Vegetable Production and Practices PDF
Preview Vegetable Production and Practices
Vegetable Production and Practices Vegetable Production and Practices Gregory E. Welbaum, Ph.D. Visiting Professor Department of Plant Sciences Seed Biotechnology Center University of California, Davis Davis, California USA and Professor, Department of Horticulture Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, Virginia USA CABI is a trading name of CAB International CABI CABI Nosworthy Way 38 Chauncy Street Wallingford Suite 1002 Oxfordshire OX10 8DE Boston, MA 02111 UK USA Tel: +44 (0)1491 832111 Tel: +1 800 552 3083 (toll free) Fax: +44 (0)1491 833508 Tel: +1 617 395 4051 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.cabi.org © Gregory E. Welbaum 2015. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library, London, UK. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Welbaum, G.E. (Gregory E.) Vegetable production and practices / Gregory E. Welbaum, Ph.D., Visiting Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, Seed Biotechnology Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA and Professor, Department of Horticulture, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, Virginia, USA. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-78064-534-6 (hardback : alk. paper)--ISBN 978-1-84593-802-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Vegetables. I. Title. SB320.9W45 2014 635--dc23 2014021237 Paperback ISBN-13: 978 1 84593 802 4 Hardback ISBN-13: 978 1 78064 534 6 Commissioning editors: Sarah Hulbert and Charlotte Hammond Editorial assistant: Alexandra Lainsbury Production editor: Claire Sissen Typeset by SPi, Pondicherry, India. Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY. Contents Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1 Vegetable History, Nomenclature, and Classification Chapter 2 Tillage and Cropping Systems Chapter 3 Vegetable Seeds and Crop Establishment Chapter 4 Fertilization and Mineral Nutrition Requirements for Growing Vegetables Chapter 5 Irrigation of Vegetable Crops Chapter 6 Mulches Chapter 7 Protected Culture Chapter 8 Organic and Sustainable Vegetable Production Chapter 9 Vegetable Safety Chapter 10 Family Cucurbitaceae Cucumber Netted and Mixed Melons Watermelon Pumpkins and Squash Chapter 11 Family Solanaceae Potato Peppers Eggplant Tomato Chapter 12 Family Asteraceae Lettuce, Endive, and Chicory Globe Artichoke and Cardoon Chapter 13 Family Poaceae Sweet Corn, Popcorn, and Ornamental Corn Chapter 14 Family Amaryllidaceae, Subfamily Allioideae Onions and Garlic Leek, Shallots, and Chives Chapter 15 Family Convolvulaceae Sweetpotato Chapter 16 Family Brassicaceae Genus Brassica Asian Brassicas Root Crops Other Crops Chapter 17 Family Amaranthaceae, Subfamily Chenopodiaceae Beets and Chard Spinach New Zealand Spinach and Orach Chapter 18 Family Asparagaceae Asparagus Chapter 19 Family Polygonaceae Rhubarb Chapter 20 Family Fabaceae Beans and Peas Chapter 21 Family Apiaceae Carrot Celery Minor Crops in the Family Apiaceae Chapter 22 Family Agaricaceae Mushrooms Index Online supplementary material Please visit http://www.cabi.org/openresources/45346 to view the pictures in colour and to access supplementary material such as videos. Preface The topic of vegetable crop production is vital to human health and should be of interest to everyone. The study of vegetable crops is a fundamental discipline because it deals with the needs of mankind rather than our wants. Each one of us eats vegetables, lots of them, to stay healthy. According to the World Health Organization, the average adult has an annual per capita vegetable consumption estimated to be 102 kg (240 lb). There is growing awareness that the way we grow vegetables has a profound effect not only on our health but also our environment. As the average person in developed countries becomes more and more detached from vegetable production, misconceptions grow about the safety and sustainability of production practices. One of the goals of this book is to provide a scientifically based discussion of some of the current and traditional issues surrounding vegetable production, handling and consumption. Hopefully, this book will educate students about how vegetables are actually produced as well as offer ideas and stimulate thinking to improve future practices. I developed an interest in vegetable crops at an early age. Having grown up on a diverse family farm in west-central Ohio, I became interested in vegetables because of their greater profit potential and amazing diversity compared to the corn, soybeans, wheat and hay we were growing. I remember planting my own vegetable garden at age 8. I started growing vegetables commercially on our farm and selling them from a