Evaluation of Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) Varieties suited for Off Season Cultivation in Rain Shelters of Kerala

Cabbage is one of the most important of the green leafy vegetables grown under temperate to tropical climate conditions. It is a cool season crop which grows best under cool, moist weather conditions. There is much variation exists among different cabbage types. In this experiment the cabbage is tried to cultivate before their normal season i.e. off-season cultivation is aimed so that, the supply of produce is less and prices are high. For this the performance of five improved cabbage varieties during off season was assessed in rain shelters. The selected cabbage varieties were NS183, NS43, Kalyani, Green Challenger and Green Voyager. Number of replications was ten. Various biometric, yield characters, pest incidence, BC ratio were noted during the study. The trial revealed that cabbage variety Green Voyager performs better under rain shelters and is the best variety for off season cultivation in Kerala. The variety Green Voyager recorded highest plant height and leaf number at all stages of growth. The highest leaf length and leaf girth was reported by variety Green Voyager. Highest B: C ratio was obtained from Green Voyager and lowest from NS-43. Highest pestincidence was reported from NS43 and lowest from Green Voyager. Head length and width was highest in Green Voyager followed by variety Kalyani. Crop duration was lowest in Green Challenger and highest in Kalyani. Days to heading were lowest in Green Voyager and highest in Green Challenger. Highest yield per plant was noticed in Green Voyager and lowest from variety NS43.