crops for protected cultivation

Dr. Parveen SharmaAssociate Professor (Vegetable Science)

Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur

Crops suitable for protected cultivation according to area, climate and maintenance of climate factors

POTENTIAL CROPS FOR PROTECTED CULTIVATION

CapsicumTomato Cucumber Lettuce/ French beans/ Peas (Filler crops) Vegetable nurseryFlower crops Ornamental plants

Private Seed Companies

Advantages of Hybrids

Plastic low tunnel for nursery production

Hardening of seedlings

Removable Structures

Preparation of Sand, Soil and FYM mixture

Filled polybags

Seedling emergence

Coco peat

•Coco peat also known as coir pith, coir fibre pith, coir dust, or simply coir, is made from coconut husks, which are byproducts of other industries that use coconuts.• Raw coconuts are washed, heat-treated, screened and graded before being processed into coco peat products of various granularity and denseness, which are then used for horticultural and agricultural applications and as industrial absorbent.

Coco-Peat

Vermiculite

• Vermiculite is a micacious mineral produced by heating to approximately 745oC.– Helps hold moisture.– Has neutral pH.

Vermiculite

Perlite

Perlite

Growing media and plug tray

Mixing of growing media

Sowing of seeds in plug-trays

Healthy nursery of potential crops for protected cultivation

cucumber Tomato

capsicum

Fibrous root growth

TOMATO NURSERY IN SOILLESS MEDIA

Healthy cucumber Seedling

Close view of root development in plug-trays

A View of Hi-Tech nursery at Namdhari Seeds

Potential Hybrids o Tomato For Greenhouse Cultivation

• 1. Avtar (7711)• 2. Rakshita• 3. Naveen 2000+• 4. BWT-3• 5. Surya

Hybrids from Private Sector for protected cultivation

Promising Bacterial Wilt Resistant F1 Combinations

Cherry tomatoes In this category fruits are very small in size and the

average fruit weight is 15-20g depending upon the variety.

The cherry tomatoes have high TSS (6.5 to 7.5%). Among the cherry tomatoes, BR-124 and H A-118

varieties from Israel are most popular.

Vine of cherry tomato

Factors affecting greenhouse tomato production

1. Temperature and humidity control Night temperature should not be allowed to drop below 15 0C.

2. Carbon-dioxide level in the green house350 ppm to 1000 ppm

3. Light Reducing light levels from 10,000 to 2,500 lux (approximately 100 to 25 W/m2) has been shown to delay flower initiation

4. Air movement5. Disease and insect control6. Nutritional management

Planting Time

In north Indian, the tomato crop is planted from first August to second week of September under polyhouse conditions.

This crop is continued up to June or July under climate controlled greenhouse.

If the greenhouse is naturally ventilated then the crop can be grown up to April or May months.

In H P we take two crops from naturally ventilated polyhouse.

BED PREPARATION IN TOMATO

Spacing = 70x30cm

Path=60cm

Bed width= 90cm

Planting of tomato in the soil on raised beds (70x30)

Fertigation

Basal doze of 50 kg NPK per hectare with straightfertilizers and fertigation at 150 kg NPK per ha with water soluble fertilizer (Polyfeed/Haileaf 19:19:19).Fertilizer application with irrigation in liquid form is called fertigation and it is done once or twice a week depending upon soil fertility, variety, and stage of crop growth.Generally drip system of irrigation is followed for green house tomato so as to maintain constant growth. Irrigation should be given at weekly or bi-weekly interval depending upon the season and locationN : P : K solution in ratio of 19:19:19 is prepared and applied through drip starting from 3rd Week after transplanting or initiation of fruit set and terminating 15 days prior to harvest.

TrainingSingle or two stems .In early stage the shoots should remove by snapping them off. Plants are supported by plastic twine, loosely anchored on the base of plants .The twine is not wrapped around the growing tip otherwise the tip may break.The plants must be pruned regular basis for 10-11 months life cycle of the tomato crop. This will provide air circulation, which helps to reduce the incidence of the diseases .

Staking of tomatoes

Training method of tomato plants

Plastic support clip being placed around a tomato stem.

PRUNNINGThese tomatoes require pruning of all lateral branches. Pruning must be done on a frequent schedule (every 3

to 4 days) . Prunning is done early in the day when plants are turgid

but dry. Care should be taken to remove only suckers and not

the main terminal bud. The pruning time should be used to inspect plants for

obvious problems such as disease, nutritional deficiencies, insects etc.

All pruned plant material should be placed in a container and removed from the greenhouse.

FloweringFlowering is a prerequisite to fruit development and delays

in flowering generally result in delayed fruit production. The environment of the polyhouse can have a significant effect on the number of flowers that are initiated on an inflorescence .

Tomato flower with a bruise on the anther cone indicating that the flower has been visited by a bumble bee.

PLANT PROTECTION

• Prefer biological control (yellow sticky traps, pheromone/light traps, predators/parasitoids

• Grow resistant varieties only• Use safe insecticides• Keep strict and constant vigil against pest and

diseases• Follow timely plant protection measures

Ooze test

Powdery mildew

Attack of white fly

Yellow sticky trap

Cucumber Production Under Hi- Tech Polyhouse

Type of Cucumber Varieties

On the bases of flowering habit:1.Gynoecious:- Which produces only female flowers.

2.Pre-dominantly gynoecious :-Also bears some male flowers.

