2. INTRODUCTION
• Origin-South and Western part of Europe
• Native to Europe, growing along the cost of the
North sea
• Annual world production -21million tones of
fresh heads from 1.1 million hectares
• Cultivate in large extent in Sri Lanka mainly in the up-
country as a year round crop
• In the low country it is only during Maha season
• Important economical and rotational crop in the
major vegetable growing areas.
3. ABOUT THE PLANT
• Roots- adventitious root system
• Stem- unbranched stem
• Leaves- arises as the growing point
- The outer leaves are green in colour and the inner ones
are white
- As the plant grows, the leaves increase in number, forming
a ball-shaped “head”
• Bud- formed by overlapping of numerous leaves
developing over the growing point of its shortened
stem
4. VARITIES
• Green Coronet-Firm, Light green, oval shape, up
country
• Exotic F1-Medium firm, flattened round, Low
country and mid country
• Hercules-Uniform blue green, very firm, semi
globe, up country
• Gloria-Firm, flattened globe, up country
5. CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS
Temperature
• Grow best in a relatively cool and humid climate
• In drier atmospheres
-Leaves are petioled and impaired quality of the
head
-Poor yield
-Difficult to control pest
• Optimum temperatures for growth and
development - 18 °C to 20 °C
6. Rainfall
• Water requirements vary from 380 to 500 mm per
crop
• Depend on climate and length of growing season.
• Crop water use increases during the growing end
period of the season
Soil requirement
• Can be grown on a wide range of soils
• Grow well on well-drained
-moisture-retentive loamy soils
-well supplied with organic matter.
• Not grow well on highly acidic soil.
7. pH ranges
• Ranges 5.5 to 6.5
• Should not be allowed to fall below 4,5
• If pH above 6,5 - leaves become dark but leaf
margins die back
8. CULTIVATION PRACTICES
Propagation-propagated from seeds
Soil preparation-
• Clean the land before 8 weeks planting
• Ground must be ploughed deeply (can use disk
harrow )
• Soil should be fumigated two weeks before planting
time if necessary, to control nematodes.
9. PLANTING
• Can be planted
-Direct-seeding
-Transplanting of seedlings
Nursery management
• 3 m x 1 m size raised bed (about 12 - 15cm raised) is
recommended.
• The area should be;
- Opened for sun shine,
- That should not be cultivated Brassicacie family
crops early.
- Soil should not be an acid
10. • Apply paddy husk and straw layers on the surface of
the bed
• Fire from the opposite of the wind direction to
sterilize the bed
• Apply 3 - 4 Kg of organic manure
• Put seeds about 1 cm deep on the lines that
maintain 10 cm space with the lines
• Desired size and only well-hardened, young, stocky
plants should be used to transplant
11. • Transplanting is done on moist soil.
• In wet areas use raised beds or ridges
• It reduce water-logging and stem or root rot
diseases
• Apply fungicide to control damping off and
anthracnose.
• Water to the bed and mulch it by using paddy
straw.
• Cover the beds by using polyethylene
12. • It should not be transparent to avoid sun rays and
rain
• Plant population and spacing influence head size,
head shape and yield
• Plant populations vary according to the target market
for a particular crop
13. FERTILIZATION
• Requires supplemental fertilization in the form of
-manure or compost
-N
-P
-K
• 1 st application –add together with P and K
• 2 nd application-3 weeks after transplanting
14. IRRIGATION
• Should be irrigated after sowing or transplanting.
• Irrigation intervals -10 to 12 days in heavy soils or 8
days in light soils
• Should receive enough water for vegetative growth
before forming heads in young plants
• Excess moisture -cause plant to
damage leaves
15. WEED CONTROL
• Controlled by
-mechanically
-by hand as well
-chemically ( application of registered herbicides)
16. PEST CONTROL
1.Aphids
Types
-Grey cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae)
-Green peach aphid (Myzus persicae)
Damage
-Suck sap from the plant and contaminate the
edible product
-Causes a chlorosis
-Make malformation of the leaf.
17. 2.Diamond-black moth (Plutella xylostella)
Damage- Suck sap from tender growth, resulting in a
whitish, scarred appearance
3.Bagrada bug (Bagrada hilarus)
Damage -Suck sap from tender growth, resulting in a
whitish, scarred appearance
4.American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera)
Damage-Larvae feed on the leave
-Destroy the growing points of the plants
18. 5.Cabbage webworm (Helula spp.)
