Cauliflower production

1. CAULIFLOWER

2. Taxonomy
• Botanical Name : Brassica oleracea var. botrytis
L.
• Family : Cruciferae
• Chromosome Number : 2n=18
• Vernacular Name: Phool Gobhi
• Ancestor: B. o. var sylvestris

3. Origin
• The name originated
from the Latin word
“Cauli” - cabbage,
“floris” - flower and
‘botrytis' - budding.
• Originated in the island
of Cyprus
• Introduced in India in
1822 by Dr. Jemson.

4. Uses
• It is grown in winter
season for its white tender
curds formed by the pre
floral fleshy apical
meristem.
• It is used as vegetable in
curies, soups, for pakoras
and for pickling.

5. Nutritive value
Moisture
(%)- 90.8
Protein
(%)- 2.6
Fat (%)-
0.4
Mineral
matter
(%)- 1
Fibre (%)-
1.2
Minerals (mg/100g)
Phosphor
us- 57
Potassium
- 138
Calcium-
33
Mg- 18 Iron- 1.23 Na-53 Cu- 0.13
Mn-0.1 Zn- 0.4 S- 231 Cl-34 Cr- 0.003
Vitamins (mg/100g)
Carotene-
30
Thiamine-
0.04
Riboflavin-
0.1
Niacin- 1 Vit-C- 56

6. Distribution
• It is widely cultivated in countries like China,
India, USA, Spain, Mexico, Italy, Turkey,
Bangladesh, France, Algeria.
• Among these China ranks 1st with 9.5 M MT
production, India ranks 2nd with 8.8 M MT
production and USA ranks 3rd .
• In India it is grown in an area of 458 thousand ha.
• West Bengal ranks 1st , MP 2nd, Bihar 3rd in
cauliflower production.

7. AREA AND PRODUCTION
Production(000
Tonnes)
Sr No. State Production Share(%)
1 West Bengal 1,969.44 21.22
2 Madhya Pradesh 1,222.01 13.16
3 Bihar 1,031.47 11.11
4 Gujarat 713.87 7.69
5 Haryana 672.16 7.24
6 Orissa 642.94 6.93
7 Chattisgarh 482.48 5.20
8 Punjab 450.60 4.85
9 Uttar Pradesh 436.77 4.71
10 Assam 436.45 4.70

8. Botany
• Edible part- head of cauliflower which is called
curd
• Morphologically the curd is madeup of numerous
divided hypertrophic branches which terminate
the main stem of plant. It is highly suppressed
and extremely ramified hypertrophied flower
stalk.
• Cross-pollinated
• The fruits are called siliqua
• Thermosensitive

9. Siliqua
Cauliflower flower

10. Soil
• The mid season and late crop will grow very well in
medium, medium heavy and heavy soils.
• For early crop, a light to light medium soil should be
preferred so that the drainage is easier in the rainy
season.
• The water stagnation checks the growth, which leads
to disappointment to the growers.
• It prefers a soil reaction ranging from pH 6 to 7.
• If pH is below 5.5, liming is required
• The deficiency symptoms of Mg may quickly appear in
acidic soils while pH higher than 7 reduced the
availability of boron causing browning

11. SOIL
• Can be grown in saline soil provided the C-
index is within tolerance limits.
– For early cultivars- C2 and C4
– Late cultivars- C6
• It is sensitive to B and Mo deficiency

12. CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS
• It is a thermo sensitive crop therefore temperature plays an
important role in transformation from vegetative to curd
development and reproductive stages.
• For germination- 10-21oC is good
• Transformation from vegetative to curding take place from 5oC
to nearly 28-30oC
• Four weeks in mid-late group and 5-6weeks in late group would
be sufficient for transformation from vegetative to curding
phase.
• Optimum temperature for growth of young plant is 23oC in
initial stages while growth in later stages is more favorable at
17-20oC.
• The tropical cultivars can grow even at 35oC or more.

13. CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS
• Plant will go on putting vegetative growth without forming
any curd if temperature remains higher than optimum for
curding.
• Late group cultivars require 15-20oC for optimum growth but
the same temperature would cause curd formation in the early
cultivars.
• Therefore, when tropical cultivars are grown at lower
temperature, they form button and show severe riceyness to
typical green bud formation.
• Temperature should not fluctuate too much during curd
initiation phase, otherwise curd quality deteriorates.
• Temperature higher or lower than optimum for curding results
in physiological disorders like riceyness, leafyness, blindness,
loose and yellow curd.

