Root Crops

Commonly grown root vegetables

Scientific name Chromosome no Origin

Raphanus sativus L. 2n = 18 European type: Eastern
Mediterranean to Caspian
sea
Japanese type: Coastal
region of Japan
Daucus carota L. 2n = 18 European type: Eastern
Mediterranean to Caspian
sea
Asiatic type:
South-western Asia
Brassica rapa L. 2n = 20 European type: Eastern
Mediterranean to Caspian
sea
Asiatic type:
South-western Asia
Beta vulgaris L. 2n = 18 Mediterranean region
 Area and production statistics of root vegetables

Crop Area Production

India

Carrot 87,000 Ha 13,81,000 MT

Radish 2,08,000 Ha 29,68,000 MT

H.P.

Radish 1,916 Ha 38,988 MT

Turnip 633 Ha 15,428 MT

Carrot 368 Ha 7,238 MT

 Importance of root vegetables

Root vegetables include carrots, radish, turnip, beets, parsnips, rutabagas,

horse radish and Jerusalem artichoke

Widely used as fresh for salad, cooking and pickles etc.

Nutritional and medicinal properties

Radish roots are good appetizer, effective in curing liver, gall bladder, urinary
disorders and gastrodynia. Red carrots contain lycopene which prevents heart
ailments and some cancers

Yellow carrots contain xanthophylls, pigment like beta carotene which helps in
development of healthy eyes and prevents muscular degeneration and lung
cancer

Purple carrots are rich in anthocyanins which act as antioxidant to hold free
radicals in the body and also slow down blood clotting
 Root crops are short duration vegetable crops and have high productivity and
thus are ideal for sequential cropping, intercropping and relay cropping which
enables maximum use of arable land
 Botanically root crops belong to different families but their cultural practices
are almost similar.
 Daucus Carota L.

Good quality roots have a maximum of cortex and a minimum of core

 Climatic Requirements

• Carrot is a cool season crop though few tropical types tolerate

quite high temperatures
• Colour development and the growth of the root are affected by
temperature
• Carrots grown at 10-15°C and 20-25 °C do not develop colour
while those grown at 15-20°C develop good colour
• In general at high temperatures short roots are formed while
long roots are produced at low temperatures
 Asiatic type European type
They are also called as tropical or They are also called as temperate type
subtropical type

They are comparatively big in size , They are small in size, mild in taste and
pungent in taste and generally red in orange in colour( carotene rich)
colour (lycopene / anthocyanin rich).

They are more juicy and have bigger core, Less juicy, small core, less foliage and are
a heavier top and can be grown much late.
earlier than temperate type

They are annual type. Seed production is They are biennial type. Seed production
possible in plains as they do not require can be done only in hills as they require
chilling/ vernalization. chilling/ vernalization.

e.g. Pusa Kesar, Pusa Meghali,Pusa Half Long Nantes, Pusa Yamdagni,
Rudhira(self core red), Pusa Asita(black colour, Chantaney, Solan Rachna, Pusa Nayan
late bolter), Pusa Vrishti(heat tolerant) and Jyoti
Pusa Vasuda(1st public sector hybrid developed (hybrid rich in Vitamin A, β-carotene )
through CMS system), Pusa kulfi (mustard
colored rich in carotene, lutein, thiamine and
niacin),
 PUSA RUDHIRA
PUSA ASITA

PUSA KESAR SOLAN RACHNA

PUSA NAYAN JYOTI
 Sowing time and Seed rate
Region Sowing time
South and central India (largely on the hills) Jan-Feb, June-July and Oct- Nov
Incase of favourable climatic conditions carrots can be grown through out the year
North Indian Plains Aug- Dec

Southern Bengal Last week of Oct

Himachal Pradesh
Low hills Aug-Sep
Mid hills July- Sep
High hills March-July

Seed Rate: 8 to 10kg/ha ( Seed contain germination inhibitor, CARROTAL, the seed may be
soaked for 12-24hrs before sowing to hasten germination. Seed may be mixed with sand to
facilitate even distribution of seed)
Spacing: 30cm x 8-10cm(the seed should be sown 1-1.5cm deep )
• Flat bed planting method (25cm between rows) with planting on one side of a ridge (50cm
between ridges) encourages forking
• While planting on both sides of ridges gave higher yield in comparison to flat bed planting
at equivalent density
 Manures, fertilizers and Irrigation
Manure/fertilizer Rate
FYM 100q/ha
N 50kg/ha
P 40kg/ha
K 50kg/ha
• Full dose of FYM +Half of the amount of N + P + K before sowing
and the rest half with second irrigation
• Undecomposed FYM favors root forking and insect pest attack
Irrigation: Pre-sowing irrigation is essential for proper seed germination
Irrigation at frequent intervals for proper growth of roots is essential.

