Performance of leafy vegetables in different types of solar heated greenhouses at high altitude climatic conditions of Ladakh

An experiment was conducted at Field Research Laboratory, Defence R&D Organisation, Leh-Ladakh J&K during winter season of 2002- 03 and 2003- 04 to determine the growth and yield of three leafy vegetables i.e. kale, swiss chard and beet leaf in four types of solar based greenhouse i.e. trench, polyench, polyhouse and Ladakhi polyhouse. The results showed that maximum growth and yield of all the three leafy vegetables were obtained from polyench greenhouse which was significantly higher than other type of greenhouses during both the years. Among the crops, swiss chard variety Red Petiol had given statistically more yield than beat leaf and kale. During the period of experimentation minimum and maximum temperatures were also recorded and more favorable temperature for cultivation of the crops was observed in polyench greenhouse in comparison to other types of greenhouses.