14. Types of cauliflower
• Cauliflower cultivars grown in India can be
classified into two broad groups:
1. Indian Cauliflower/tropical/hot weather/heat
tolerant.
2. European types/ early temperate types known
as Snowball or late cauliflower

15. Indian Type/ Asiatic Type European Type
•Tolerant to heat •Not tolerant to heat
•annual •biennial
•Curd formation at and above 20- 27 oC. •Curd formation at 5-20oC
•Yellow to creamish curds, loose with
strong flavour.
•Snow white curds with very mild or no
flavour (better quality curds).
•Plants are short having long stalk and
loosely arranged leaves.
•Steady plants and long leaves giving
protective jacket to curd.
•Early in maturity •Late in maturity
•More variable (heterozygous) •Less variable (homozygous)
•Strongly self-incompatible. •Less or no self incompatible.
•Small juvenile phase. •Long juvenile phase.
•No need of vernalization but needs cold
treatment at 10-13oC for 6 weeks
•Needs vernalization at 7oC for 8-10
weeks.

16. European type of cauliflower

17. Types and varieties of Indian
cauliflower
• Cauliflower varieties have been divided into
four different maturity groups (I-IV) according
to temperature requirement.
1. Early
i. September Maturity
ii. October Maturity
2. Mid early
3. Mid late
4. Late

18. Maturity gr
oup
Nursery
sowing
Transplanting
Time
Optimum
temp. range
for curding
Varieties
Extra Early:
May maturity
(May-June)
End of February March 24oC-30oC Pusa Meghna, DC 23, Pusa
Kartik Sankar
Early I (A)
Sept. maturity
(mid Sept-mid
Nov.)
Mid May July beginning 20-27oC
Early Kunwari, Pusa Early
Synthetic, Pant Gobhi-3, Pusa
Meghna, Pusa Kartik Sankar
Early I (B)
Oct. maturity
(Mid Oct-mid
Nov)
May end to Mid
June Mid July 20-25oC Pusa Katki, Pusa Deepali,
Pant Gobhi-2
Mid Early (II)
Nov. maturity
(Mid Nov-mid
Dec)
July end Sept beginning 16-20oC
Improved Japanese, 12-C,
Pusa hybrid-2, Pusa Sharad,
Pant Gobhi-4
Mid late (III)
Dec maturity
(mid Dec-mid
Jan)
Aug end Sept end 12-16oC
Pusa Synthetic, Pusa Subhra,
Palam Uphar, KT-25, Pant
Subhra, Pusa HimJyoti, Pb
Giant 35, Pusa Paushja, Pusa
Shukti
Late (IV)
Snowball (Jan-
March)
Sept end to mid
Oct Oct end-mid Nov 10-16oC
Snowball 16, Pusa Snowball-
I, Pusa Snowball K-1, Dania,
Ooty-1,

19. Seed Rate per ha
Early 600-750g
Mid-Early season 500g
Mid-late 400 g
Late 300g

20. Nursery Raising
• Seeds sown in well drained thoroughly prepared
nursery bed
• When sowing done during rainy season, nursery
beds should be drenched with fungicides (like
Captan or Thiram at the rate of 2 g/l of water to
prevent fungal diseases) or sterilized with
formalin.
• Soil solarization combined with fumigation
effectively controls several soil borne disease
• Seed treatment with hot water at 50 oC for 25-30
mins controls Black rot and black leg disease

21. Nursery Raising
• In nurseries of early cauliflower the beds should
be kept cool by providing sufficient moisture and
covering them with mulch.
• The nursery beds should be narrow and about 30
cm wide.
• Irrigate twice daily in morning and evening with
rose can and through channels at every alternate
day.
• For mid season crop the beds require protection
from over moisture. In such cases raising nursery
under poly-tunnel is ideal

22. Nursery Raising
• In case of mid-late and late cultivars the seeds are
sown thinly (about 15-20 seeds per 30 cm) in
rows and not more than 1.5-2 cm deep.
• The rows should be 7 cm apart
• The seeds are covered after sowing with 0.5-1 cm
of soil.
• Mulching is done over the nursery beds to
conserve moisture and hasten germination. It
should be removed as soon as the germination
starts.

23. Nursery Raising
• The seeds starts germinating in 3-4 days
• The seedlings should be hardened by
withholding water for 3-4 days before
transplanting
• Before uprooting the beds are thoroughly
soaked with water for easy removal of
seedling with minimum or no injury
• Seedlings are ready for transplanting in 4-6
weeks.