Weed Management
Critical stage for weeding is initial stage of growth as carrot seed takes
10-12 days for germination
Pre-emergence application of [email protected]/ ha)
Harvesting:
Carrots should be harvested at proper stage, otherwise it become fluffy and unfit for
consumption.
In general, root splitting, firmness, dry matter, carotene and sucrose increase with the
age of roots, whereas the contents of glucose and fructose.
Common cultivars attain the marketable stage when their diameter is 2-4cm at the upper
end.
In India harvesting is done manually, while mechanical harvesting is done in developed
countries
It is advisable to give a light irrigation before harvesting, to ensure easy pulling of roots
from the soil without any damage
Roots harvested with top are called bunch carrot( have more shelf life due to less water
loss) while without the tops are called bulk carrots
Yield: Asiatic types: 250-350q/ha
European types: 100-150q/ha
Post harvest handling and storage:
After harvesting roots are washed, graded and tied in bunches of 6/12 roots.
Fresh carrots can be stored for more 3-4 days under ordinary condition
Long term storage at 0-4C with 93-98% RH for six months.
 Physiological Disorders
1. Carrot Splitting:
• Wider the spacing greater the roots tend to split
• Early cultivars split more readily than late ones
• Splitting tend to be reduced by low N and to be increased by chlorides
• Irrigation after long dry spell also increases the chances of root
splitting
2. Cavity spot:
• Disorder appears as cavity in the cortex; in most cases the subtending epidermis collapses to form a pitted
lesion. This lesion may be infected if secondary organism are present
• It occurs due to deficiency of Calcium(Ca) with an increased accumulation of potassium(K)

3. Forking:
• Enlargement of secondary roots occurs which render them unmarketable
• Its due to excess of moisture during root development and also due to hard soil strata
 Radish Raphanus sativus
• Radish is a popular vegetable in both tropical and temperature regions
but predominantly its cool season crop.
• Radish is a good source of vitamin C (pink skinned) contains 15 – 40
mg per 100g of edible portion and supplies varieties of mineral.
• The leaves of radish are a good source of extraction of proteins on a
commercial scale. The juice of fresh leaves is used as diuretic and
laxative.
• Tender pods are also consumed as a vegetable
Depending upon temperature requirement for seed setting they
are also of two types
Asiatic/ tropical/subtropical European/ Temperate
Early and require warm temperature Require low temperature for bolting and seed
setting
Pungent Less pungent
Produce seed in plains Seed production is possible only in hills
e.g. Pusa Desi, Pusa Reshmi, Pusa Chetki, Pusa Himani, White Icicle, Rapid Red White
Punjab Safed, Japanese White, Chinese Pink, Tipped, Scarlet Globe, Scarlet long, Silver Queen,
Early Mino White, Jaunpuri Mooli, Hisar Palam Hriday, Kvatra(for polyhouse
Mooli No.1, Arka Nishant, Pusa Sweta,Pusa cultivation;short duration)
Gulabi, Pusa Jamuni, Pusa Mridula

Varieties recommended for H.P.

European Asiatic
Palam Hriday, White Icicle and Pusa Japanese White, Chineses Pink and Pusa
Himani Chetki
 Soil and climate
• Radishes can be grown on nearly all types of soils, but best results are
obtained on light, friable loam soil that contains good amount of
organic matter.
• Being a short duration crop, it can be grown on soils that are not
considered satisfactory for other root crops.
• For early crop sandy loam soils with high organic matter content are
highly suited for radish cultivation.
• For summer crop a cool and moist soils gives best result.
• Heavy soils or soils with rocky strata produce rough, misshapen
(forked) roots.
• The highest yield can be obtained at a soil pH in the range of 5.5 to7.0.
• Radishes are best adapted to a cool or moderate climate.
• Asiatic types have greater temperature adaptation and thus can resist
heat more than the European types.
• 20-25°C temperature is ideal for radish crop. Water requirement
enhances with rise in temperature.
 RADISH
PALAM HRIDAY
 White Icicle

