The botanical name of Cabbage is Brassica oleracea var. capitata; it belongs to the family Brassicaceae
Varieties
Hills: Quisto.
Plains: Golden Acre, Maha Rani.
Soil: It is commonly cultivated in cool moist climate. It is grown as a winter crop in plains. It is grown in varied types of soils ranging from sandy loam to clay. It requires a pH ranging from 5.5 to 6.5 for higher production.
Season of sowing
Hills: January – February, July – August, 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 at 10 cm between rows in raised seed beds after drenching it with Copper oxychloride (2.5 g/lit). Transplant 40 -45
days old seedlings at a spacing of 45 cm. Avoid land infected with ‘club root disease’.
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.
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. Departmental Micronutrient mixture (Borax & Molybdenum) at the rate of
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.
After cultivation: Deep hoeing should be avoided, as the Cabbage roots are surface feeders.
Plant protection against Pests
Cut worms: Apply chlorpyriphos 2 ml/lit in the collar region during evening hours for the control of common cutworm - Agrotis segetum
Aphids: The incidence is severe during autumn season. Install yellow sticky trap at 12 no/ha to monitor “macropterous” adults (winged adult).
Spray neem oil 3 % or dimethoate 2 ml/lit with 0.5 ml Teepol/lit.
Diamond backmoth
1. Grow mustard as intercrop as 20:1 ratio to attract diamond back moths for oviposition.
Periodically spray the mustard crop with insecticide to avoid the dispersal of the larvae.
2. Install pheromone traps at 12/ha.
3. Spray cartap hydrochloride 1 g/lit or Bacillus thuringiensis 2 g/lit at primordial stage (ETL 2 larvae/plant)
4. Spray NSKE 5 % after primordial stage.
5. Release parasite Diadegma semiclausum at 50,000/ha, 60 days after planting.
Protection against Diseases
Club root: Seed treatment at 10 g/ kg of seeds or soil application @ 2.5 kg/ha or seedling dip in solution of 5g/ litre with Pseudomonas fluorescens. Dip the seedlings in Carbendazim solution
(1 – 2 g/lit) for 2 minutes. Drench the soil around the seedlings in the main field with Carbendazim @ 1 g/lit of water. Follow crop rotation. Crucifers should be avoided for three years.
Leaf spots: Spray Mancozeb at 2 g/lit or Carbendazim 1 g/lit.
Leaf Blight: Spray Mancozeb @ 2.5 g/ litre.
Ring spot: Spray Mancozeb 2 g/lit or Carbendzim 1 g/lit or Copper oxychloride 2.5 g/lit.
Downy mildew: Spray combination of Metalaxyl + Mancozeb 2 g/lit 3 sprays at 10 days interval.
Black rot: Dip the seeds in 100 ppm Streptocycline for 30 minutes. Two sprays with 2 g/lit Copper oxychloride + Streptomycin 100 ppm after planting and head formation.
Yield
Hills : 70 – 80 t/ha in 150 days.
Plains : 25 – 35 t/ha in 120 days.