roadside vegetable market in western Miami County, Ohio during the 1970s. I attended the Ohio State University primarily to learn more about vegetable crop production from Dr. Kenneth Alban, Dale Kretchman and others. Wanting to know even more, I ventured across the country to UC Davis and earned an M.S. in Vegetable Crops in 1979. I returned in the 1980s to get a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology studying the water relations of cantaloupe seed development for my research. While at Davis, I was a teaching assistant (TA) for Systematic Olericulture, World Vegetable Crops, and Vegetable Seed Production and Physiology and was fortunate to be mentored by several notable scientists: M. Allen Stevens, Kent J. Bradford, Vince E. Rubatzky, Mas Yamaguchi, Oscar A. Lorenz, Jim Harrington, Ron Voss and many others. The book World Vegetables: Principles, Production and Nutritive Values is based on the syllabus used by Mas Yamaguchi to teach the World Vegetable Crops class that I once TAed. This book updates and references portions of Vince and Mas’s outstanding text. This book is based on the class Horticulture 4764 at Virginia Tech that I have taught since 1992. I developed an online version of this course that has been taught as an asynchronous web-based course since 1999. In the book, I have tried to share my own personal knowledge of vegetables through my experiences as a grower, farm owner, international agriculturist and scientist whenever possible. The book is intended to have global appeal for use outside North America with pictures and discussions of various aspects of vegetable production from many different states and countries based on my international experiences in Canada, China, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Israel, India, Germany and Greece. Both US and metric units are provided throughout. In some instances, units have been rounded to give a practical rather than an exact conversion. For example, for a measurement of stake height or bed width of 1.8 m, the exact conversion is 5 ft 11 in. However, a stake or bed would be sold or constructed to a measurement of 6 ft for practical purposes. I have wanted to covert my teaching website to a book for several years and a sabbatical in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis allowed me finally to do so. The book consists of 22 chapters. The first nine chapters cover general background information that applies to all vegetable crops. I have included chapters about particularly timely topics such as vegetable safety, where the causes of biological contamination are discussed. The chapter on seeds and stand establishment includes a section on the genetic improvement of vegetables to dispel the common notion that genetic modification is a new phenomenon. The chapter entitled Organic and Sustainable Vegetable Production provides a brief history of the organic movement and how it may evolve in the future. This book is not intended to advocate for either conventional or organic production. I have described plant requirements for growth and development and described some of the more serious crop pests. Examples are given of how both methods could be used for production to let the reader decide which approach may be best suited. The chapter on protected culture covers the many ways vegetables can be grown out of season or in optimized environments. The chapter on Fertilization and Mineral Nutrition Requirements for Growing Vegetables takes a somewhat unique approach of using basic plant physiology to educate readers about how plants use minerals to grow and develop. The tillage and cropping systems chapter describes intensive monoculture systems but provides alternatives that may work better in certain situations. Chapters 10–22 cover many of the important vegetable crops of the world in detail. In addition to tomato, potato and lettuce, a discussion of several less traditional vegetables like rhubarb, horseradish and mushrooms is provided to broaden knowledge and add perspective. To add context to crop production, chapters on specific vegetables contain a brief history of the crop, basic botanical information, human nutritional information and descriptions of diverse types and cultivars. Also included is fundamental information on germination, establishment, fertilization, crop management, crop pests, the status of transgenic crops, harvesting and recommendations for postharvest handling. This allows the book to be used as a reference by home gardeners, food industry professionals and vegetable producers. Creating this book was frustrating because time and space do not allow discussion of all topics and pictures that I had hoped to include.
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