Cabbage seedlings have a thin taproot and cordate (heart-shaped) cotyledon. The first leaves produced are ovate (egg-shaped) with a lobed petiole. Plants are 40-60 cm (16-24 in) tall in their first year at the mature vegetative stage, and 1.5-2.0 m (4.9-6.6 ft) tall when flowering in the second year. Heads average between 0.5 and 4 kg (1 and 8 lb), with fast-growing, earlier-maturing varieties producing smaller heads. Most cabbages have thick, alternating leaves, with margins that range from wavy or lobed to highly dissected; some varieties have a waxy bloom on the leaves

BOTANICAL NAME: Brassica oleracea var. capitata FAMILY: Brassicaceae

ORIGIN: Western Europe

TOTAL AREA IN INDIA: 433 Th Ha (2022-23).

TOTAL PRODUCTION IN INDIA: 10049 Th MT (2022-23).

MAJOR PRODUCING STATES: Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, and Maharashtra & Karnataka.

VARIETIES: The varieties of cabbage are Golden Acre, Pusa Mukta, Pusa Drumhead, K-1 etc.

STORAGE: After harvesting and grading the heads are immediately dispatched to nearby markets. Cabbage should be handled carefully from field to storage and only solid heads with no yellowing, decay or mechanical injuries should be stored. Before storage all the loose leaves should be trimmed away leaving heads with 3-6 tight wrapper leaves. For storage upto 3-6 weeks, the O optimum temperature of storing early harvested crop is 0 C with a relative humidity of 98% while O the late harvested crop is stored at 0 C with 95% relative humidity. Late cabbage can be stored for O 7-8 months at controlled atmosphere at 0 C with 2.5-3% O and 5% CO .

HARVESTING: Dec-March

EXPORT (2018-19): India exported 354.31 MT cabbage of 131.07 US$ Th.

MAJOR EXPORT DESTINATIONS OF cabbage - Mauritius, U Arab Emts , Bhutan, Bangladesh and Maldives