Varietal impact on yield, quality and profitability of off season radish under rainfed mid hill condition of Uttarakhand

Abstract

Study to assess the root yield and profitability of some of the new hybrids and prevalent varieties of radish, a field experiment was conducted during kharif season, 2011–2012. The trial was replicated thrice in Randomized Complete Block Design (RBD) with 11 hybrids/open pollinated varieties. Observations for most of the plant morphological parameters and quality aspect such as ascorbic acid etc were recorded mainly at first harvest of crop. In addition, marketable root yield per unit area and profitability of crop including Benefit–Cost ratio had also been worked out. In this investigation, open pollinated variety Pusa Chetki, was found earliest in respect to first harvest, taking about 45 days from the date of sowing, whereas locally grown radish Doonagiri Gol was observed late in Ist harvest (62 days). With respect to marketable root yield, hybrid Shagun Meeno with 402.73q ha−1 was recorded the highest yielder in the experiment. This yield was 24.68, 56.66 and 128.74% higher over standard checks Japanese White, Doonagiri Gol and Pusa Chetki, respectively. The maximum net profit of Rs. 72,602.00 ha−1 along with highest Benefit–Cost ratio (1.82) was also obtained in hybrid Shagun Meeno. Not only this, this hybrid was also less pungent compared to other hybrids/varieties. The roots of this variety were smooth and attractive. The other hybrid which proved second best in root yield and net profit was Mahyco Hybrid-11 (341.98 q ha−1).