Damage
- Larvae spin a thin web over their feeding places
- Destroy the growing point of the plants
6.Greater cabbage moth (Crocidolomia binotalis)
Damage
-Larvae spin a thin web over their feeding place
-Destroy the growing point of the plants.
19. 7.Red spider mite-Red spider mites
Damage
-Suck, resulting in a bronzing and yellowing
8.Cutworm (Agrotis spp.)
Damage
-Cut off the stems of young seedlings close to
ground level
20.
21. 9.Plusia looper (Plusia spp.)
Damage
-Plusia looper feeds on the leaves and causes
damage by cutting the foliage
10.Thrips
Damage
-Contaminate the edible product, thus affecting its
appearance or quality
11.Nematodes
Damage
- Cause unthrifty and may become stunted
22. GENERAL CONTROL MEASURES
• Can be practice
-Crop rotation
-Use resistant cultivars
-Use registered chemicals (information can be
gained from DOA)
23. DISEASE CONTROL
1.Damping off (Altenaria spp., Rhizoctonia solani,
Pythium spp.)
Symptoms
Wilt infected seedlings , turn purple and die, and often
have no lateral roots.
Control
- Using treated seed
- Sterilizing the seedbed before planting
- Removing infected plants when symptoms appear
24. 2.Sclerotonia rot or white mould (sclerotinia
sclerotiorum)
-favored cool, wet conditions
Symptoms
Above-ground parts of infected plants may be
covered with a white cottony growth
Control
-By crop rotation
-Planting on ridges or raised beds
- Removal and destruction of infected crop residues
- Good water management aimed at keeping the soil
dry
25. 3.Clubroot (Plasmodiophora brassicae)
- Soil-borne disease
-Most severe on acid soils or moderate pH soils
that are poorly drained
Symptoms
Stunting, wilting and purpling of leaves
Control
- By practicing sanitation
- Practicing crop rotation
- Grow transplants in fumigated
beds
- Lime the soil
26. 3.Fusarium wilt or cabbage yellows (Fusarium
oxysporum f.conglutinans)
Symptoms
-Yellow foliage, often mainly on one side of
the plant
-Leaves become distorted and gradually
turn brown and drop prematurely
-Discolor vascular area
27. Control
- By planting resistant cultivars
- Growing cabbage in winter
- Planting on soils free of disease
- Soil fumigation before planting
- Practicing crop rotation
- Practicing sanitation
28. 4.Black leg (Phoma lingam)
-Seed-borne disease
Symptoms
White to light brown lesions with a purple to
black margin develop on the stem and on leaves
Control
- Use containerized seedlings.
- Do fungicide treatment of seedbed.
- Seedbeds should be situated far from old production
fields.
- Seedbed should be destroyed if leaf lesions are found
29. 5.Bacterial leaf spot (Pseudomonas syringae pv.
maculicola)
-Severe in cool, moist weather
Symptoms
-Small, faint, water-soaked areas on the
underside of leaves
-Affected areas develop into brownish to purplish
grey necrotic spots, fairly irregular after a few
days
Control
- Do chemical control.
- Plant tolerant or resistant cultivars.
- Use disease-free seed or seed treated with hot water
30. HARVESTING MATURITY
• Crop is harvested when the heads attain their full
size
• A fully developed head has a lighter shade of green
32. POST HARVEST HANDLING
• Harvested parts
-removed from direct sunlight and transported to
the packing shed as soon as possible
• Sorting and grading
-The injured leaves should be removed.
• Packing
- packed in plastic buckets and
wrap with polythene
33. Storage
• Store under low temperature
• Relative humidity -90 % to 95 %
• Remove the discolored butt upon removal from
storage.
34. Transport
• Use truck
• Trucks should not overloaded on the bottom layers
of produce are crushed
35. USES
• The whole plant can be consumed cooked or raw as
a salad
• Medicinal value
-Preventing bladder, stomach, and lung cancer
-Prevent stomach pain.
-Prevent stomach and intestinal ulcers.
-Reduce excess stomach acid.
