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Varying cropping strategies for leafy Brassicas can result in different marketable products.

Nordmark L., Gertsson U.

5th International Postharvest Symposium . Volume of Abstract . Verona, Italy 6-11 June 2004, p.94

2004

บทคัดย่อ

Varying cropping strategies for leafy Brassicas can result in different marketable products.   Brassica leafy crops have become very popular for fresh salads in western Europe.There is a big variation in shape, colour and taste between different species and this is appreciated by the consumers of these so-called Asian vegetables.Furthermore, the plants can either be marketed as baby leaves or as mature plants.The objective of this study was to study the effect of different cropping strategies for three varieties o­n quality for the marketable products.Three different Brassica species were selected with consideration of shape, taste and colour: Mizuna (Brassica rapa var japonica), Komatsuna (Brassica rapa var komatsuna), Red Mustard (Brassica juncea var rugosa).

All experiments were carried out in open fields with different strategies with respect to establishment time, field population density and harvest time.The transplant densities were 32 cm* 10 cm and 32 cm* 20 cm.Direct sowing densities were 28 cm* 2.5 cm and 28 cm* 5 cm.

The results show that four different marketable quality products can be obtained depending o­n plant population densities: Baby leaves, 8-15 cm high, all growing season, small plants for bunching, mature plants sold separately and a tasty product as a green mustard spice.

Cultivation of these leafy Brassica species in spring at low plant densities is not recommended.Plants grown at low densities are harvested at a late developmental stage and the risk of flower formation is high during spring since most Brassicas are short-day plants and some of them also need verbalization.Due to a high amount of harmful pests during springtime, we recommend that crops be established from plug plants rather than direct sown in the field.There are no problems in producing mature plants at low densities in the autumn.The plant establishment seems to be best at the beginning of August.