Assignment Code: BAPI-005/ASST/TMA/2021-22

Course Code: BAPI-005

Assignment Name: Production Technology of Vegetable Crops

Year: 2021-2022

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Marks: 50

Instruction: All question carry equal marks and are compulsory.

Q1) Discuss the importance of vegetable crops in India and also their importance in the human diet.

Ans) India can grow a wide variety of vegetable crops all year due to its diverse agro-climatic zones. People are becoming more concerned about their health and purchasing healthier vegetables as their standard of living rises and they become more aware of the benefits of eating high-quality foods. Farmers are adapting modern crop yielding improvement methods for higher yield, quality biotic resistance, flexibility to adapt to changing climatic conditions, and nutrient management in food to make it healthier in today's era of variation.

Importance of Vegetable Crops in Human Diet

Vegetable crops are well-known for being a rich and relatively inexpensive source of vitamins and minerals in human diets. Taste, palatability, and appetite are all enhanced when they are consumed in sufficient quantities. They also supply an adequate amount of fibre. They're important for neutralising acids produced during the digestion of heavy foods like cheese and meat. They are beneficial roughages that aid in digestion and prevent constipation. The majority of protein consumed in developing and developing countries comes from cereals that lack essential amino acids. Due to the presence of naturally occurring antioxidants in vegetables, recent research has revealed that eating them reduces the risk of degenerative diseases, particularly cancers.

Due to shrinking agricultural lands, shifting from traditional crops to more profitable and high-value crops, such as vegetables, will be more advantageous in the coming years. Vegetable crops fit well in multiple cropping systems due to their short duration. Compared to field crops, vegetable crops produce higher yields per unit area and time and generate more employment, resulting in higher returns for growers. They make up a nutrient-dense menu that boosts energy and vitality. Carbohydrates, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, calcium, and iron are all found in some of the vegetables. Dieticians recommend that adults consume approximately 350 grammes of vegetables per day. In India, per capita vegetable consumption is very low, at only 18.5 kg, compared to 44.1 kg in Sri Lanka, 21.1 kg in Brazil, 30.6 kg in Myanmar, 64.5 kg in Australia, and 95.5 kg in the United States.

Q2) Discuss the harvesting of Garlic and Onion. Also describe their suitable storage techniques.

Ans) Garlic is harvested between 130 and 150 days after planting, depending on climatic conditions, cultivars, soil type, and other factors. When the leaves turn yellow, discolour, and wilt, and the tops turn yellowish brown and show signs of drying up, it's time to harvest. Phawrah is used in the harvesting process. Delays in harvesting result in bulb splitting and resprouting in the field.Curing garlic bulbs is required to remove excess moisture and allow the bulbs to become compact and enter the dormant stage. It takes about a week to complete in the field. Cure garlic bulbs thoroughly before storing them in well-ventilated rooms. Garlic with dried tops is stored in bunches of 8-10 plants that are hung in well-ventilated rooms.

Step-by-Step Storage Techniques of Garlic Crop are as follows:

1. Choose a large, healthy bulb and separate the cloves from it.

2. Harvest well-matured bulbs, cure them, and store them properly after sorting.

3. Garlic bulbs and dried leaves are tied together in bundles of 10-15 and hung in a well-ventilated area, such as a shed room. This allows them to be stored for a longer period of time under normal conditions.

4. Bulb storage life can be extended even further by using cold storage facilities. Bulbs without leaves are stored in crates as clean gunny bags at a temperature of 0°C-1.6°C and a relative humidity of 65-76 percent in cold storage.

5. Spraying maleic hydrazide at 2500 ppm on bulbs or foliage a fortnight before harvesting can control sprouting to a large extent during storage.

Harvesting of Onion Crop

It takes 125-150 days to reach maturity, depending on the variety and season. When the tops of the onions have dried up and fallen, it's time to harvest them. Cure the bulbs in the shade for one week after harvesting, then cut the leaves 1-2 cm above the bulb. Store in a dry, well-ventilated area.

Step-by-Step Storage Techniques of Onion Crop are as follows:

1. Before storing onions, they should be well cured.

2. Bulb storage is traditionally done in a cool, dry, and well-ventilated area.

3. They can be stored at 24-30°C for several weeks without sprouting or excessive water loss. The shelf life, on the other hand, varies from variety to variety.

Q3) Describe the seed production and storage of carrot and radish.

Ans) The following important and additional tips will be useful in carrot and radish seed production, in addition to all storage practises required for commercial root production.

1) Maintain a 1000 metre isolation distance for Foundation seed and 800 m for certified seed when producing Foundation seed.

2) In the hills, grow temperate carrots for seed production, and in the plains, tropical carrots.

3) Seed to seed and root to seed methods can both be used, but the root to seed method produces true to type seed more reliably. Roots are first pulled out, and only true to type roots are selected for seed production in this method. Steckling is the process of preparing one-third of a shoot and one-half of a root for planting.

4) To raise a healthy crop, follow standard plant protection practises.

5) In three or four rogueing, rogue out all off types and diseases plants at the following stages:

i)  Before preparing steckling, uproot roots. Different vegetative characters are removed from the plants.

ii) The second rogueing occurs during the uplifting of roots in order to prepare stecklings. Only roots that are true to type are chosen.

iii) At the flowering and pod development stages, the third rogueing is performed.

iv) Before harvesting again, a final rogueing is performed to check the maturity characteristics of plants and to remove any plants that are late in maturing.