24. Transplanting and spacing
• Seedlings become ready for transplanting
after 4 to 6 weeks.
• During planting, the distance between the two
plants depends on the soil’s fertility, Cultivation
season, and market demand.
• Generally, for the early season distance
between plant to plant is 45 cm X 45 cm, for
the main season 45x 60 cm and late-season
crop, 60 cm X 60 cm is maintained.

25. Transplanting and spacing
• In the market, the demand for small and medium-size
Cauliflower is generally high; therefore, more
Cauliflower curds can be obtained by reducing planting
distance.
• Yield can be increased by planting Cauliflower crop at
the row to row 45 cm and plant to plant at 30 cm.
• Drip irrigation method can be implemented for
increasing yield
• If over moisture condition persist for longer time after
transplanting it may result in buttoning. To avoid
buttoning a spray of 0.5% urea should e given at early
stage and 1% at later stages.

26. Nutritional Requirement
• Apply FYM @25-30 t/ha, Nitrogen @143-
234kg/ha, Phosphorus @ 60-80kg/ha and
Potassium @ 128-270kg/ha.
• Half quantity of N and entire quantity of P and
K are applied to the soil at the time of field
preparation.
• The remaining half quantity of N is top
dressed four to six weeks after transplanting.

27. Nutritional Requirement
• The fertilizers should be placed 5-7 cm deep on
both sides of the rows
• Foliar spray of 1-2% urea boost up the growth
and minimize buttoning.
• Cauliflower often shows B and Mo deficiency
symptoms when grown on alkaline or highly
acidic soil. Therefore, 10-15 kg/ha borax may be
applied or two sprays of 0.3% borax on seedlings
can be done and liming along with application of
1-1.5 kg/ha sodium molybdate can be done.

28. USE OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS
PGR Method of
application Attributes affected
IBA@ 10ppm Seedling treatment Increase in yield
GA@ 100ppm
+NAA@
120ppm+Mo@ 2%
Foliar spray Increase in yield
GA@ 50ppm +Urea
@1% Foliar spray Increase in yield
GA3 @50ppm Foliar spray Increase in yield
NAA 10ppm Seedlings treatment
Plant stand in the
field and vegetative
growth.
GA4 + GA7 @ 80
mg/l Foliar spray
Shortens the period
from transplanting to
the harvest

29. Cropping System
• Intercropping with spinach
• Crop rotation system: Cauliflower- Tomato-
okra
• Eggplant- Cauliflower- bottle gourd
• With development of new and early maturing
cultivars which are transplanted in raiy season
and harvested by october- november, rabi
vegetables can be grown easily

30. Intercultural Operation
• It is a shallow rooted crop, so shallow hoeing is done to
remove weeds and to avoid any injury to the roots.
• Regular hoeing operations keep crop weed free and
provide aeration to the root system.
• Crust formation in medium heavy and clay soils hinder
water and air penetration in root system and should be
broken otherwise adversely affect plant growth.
• Earthing up is important in rainy season as roots get
exposed after every shower and should be done 4-5
weeks after transplanting.

31. Intercultural Operation
• Critical period for crop- weed competition is between
30-50days after transplanting.
• Use herbicides in initial stages followed by hand
weeding in later stages of plant growth along with
fertilizer top dressings. Basalin (3.3 l/ha) is the most
commonly used herbicide in cabbage
• Application of Alachlor (Lasso) @2kg a.i. /ha before
transplanting is beneficial for controlling annual and
broad leaved weeds.
• Pendimethalin (Stomp) @1.2kg a.i. /ha or Oxyflurofen
(Goal) @ 600ml/ha can also be used before
transplanting if there is problem of annual weeds only

32. Irrigation
• First irrigation should be given immediately
after transplanting.
• Being shallow rooted crop, it requires frequent and light
irrigation.
• Early season crop require irrigation at an interval of 5-7
days while mid and late sown crop require irrigation at an
interval of 8-12 days.
• Curd development is the critical stage.
• Heavy irrigation is avoided at the time of maturity of
curds.
• Optimum moisture level at the time of curd formation is
very essential

33. BLANCHING
• An important operation to protect the curds from yellowing due to
direct exposure to sun.
• The curds may also loose some of their flavour because of this
exposure.
• This problem generally occurs in varieties of early and mid maturity
group, which have spreading and open plant type.
• In Snowball group and some of hybrids of early and mid maturity
groups, curds remain naturally protected and surrounded by inner
whorls of leaves.
• Pusa Deepali, Pusa Himjyoti and Hisar-1 are self blanching variety
• This may be done by drawing and tying of leaves when curds are
fully developed. Sometimes, a leaf of cauliflower is kept over the
curd 4-5 days prior to harvesting.

