Season:

RABI – August – September

. General Information:

It is cool weather crop and it belongs to family Brassicaceae. It is grown for both purposes, its roots as well as for green leaves. Turnip root is rich source of Vitamin C whereas its leaves are rich source of Vitamin A, Foliate and Calcium. Grown turnip is of purple-white and yellow-white colors.

. Climate:

Temperature: 12-30*C

Rainfall: 200-400cm

Sowing Temperature: 18-23*C

Harvesting temperature: 10-15*C

. Soil:

It can be grown on variety of soils but turnip gives best results when grown on loamy soils rich in organic matter. Avoid heavy or compact soils also very light soils as it produces rough, deform roots. Ideal pH of soil for good growth is 5.5 to 6.8.

. Land Preparation

Plough land thoroughly and make land weed and clods free. Add well decomposed cow dung and mix well in soils at the time of land preparation. Avoid use of undecomposed or free cow dung as it will leads to forking of fleshy roots.

. Sowing

Time of sowing
August-September is best time for sowing desi varieties.
Spacing
Use R x R spacing of 45 cm and P x P spacing of 7.5 cm.
Sowing Depth
Sow seeds at depth of 1.5 cm.
Methods of Sowing
Direct sowing on bed, in lines or on ridge.

. Seed

Seed Rate
For sowing of one acre land seed rate of 2-3 kg is sufficient.

Seed treatment
Before sowing treat seed with Thiram@3gm per kg of seeds to protect crop from crown rot.

. FERTILIZERS:

Along with well decomposed cow dung, apply Urea @25kg/acre, DAP @50kg/acre and Sulphate of Potash (SOP) @25kg/acre in soil at time of sowing. Potash is required for good development of roots and helps in yield improve.

. Weed Control

10-15 days after germination, carry out thinning operation. Take interculture operation like weeding and hoeing to keep check on weed growth also to provide soil aeration. Take one weeding operation, two to three weeks after sowing. After weeding, carryout earthing operation.

. Irrigation

After sowing, apply first irrigation, it will help in good germination. Depending upon soil type and climate, apply remaining irrigations at the interval of 6-7 days in summer and 10-12 days interval in winter month. Overall turnip required five to six irrigations. Avoid excessive irrigation as it will leads ugly shape of roots and numerous hair growth.

. Harvesting

Depending upon variety uproot turnip roots after attaining marketable size i.e. when they are 5-10 cm in diameter. Generally, roots are reached to marketable size in 45-60 days i.e. depending upon variety after sowing. Delay in harvesting will leads to tough and fibrous root formation. Carry out harvesting in evening time. After harvesting, roots along with green tops are washed with water. They are filled into the basket and then sent to market. Under cool and moist condition, roots can be stored for 2-3 days where as they can store for 8-15 week at 0-5 °C temperature with 90-95% relative humidity.