1. Spinach

2. Spinach Composition Botanical Name : Spinacea oleracea L.
Origin : Central Asia
Family : Umbelliferae
Chromosome no.: 2n=12
Composition
Moisture- 92.1%
Vit. C- 28mg
P- 21mg
Protein- 2.0g
Vit. A IU
Fe mg
Minerals- 1.7g
Mg- 84mg
Thiamine- 0.03mg
Ca- 73mg
Oxalic acid- 658mg
CHO- 2.9g

3. Importance
Normally consumed as cooked vegetable and sometimes as a salad in company with lettuce and other vegetables.
Not commercially grown in India except hilly areas.
It ranks next to broccoli in total nutrient concentration among vegetable crops.
Rich source of vitamin A, Fe, Ca
Also contains appreciable quantity of ascorbic acid, riboflavin and small quantity of thiamine.
Ca is unavailable since it unites with oxalic acid to form calcium oxalate.

4. On basis of leaf character
Cultivars
Classification
Smooth
Savoyed
On basis of seeds
On basis of leaf character
Two groups:
Prickly seeded
Round seeded
Two groups:
Smooth leaved
Savoy leaved
Early smooth leaf Virginia Savoy

5. Cultivars suitable for growing in Himachal Pradesh1.
Virginia Savoy
Prickly seeded cultivar having blistered large dark green leaves with round tips. Plants are upright and vigorous in growth, average yield q/ha 2.
Long Standing
Dark green thick leaves triangular in shape with a pointed apex, slow in growth, average yield q/ha

6. Plant growth and development
Spinach is an annual.
Plants are usually dioecious
some monoecious plants may develop rarely in certain cultivars.
Dioecious types produces two different kinds of male plants:
Extreme males: small with very little vegetative development and tend to bolt quickly.
Vegetative males and females: slower to flower and produces considerably more foliage, making them the preferred plants type for commercial cultivation.
Eliminate the extreme males from commercial strains by selection.

7. Stages of Plant Development
1. Vegetative stage or rosette stage
Single stem with extremely short internodes
Leaves may be smooth or savoyed, arise in a whorl around the stem forming a rosette of foliage
2. Reproductive stage
Initiated by the elongation of stem which breaks apart the rosette and forms a branching flower seed stalk.
Spinach is a long day plant with critical day length ranging from hours.
The change from vegetative to reproductive growth is conditioned by temperature and is usually accelerated by exposure to cold temperature followed by high temperature.
Once the critical photoperiod is reached, spinach will go to seed rapidly with increasing photoperiod and warm temperature.

8. Soil
Same as beet leaf.
This crop is susceptible to injury by high acidity
Climate
A hardy, cool season crop that does best at temperature of 60-65oF.
Withstands hard frost and temperature as low as 20oF, but the growth is depressed below 35oF.
The plant is very intolerant of warm temperature above 77oF which in combination with long days causes plants to bolt, quickly destroying market value.
Good seed germination at oC (50-60oF) and decreases at higher temperature.
It is a long day crop.

9. AGRONOMIC PRACTICES

10. Sowing time N.I. Plains September-October Low Hills October-November
Mid Hills
High Hills
April-July

11. (Thinning is done to maintain the spacing within the rows)
Seed Rate
37-45 kg/ha
Soil preparation
The soil should be thoroughly pulverized so as to obtain fine tilth for getting the best crop
Spacing
30cm X 5-10cm
(Thinning is done to maintain the spacing within the rows)

12. Manures and fertilizers
Recommended dose
FYM N
P2O5
K2 O
(q/ha)
(Kg/ha)
Open pollinated varieties
100 70 50 30
Full dose of farmyard manure, P, K and half N should be applied at the time of sowing.
Remaining part of N should be top dressed in 2 equal installments at an interval of one month each.

13. Interculture and weed control
To keep away the weeds from the field and to loosen the soil for proper aeration, 2-3 hoeings cum weedings are required.
Irrigation
A pre-sowing irrigation is to be given to help the seeds absorb moisture and germinate properly.
The crop requires irrigation at about days interval.

14. Harvesting
The crop will be ready for harvest about 4 weeks after sowing.
It gives about 3-4 cuttings in the season.
Harvesting by hand gave higher yield than mowing.
A plant with seed stalk is considered unmarketable.
Yield
100 q/ha

15. Diseases Insects Damping off
Leaf spot: spray 0.2% Blitox at 15 days interval
White rust:
Downy mildew: 0.2% Dithane-M-45
Insects
Aphids: Spray oxy demeton 0.025% or
Catterpiller: Spray or or