Turnip

☻ Turnip is a main cool season crop In Himachal Pradesh. ☻ It is grown as a cash crop during summer months in dry and wet temperate zones and only as a winter crop in the sub-temperate and sub-tropical regions. Botanical Name:Brassica rapa L. Family:Brassicaceae Chromosome number2n=2x=20 Origin:i. Mediterranean (European type) ii. Eastern Afganistan

Uses ☻ It is grown for elongated roots as well as for its foliage. ☻ Fresh roots are consumed in salads or cooked as a vegetable or used in pickles. ☻ The turnip greens are rich in vitamin A and C and contain appreciable amount of vitamin B. ☻ A good source of Ca, P and Fe. ☻ The greens are mostly fed to animals and seldom used as green vegetables.

Varieties Asiatic/tropical/subtropical type European/Temperate Type More pungent Better for pickles Earlier & more heat tolerant. Sweeter and more palatable. Pusa Kanchan Pusa Sweti Punjab Safed-4 Purple Top White Globe Golden Ball Snow Ball Early Milan Red Top Pusa Chandrima Pusa Swarnima.

Varieties recommended for Himachal Pradesh Asiatic typeEuropean Type 1. Pusa Sweti, 2. Pusa Swarnima 1. Purple Top White Globe 2. Snowball 3. Pusa Chandrima 4. Pusa Swarnima Snowball PTWG

♠ A moderately deep, friable, fertile and well drained soil is ideal for turnip. ♠ Extremely clay soils and very sandy soils should be avoided. ♠ Suitable pH for its good growth is Soils

Climate ☻ It is best adapted to a cool or moderate climate. ☻ It is a hard crop and can tolerate frost and mildly freezing temperatures. ☻ The roots become woody, tough and bitter in taste in hot weather. ☻ On the other hand, temperature below 10 o C likely to cause flowering. ☻ o C air temperature and o C soil temperature is the most favourable for root development and the ratio of root/green. ☻ Asiatic varieties require warmer conditions are sown earlier than European types.

Sowing Time Seed Rate Northern Indian plainsSeptember-December Himachal Pradesh Low HillsSeptember-November Mid HillsAugust – October High HillsApril – July kg/ha

Spacing 30-45cm X cm 30 cm X 10cm(H.P.) ◙ Mix the seeds with sand or ash to facilitate uniform sowing ◙ Sowing depth is cm on the ridges. ◙ After germination maintain the distance between the plants with in row by following thinning of plants. Manures and Fertilizers Same as carrot

► Thinning is important to maintain optimum plant to plant spacing and required population. ► Plant should be earthed up days after sowing at the time of top dressing of fertilizers. ► Earthing up is also necessary to get well developed, and quality roots as generally the growing roots tend to push out of the soil. ► Pre-emergence application of following herbicides is very useful for effective weed control Pendimethalin 1.2 kg a.i./ha or Alachlor 1.5 kg a.i./ha or Fluchloralin 0.9 kg a.i./ha or Isoproturan 1.0 kg a.i./ha or 1.0 kg a.i./ha. Interculture and weed control

Irrigation ╠A pre-sowing irrigation is to be given to help the seeds absorb moisture and germinate properly. ╠Irrigation frequency and water quantities are depend on the planting season and available soil moisture. ╠The soil should have sufficient moisture to obtain tender and attractive roots. ╠The water requirement would be about 300 mm. ╠In general, the crop is irrigated every days.

Harvesting ☻ Turnips should be harvested soon after reaching suitable size, since the quality rapidly deteriorate. ☻ A desirable size is cm in diameter. ☻ Larger roots often cause poor texture and bitter taste. ☻ A light irrigation may be given before harvesting to facilitate lifting. ☻ Harvested roots are cleaned, tops are cut and roots are graded according to size and tenderness Yield q/ha

Diseases 1.Powdery mildew 2.Downy mildew 3.Soft rot 4.Dry rot 5.Brown Heart 6.Phyllody: Malformation of flowering shoots affecting the normal fruit set 7.Turnip mosaic virus Insects Aphids, Mustard saw fly, Flea Beetle, Gall Weevil