Scarlet Globe Chinese Pink

China white White Globe Japanese White

 Sowing Time and Seed Rate
North Indian plains
European type Asiatic type

Sep-March August- January

In areas with mild climate radish crop can be taken throughout the year

Himachal Pradesh

Low hill Mid hill High hill

August-Sep July-Oct March- Aug

Seed rate kg/Ha & spacing

Asiatic European
10kg, 30cm x 5-10cm 12-14kg, 45cm x 6-8cm
1g seed contain 80-125 seeds
Year round schedule for raising of radish
 Manures and fertilizers
FYM N P K
100q/Ha 90 50 40
Full dose of FYM, P, K and half N at the time of sowing. Remaining half of N
should be top dressed in two equal instalments at an interval of a month

Weeding and Intercultural operations

Incase of Asiatic type(mid maturity) weeding and hoeing should be done 20-
35days after
In temperate and early Asiatic types weeding and hoeing may be done 15-20 days
Pre-emergence application of Stomp @1.2kg a.i./Ha or [email protected] a.i./Ha or
[email protected] a.i./Ha or [email protected] a.i./Ha may be used to control
weeds.

Irrigation
Pre-sowing irrigation may be given preferably.
Depending up on the season and soil irrigation should be done as hard soil result in poor
quality roots and roots grown under suboptimal water conditions bear strong
flavor/pungency
Frequent irrigation is required in summer season
 Harvesting
• Harvest the crop when roots are tender(non pithy)
• Light irrigation may be given before uprooting the roots to ensure
proper harvesting of roots i.e. without any damage to roots
• Roots are uprooted along with leaves.
• After uprooting they are washed , tied in bundles and then sold in the
market
• European type are ready to harvest in 25-30 days while Asiatic types
may take 40-60 days.
Yield
European type Asiatic type
50-60q/Ha. 150-200q/Ha.
 Storage