3.Monoecious:- Which produces both male and female flowers.The first two types produce fruits parthenocarpically ,whereas, monoecious types require pollination

Monoecious varietiesMonoecious varieties can be grown inside the greenhouses, but pollination is required for fruit setting which are:1)Japnese Long Green2)Pusa Sanyog3)Priya4)Poinsett5)Malini Hybrid

Separate male and female flowers

• Separate male and female flowers• Require bee pollination

Cucumber-greenhouse pollinations

Pollination and fruit setting in monoecious cucumbers under polyhouse conditions

Parthenocarpic cucumberThe parthenocarpic cucumber is a type of cucumber vine that

produces only female flowers and produces cucumbers without the need of pollination.

The seed for parthenocarpic cucumbers costs more than ordinary cucumber seed but the germination or sprouting rate is higher and the chance for disease or pest

problems is greatly less.

If pollination does occur, the fruit will form seeds, the shape of the fruit will be distorted and a bitter tasting fruit will develop. It is therefore essential to prevent bees and other pollinators from entering the greenhouse and carrying pollen from outdoor gardens

Parthenocarpic Varieties The important parthenocarpic varieties available in India are:i. Satisii.HILLTONiii.Nun-9729iv.Clodiav.Kianvi.MansourA few important parthenocarpic varieties of cucumber from Europe and Israel are: Hasan and Sarig (for summer crop), Muhasan and Dinar (for winter season), Mustang and Bronco (for spring crop),

Parthenocarpic Cucumber

Plant geometry•The cucumber seedlings are planted on the raised beds with two rows in a bed with row to row spacing of 70 cm and plant to plant spacing of 30 cm.

•In single stem training , female flowers should be removed or pinched up to 5th node to ensure sufficient vegetative growth of the plants to sustain the fruit load.

BED PREPARATION IN CUCUMBER

Spacing = 70x30cm

Path=60cm

Bed width= 90cm

Staking of parthenocarpic cucumber on single stem at 70x30cm spacing

Fertigation

Basal doze of 50 kg NPK per hectare with straightfertilizers and fertigation at 450 kg NPK per ha with water soluble fertilizer (Polyfeed/Haileaf 19:19:19).Fertigation should be done once or twice a week depending upon soil fertility, variety, and stage of crop growth.Cucumber is heavy feeder crop.Irrigation should be given at weekly or bi-weekly interval depending upon the season and locationN : P : K solution in ratio of 19:19:19 is prepared and applied through drip starting from 3rd Week after transplanting or initiation of fruit set and terminating 15 days prior to harvest.

Training of Cucumber

• REMOVE FEMALE FLOWERS UPTO 5TH NODE • ONE OR TWO VINES • RETAIN ONE FRUIT PER NODE • DE-SHOOTING

Fig 1 (a) Fig 1 (b) Fig 1 (c)

Training systems in cucumber

DIFFERENT GROWTH STAGES OF CUCUMBER

To harvest cucumbers, cut (don't pull) them from the vine.

Pulling or yanking can damage the brittle vines.

Day neutralMore sensitive to changing environment than tomato.Optimum temperature for germination: 20-25 0 C.Optimum temperature for quality fruit production: 18-21 0 C( 20-21 C).Less than 18 0 C: adverse effect on growth and yield.Low night temperature: parthenocarpic fruits.

Climatic Requirements

• Four lobed preferred for metropolitan cities and other high markets.

• Others for local market• Red, yellow, orange and purple varieties

Varieties

Red Yellow Green Nun-3019BombayIndira Heera BharatMahabharat Mekong Tanvi Plus

OrobelleTanviNun-3020AngelUS-26Golden SummerSawarnaEuropean & Israeli varieties, American varieties

California Wonder(OP)Indra Bharat Mekong

Potential varieties for green house cultivation

Red and Yellow capsicums in polyhouse

BED PREPARATION IN CAPSICUM

Spacing = 45x30cm

Path=60cm

Bed width= 60cm

Training and Pruning

• FOUR/TWO STEMS • PLASTIC CORD • PINCHING/DISBUDDING • RETAIN ONE FLOWER AND TWO LEAVES

Two branch training system in bell pepper

Diff. Between Four & Two Leaders

Crop Support in Capsicum

Staking in Polyhouses

Fertigation

Basal doze of 50 kg NPK per hectare with straightfertilizers and fertigation at 150 kg NPK per ha with water soluble fertilizer (Polyfeed/Haileaf 19:19:19).Fertilizer application with irrigation in liquid form is called fertigation and it is done once or twice a week depending upon soil fertility, variety, and stage of crop growth.Capsicum is heavy feeder of macro and micro-nutrientsGenerally drip system of irrigation is followed for green house bell pepper so as to maintain constant growth. Irrigation should be given at weekly or bi-weekly interval depending upon the season and locationN : P : K solution in ratio of 19:19:19 is prepared and applied through drip starting from 3rd Week after transplanting or initiation of fruit set and terminating 15 days prior to harvest.

YieldColoured fruits 60-70 tonnes/haGreen fruits 120 tonnes/haAlthough, yield directly depends upon the location, variety, climatic conditions and crop management practices(plant geometry, irrig and fertilizer mgmt). Average weight of quality colored four lobbed fruit is 180 to 220g.

Greenhouse production problems in Capsicum

Bacterial wilt Powdery mildew Collar rot Aphid Mites?Caterpillars ?

Eco friendly techniques for control of greenhouse insect pests

THANKS