and haphazard in comparison
with modern breeding programmes.
• Plant breeding has had a scientific basis only since
the turn of this century when Gregor Mendel's
classic paper describing the laws of heredity was
discovered.
•Plant breeding involves the
manipulation and exploitation of
the genetic variation in existing or
created populations in order to
isolate desired genotypes. Different
breeding schemes are used
depending upon the method of
reproduction of the crop and the
desired genetic structure of the
cultivar
• Pure line cultivars, derived from a single
plant selection in existing heterogeneous
populations, or from pedigreed, single seed
descent and bafck cross breeding systems,
resulting from controlled crosses, are
commonly used in self- pollinated crops such
as beans, peas, tomatoes, eggplant, and
pepper, or cross pollinated crops of the
cucurbits that show little decline in vigour on
inbreeding
• Improvement of the cross pollinated crops
such as onions, cabbage, Brussels sprouts,
broccoli, cauliflower and sweet corn, has
involved mass selection, or recurrent
selection in order to increase favourable gene
frequencies for the desired traits in
populations.
• The improved populations have been used as
open pollinated cultivars, or for the
extraction of superior inbreds to use in
crosses to obtain F, hybrids or synthetic
population
 Genetic factors
• Some of the crops well established in a
particular climatic zone while others are fail
because of the genetic constitution of the crop
or variety.
• Some of the crops/ cv can tolerate low/ high
temp. environment while others are susceptible
I,e.
• In case of cauliflower- early cvs can be grow
successfully in tropical / subtropical ( high
Temp.)
• While late cvs. do not grow well they need low
temp. for seed production.
conti
 Some of the vegetable cvs having resistant to a
particular disease whereas others are susceptible
due to the genetic factor
• Potato cv . K. Badshah is resistant to late
blight where as K. Chandramukhi is susceptible
to it.
• Pant C-1 & Punjal Lal cvs of chilli having resistance
against L.C.V.
• Versha Uphar a cv. of okra having resistance
to YVMV.
• Onion cv. Creole Red having resistance
against Purple blotch disease .
• PC-6 cv. of chilli having resistance
against Fussarium wilt
 Diseases and Insect-pest
• Vegetable production severely affected by diseses
or insects- pest
• Some times the losses are very high ranging from
80- 100 %.
• There are many diseases which reduce the
productivity of the crop. Such as –
• Leaf curl virus it tomato- Hissar Anmol
having resistance
• YVMV in okra- P-7, Arka Anamika, Arka Abhey
• Little Leaf in Brinjal – Pant Rituraj
• TMV in chilli – Pusa Sada Bahar, Pb.Lal, Pant C-1.
• Late blight in potato- Kuferi Badsah , Kuferi Ashok co….
 Cont----
Phomopsis in brinjal- PPl
• Rhizoctonia In French bean - Pant Anupma
• Late blight in tomato Pant T-3
• Verticillium and Fusarium wilt in tomato- Pant T-1
, Roma, 63-VF-21, Pant Bahar.
• Purple blotch in onion – Creole Red.
• Anthracnose in chilli – Pant C-1, Pusa SadaBahar
• Bacterial wilt in tomato – BT-10
• Fusarium wilt in chilli – PC-6
• Powdery mildew in peas – Pant Sabaji Mator-4
 Important Insects of vegetables
• Stem fly in peas
• Fruit borer in tomato,okra and brinjal.
• Shoot and fruit borer in okra, brinjal
• Thrips in onion and garlic
• Red pumpkin beetle in cucurbits
• Maggot in onion and garlic
• Root Knot Nematode in okra , brinjal
and other crops.
• White fly and Jesseds in solanacious veg. ,and
in okra