Radish can not be stored for more than 2-3 days under room
temperature without impairing its quality.
They can be stored for about 2 months in cold storage at 0C
and 90-95 per cent relative humidity.
In general late cultivars bear good storage potential with
greater dry matter, sugars, crude fiber, P, Ca and Mg.
 Physiological Disorders
1. Pithiness: a. Commercial value is affected as the parenchymatous
cells collapse resulting in development of pores.
b. Delay in harvesting also causes pithiness in the roots.
2. Forking: Secondary growth occurs in roots due to:
a. Excess of moisture
b. heavy soil
c. hard or stony strata of the soil
 Turnip- Brassica rapa L.
• The fleshy thickened underground portion of turnip is actually the
hypocotyl, the colour and shape may vary according to the variety/cultivar
• The fresh roots are consumed in salads or cooked as a vegetable or used in
pickles.
• Young leaves contain high amount of ascorbic acid and iron and rank
second in Vitamin A, are eaten cooked as greens
• Cultivars depending upon climatic requirement for seed setting/production
are of two types:
1. Asiatic/ tropical/sub-tropical: Heat tolerant can be grown for seed both
in plains and hills. Pungent in taste so are suitable for pickling.
e.g Pusa Kanchan, Pusa Sweti, Punjab Safed-4,
2. European/ Temperate: Produce seed only in hills/ under temperate
conditions. They are sweet in taste and are not heat tolerant
e.g. Purple Top White Globe, Golden Ball, Snow Ball, Pusa Chandrima,
Pusa Swarnima, Early Milan Red Top
SNOWBALL PURPLE TOP WHITE GLOBE
 Classification on the basis of morphological characteristics of the
root and top
1. White Fleshed:
a. PURPLE TOPPED
i. Flat type: Purple Top Milan
ii. Globe type: Purple Top White Globe
b. GREEN TOPPED
i. Globe type: Green Top White, Green White
ii. Long type: Cowhorn
c. WHITE TOPPED
i. Flat type: White Milan, White Flat Dutch, Norfolk
ii. Globe type: White stone, Quick Silver
iii. Half-long type: White Egg, White Gem
iv. Long type: Lily White
2. Yellow Fleshed:
a. PURPLE TOPPED, GLOBE TYPE: Aberdeen Purple Top
b. BRONZE or GREEN TOPPED, GLOBE TYPE: Aberdeen Green Top, Amber
Globe
3. FOLIAGE CULTIVARS: Flat Japan, Shogoin, Seven Top
Sowing Time: North Indian Plains: Sep- Dec
For H.P.: Low hills- Sep-Nov
Mid Hills- Aug-Oct
High hills- April-July
Seed Rate: 4-4.5kg/ha
Spacing: 30-45cm x 7.5-15cm (30 x 10cm)
Manures & fertilizers: SAME AS THAT OF CARROT
Soil, soil preparation, climate and weed control, irrigation and
intercultural operations: SAME AS THAT OF RADISH
Harvesting: Should be harvested after reaching appropriate
size as old turnips become fibrous and off flavoured.
Harvested and sold along with tops
Yield: 250-300q/ha
 Beet root
 Swollen roots are eaten boiled or as a salad or pickled or
canned (large –sized roots). The tender leaves and the young
beet plants are used as greens(pot herbs).
 In Germany, it was first described in 1557 and was referred
to as ROMAN BEET. The crop was introduced in USA in
1800 and was known as GARDEN BEET.
 Beet root is rich source of Fe, folic acid, Ca, P, Vit A,
protein and carbohydrates
 Red pigment in beet root is betanin, the contents of which
may range from 426-691mg/kg fresh weight.
Beet cultivars are classified on the basis of shape of roots as:
1. FLAT: Flat Egyptian
2. SHORT- TOP SHAPED: Flattened at top and bottom with
rounded sides and conical
3. ROUND OR GLOBULAR: round or globular shaped roots
e.g. Detroit Dark Red, Crimson Globe
4. HALF-LONG: Length is shorter than long types e.g. Half-
Long Blood, Winter Keeper
5. LONG: roots are long(up tp40cm) e.g Long Dark Blood
Climate: Beets are hardy and can tolerate some freezing.
• Colour texture and quality is affected by the temperature.
• Excessive hot weather causes zoning- the appearance of alternating
light and dark red concentric circles in the root.
• Beet is very sensitive to low temperature. It bolts if exposed to 4.5-
10°C for 15 or more days
Sowing Time: Hills: March- July
North Indian Plains: September- November
Southern Plains: July-November
Seed Rate: Beet seeds are seed balls that contain one or more seeds(2-6).
Seed balls are planted @7-9kg/ha
Spacing: 45-60 x 8-10cm
(Thinning is v important in garden beet)
Manures & fertilizers: FYM@150-200q/ha N:P:K- 60-70:100-120:60-
70)
Irrigation: Optimum moisture is desired for seed germination
Deficiency of water affects seed germination and also the size of
roots get reduced. 5-6 irrigations are (300mm) sufficient . When
winter rains are sufficient then tree irrigations may be sufficient.
Harvesting: Harvested when roots attain 3-5cm dia. Generally
pulled with tops. Beet stores well at a temperature 0ºC along with
90% relative humidity. .
Yield: 25-300q/ha
 Physiological Disorder
Internal Black Spot or Brown Heart: Caused
due Boron deficiency.
 Bo deficient plant usually remain dwarf or stunted; leaves
are smaller than normal. Young unfolding leaves leaves
fail to develop normally and eventually turn brown or
black and die.
 Leaves get mottled and stalks split longitudinally.
 Roots do not grow to full size remain distorted, rough.
Surfaces are often wrinkled and cracked.
 Within the fleshy roots hard or corky spots are found
scattered throughout the roots, light coloured zones or
cambium layers are present.
Internal Black Spot or Brown Heart
 Diseases and pests
Disease and causal Symptoms Control/ management
organism

Alternaria blight Small yellowish slightly 1. Use disease free seed

(Alternaria raphani) raised lesions appear on 2. Seed treatment with
leaves, stem and seed pods Thiram@2g/kg seed
3. Spray Blitox 50@3% or spray
Indofil M-45 @ 0.25%
White rust (Albugo White powdery substance 1. Use disease free seed
candida) appear in patches on the 2. Use resistant variety
under-surface of the leaves. 3. Seed treatment with
Irregular spots appear on all Thiram@2g/kg seed
parts of the plants 4. Spray Blitox 50@3% or spray
Indofil M-45 @ 0.25%
Radish mosaic virus Small, circular to irregular, 1. Grow resistant variety
chlorotic lesion appear in 2. Aphids may be controlled with
between and adjacent to the acetamiprid@1ml/l
veins. 3. Weed hosts should be eliminated.
No leaf distortion occur
Stunting or abnormal
formation rarely occur
Radish Phyllody Appears during flowering 1. Grow resistant variety
Insect Symptoms Management
Aphids( Myzus persicae, Leaves and plants get 1. Spray acetamiprid
Brevicoryne brassicae, devitalized, leaves and @1ml/l
Lipaphis erysimi) shoots curl up, become
yellowish and finally
wither
Mustard saw fly(Athalia Damages radish and turnip 1. Incorporate
lugens proxima) severely. Grubs feed on Chlorpyriphos 20 EC
leaves and fruits. @80g/kg sand for 400m2
area