34. Blanching

35. HARVESTING
• The harvesting of curds is to be done as soon as the curds attain
prime maturity and compactness.
• It is better to harvest little early than late if there is any doubt
about the maturity.
• Delayed harvesting leads to the elongation of flower stalk and
loose, over matured curds, deterioration of quality and turns into
loose, leafy, ricey and fuzzy. Such curds should be eliminated from
the consignment to be sending to the markets as they wilt rapidly
and spoil the appearance of the consignment.
• The curd should be cut-off with stalk along with sufficient number
of jacket leaves to protect the curd.
• Severe trimming of leaves is to be done after unloading or before
marketing.
• Cellophane and transparent films are also used to pack cauliflower
which are hydrocooled to remove field heat

36. YIELD (q/ha)
• Early : 100-150 q/ha
• Mid and late : 150-225 q/ha
• Snowball group :up to 500 q/ha.

37. PRE AND POST HARVEST HANDLING
• Harvesting should be done preferably in the
late evening or early morning so that the
product remains turgid and fresh.
• The freshly harvested plants should be put in
the truck or cart in such a way that the
bruising of the curd is minimum.
• These bruised portions of the curd become
blackish and unattractive for the fresh market

38. STORAGE
• Most of cauliflower grown in India is harvested
and used for fresh consumption.
• In general, it is not stored in the cold storage
because of lack of capital to erect and run the
cold storage by farmers.
• Snowball cauliflower can be stored for 7days at
0oC-1.7oC and RH between 85-95%.
• cauliflower with intact leaves and head size 25-
30cm diameter are the most suitable for long-
term storage. They can be stored for 30 daysat 0
oC with 85-90% RH

39. PACKING AND PACKAGING MATERIAL
• Generally packaging material is not used for
transportation or storage of cauliflower in India.
• Freshly harvested plants with most of the leaves intact
are loaded in cart/truck keeping the curd downward so
that they are not exposed to the sun and the leaves
protect the curd from bruising and impact damage.
• This practice is for the market situated nearby.
• They are sent in gunny bag packings or in crates to
distant markets.
• Cling wraps may be used for packing in which only the
curd portion is kept.

40. Value Added Products
• In India, cauliflower is mainly dried or processed into
mixed vegetable pickles.
• In the glut season, cauliflower can also be preserved
in chemical solution containing 3%salt +
0.3%potassium metabisulphate + 0.8% glacial acetic
acid in glass jars for 6-8months for culinary purpose
and for pickling.
• Frozen cauliflower : The curds are washed, cut into
pieces, blanched, packed in poly bags of the desired
size and then marketed in the lean period.

41. Value Added Products
• Dehydrated cauliflower : curd is cut into small pieces.
blanched for 4-5 minutes in boiling water, steeped in 0.5%
SO2 solution 1 hr, then drained and washed. dried at 60 oC for
about 10-12 hours. The dry matter content is 7 and 8-10% in
snowball and tropical cauliflower, respectively.
• Canning: done on limited scale in India. Compact curds cut
into small pieces. then blanched for 5-6minutes in boiling
solution of 0.1%citric acid or titaric acid and subsequently
cooled in 2%brine to prevent discolouration. Blanched
material is filled in plain cans containing 2%brine, then they
are sealed and sterilized. Pink colouration in the canned
product is a problem.

42. Physiological Disorder
Disorder Symptoms Reason
Riceyness Premature initiation of
floral buds on upper
surface of curds
Excess N2, fluctuation in
temp. and high humidity
Fuzziness Velvety appearance of
pedicels
Cultivation in abnormal
time
Blindness Without terminal bud
and fail to form curd
Low temperature (frost) or
injury by insect
Leafiness small green leaves in
the curd
High temperature
Buttoning Development of very
small curd
Low N2, high temp. anfd
planting early var.
Hollow stem Empty inner stem Excess N2
Whip tail Only mid rib
development
Mo deficiency, common in
acid soil
Browning/ Red rot/Brown rot B deficiency