6) When the carrot umbels and radish pods have fully ripened, harvest the plants. All umbels or pods are collected and dried completely on tarpaulin or a cemented threshing floor. The seed is then extracted by threshing, which is the process of manually beating pods or umbels with sticks.

7) The seed is stored in clean, dry containers after it has been winnowed, dried, and cleaned.

Q4) What are the common summer season vegetables grown in India? Discuss the planting method of any three.

Ans) The common summer season vegetables grown in India are listed as follows:

Bitter Gourd

Bitter gourd fruits are typically dark green in colour, long and medium thick in thickness, and borne solitary on vines. After transplanting seedlings, they mature in 55-70 days. Pusa Do Mausmi, Pusa Vishesh, Priya, Coimbatore Green, Arka Harit, Phule Green, Solan Hara and Solan Safed, Pusa Hybrid 2 (F1), and Pusa Hybrid 4 are the most important varieties (F1).

Planting Method of Bitter Gourd: Raising Seedlings for Transplanting

Most cucurbits are grown as seedlings to ensure better germination and, as a result, a more uniform plant stand in the fields. To do so, the seeds are first planted in polybags or Alkatriene bags with very fine growing media made up of Soil and FYM in a 1:1 ratio. These conditions essentially increase the percentage of seedlings that germinate and decrease seedling mortality. As a result, the seed rate is cut in half, and the seedlings that are raised are extremely healthy.

Bitter gourd and snake gourd seeds are also sown in polybags, and seedlings are transplanted into pits/hills when they are 15-20 days old. Per pit, two seedlings are kept. Because these cucurbits' seed coats are tough, pre-soaking the seeds in slightly warm water for 20-24 hours is very beneficial and speeds up germination. Soaked seeds can be kept in a wet gunny bag for 1-2 days, resulting in seed coat softening and rupturing.

Snake Gourd

Snake gourd fruits are long, ranging from 160 to 180 cm in length, dark green to pale green in colour, with white stripes and light green flesh. These can be very long, slender, and borne singly on the vines at times. CO-1, CO-2, CO-4, TA-19, and Konkan Sweta are some of the most important varieties of this crop.

Planting Method of Snake Gourd: Direct Sowing

Bitter gourd seeds are soaked in water for 24 hours and then stored in moist gunny bags for 2-3 days. This aids in the rapid germination of seeds when using the direct sowing method, but it must be sown in the field prior to the emergence of cotyledons. In direct sowing, 2-3 seeds per pit should be sown. Following germination, 1-2 seedlings are kept in each pit, and after 15 days, only one healthy plant is kept. This is also true for sponge and snake gourds. The seed should come from a reputable source and should be viable with a high germination rate.

Sponge Gourd

The following improved varieties are also available for cultivation, in addition to several local cultivars and land races grown in various regions. After transplanting/sowing, these produce fruit in 55-65 days. The fruits are cylindrical in shape, have a smooth surface, and have a dark green skin. Pusa Chikni, Pusa Supriya, and Pusa Sneha are the most important verities.

Planting Method of Sponge Gourd: Spacing

Beds of 150-200 cm each are prepared prior to planting. Long channels of 60 cm width are formed at a spacing of 2 m, and pits of 45 cm3 for bitter gourd are dug at a spacing of 1.0 m along this channel. In bitter gourd, these basins are made 60-120 cm apart, very close to the edge of the beds. Similarly, snake gourd pits are dug at a 2.0 x 1.5 m spacing. For sponge gourd, a spacing of 2 metres between rows and 1.5 metres between hills is used. Two to three seeds per basin are planted at a distance of 2-2.5 cm apart and covered with finely screened FYM or compost. To avoid the formation of a soil crust, a very light irrigation is applied immediately after planting and on a regular basis until germination. The rainy-season crop can be planted on the ridges with proper staking. Bitter gourd is grown in river beds on flat beds with more sand near the river's edge.

Q5) What is kitchen gardening? How it is important for the nutritional security of a family?

Ans) Kitchen gardening is the process of growing herbs and vegetables for household use around the house. A small plot near the house has been used for growing a variety of vegetables according to the season since the beginning. Radish, broad leaf mustard, chilli, beans, pumpkins, and other local varieties are all grown in the kitchen garden. 'We should eat our greens,' says common sense. That is the path to good health, and we will be healthy and happy if we grow our own greens. Gardening in the kitchen adds a lot of flavour to one's life.

Kitchen gardening is one of the most basic types of gardening, but it has a greater impact on our daily lives by promoting good health. Kitchen gardening is a very simple technology in which a small plot of land near the house is cultivated primarily for the production of vegetables and fruits for consumption by family members. As a result, family members' nutritional security is properly maintained, particularly by providing pesticide-free crops, emphasising organic farming. As a result, now is the time to give this issue serious thought. We do a lot of things to make our family members happy, such as earn more, work more, take proper family planning, provide electricity, provide expensive dresses, and so on, but we have little or no interest in starting a kitchen garden at home.

Essentially, we are putting our family's health at risk by failing to plant a kitchen garden. As a result, we are unable to provide ultimate happiness to our family members, despite the fact that we are aware that health is wealth and happiness is health. In terms of happiness, a healthy beggar is preferable to a sick king. As a result, maintaining the nutritional health of family members is the primary concern for a happy family. We also know that a healthy family is the foundation of a healthy nation, so health is not only an individual but also a national asset. If we truly understand this, we will be naturally motivated to engage in kitchen gardening. It can be concluded that going to the kitchen garden rather than the doctors' chamber is a better habit to form.