Journal d'horticulture
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Year Round Production Studies of Cauliflower under Mid Hills of Himachal Pradesh

Bhupinder Singh Thakur

The Cole crops in general and cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var botrytis L.), in particular, have been found to be highly sensitive to weather conditions especially temperature fluctuations. Indian cauliflower has undergone fast diversification and its cultivation has further spread to non-traditional areas with the development of tropical cauliflower varieties at IARI, New Delhi. Therefore in the mid-hills of states like Himachal Pradesh the major groups of cauliflower, grown are Indian and annual temperate type (the Erfurt’s and Alpha strains) more commonly known as Snowballs. The difference between the two is in their adaptability to different temperature conditions, tropical types form curds at temperatures around 20°C or above, while the temperate annual require temperature range between 10°C and 16°C for curd formation. Further, the tropical’s are resistant to high rainfall conditions, especially during the vegetative phase. Development of cultivars like Pusa Himjyoti, and Pusa Early Synthetics and existence of a large pool of varieties in different maturity groups have made it possible to produce cauliflowers more intensively and throughout the year in the mid-hills of the state. Therefore, the maturity of the varieties needs more attention in year-round production to ensure a continuous supply of quality curds. Few studies have however been made to determine the environmental factors which can influence the maturity characteristics of the crop and not many quantitative data are available on this aspect. Therefore, a study was conducted in this background with a simple objective to determine the relationship between the time of planting and curd maturity at different altitudes.