Pant Gobhi 3
From Pantnagar — an early-season release that curds in the autumn heat, before Pusa Snowball K-1 would set a usable head.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Cauliflower
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Kharif
- Maturity period
- 70–80 days from transplanting
- Seed rate
- 500 g per acre for the early group, against 250 g per acre for main and late season varieties
- Expected yield
- 120–150 q/ha
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- pH
- 6.0–7.0
- Disease resistance
- No built-in resistance — watch for black rot
- Release
- Released by GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The exact notification year was not found
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Pant Gobhi 3 is GBPUAT Pantnagar's early-season ("katki" group) cauliflower — bred as a synthetic variety combining eight inbred lines so it curds in the autumn heat, well before snowball types like Pusa Snowball K-1 would set a usable head. A university agronomy lecture and a farming-guide site both describe the same breeding method, hemispherical creamy-white curds and October harvest window.
Should you pick this variety?
Pick Pant Gobhi 3 if your October is still warm and a snowball variety would give you a loose, useless head. GBPUAT Pantnagar bred it as a synthetic of eight katki-group inbred lines precisely so it curds in that heat, giving hemispherical, creamy-white, non-ricey curds at 120–150 q/ha in 70–80 days from transplanting, recommended for Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. The semi-erect, open plant takes close kharif spacing. It has no built-in disease resistance, so watch for black rot. Choose Early Kunwari or Pusa Meghna for an even earlier cut, and Pusa Snowball K-1 once the weather turns properly cold.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeJune–July transplanting for an early-season cauliflower (PAU)
- Seed rate500 g per acre for the early group, against 250 g per acre for main and late season varieties
- Spacing45 x 30 cm
- Sowing methodProtect the nursery beds from sun stroke with a thatch and keep them watered — an early crop is raised in the hottest part of the year. Transplant in the afternoon into moist soil
- IrrigationWater immediately after transplanting, then at 7–8 days in summer and 10–15 days in winter, 8–12 times in all (PAU)
- FertilizerPer acre: 40 t farmyard manure, 50 kg N, 25 kg P2O5 and 25 kg K2O, half the nitrogen top-dressed four weeks after transplanting (PAU)
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Curds reliably in autumn heat when few other cauliflower varieties can
- Semi-erect, open plant habit suited to close kharif-season spacing
- Hemispherical, creamy-white curds that stay non-ricey (not grainy) at harvest, per sourced descriptions
Things to consider
- Some write-ups report around 110 days to curd development, against the 70–80 days (from transplanting) shown above. This most likely reflects total days counted from nursery sowing rather than from transplanting (a roughly 30-day nursery period would reconcile the two), but this is a plausible reading, not a confirmed one.
- Reported yield (100–125 q/ha) runs a touch below the 120–150 q/ha shown above, within a normal range across sources.
- No primary GBPUAT or ICAR page could be found, so the parentage and duration facts above rest on two independent secondary sources.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Uttarakhand
- Uttar Pradesh
Black rot: the disease of a warm, wet cauliflower crop
Pant Gobhi 3 curds in the autumn heat, before a snowball type could set a usable head, and that early slot comes with warm, humid weather — exactly what black rot likes. The variety carries no built-in resistance, so this is the problem to plan for.
Look for V-shaped yellow-brown patches at the leaf margin, drying inward, with dark veins. The bacterium travels on seed, in splashing water and on your hands and tools. So start with clean, treated seed from a reliable source, and raise the nursery away from old crucifer land. Do not work the crop when the leaves are wet, and remove and carry out affected plants. Where it has appeared, rotate away from cauliflower, cabbage, mustard and radish for a couple of seasons. Ask your KVK what spray is advised locally; no spray fixes a crop that is already full of it, so the field hygiene is the real control.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Cauliflower variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Kunwari | The first cauliflower of the season, cut mid-September to mid-October | 60–75 days (after transplant) | Medium | Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi |
| Pant Gobhi 3this page | Curding in the autumn heat, when snowball types cannot | 70–80 days from transplanting | 120–150 q/ha | Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh |
| Pant Shubhra | The December–January window, with curds that keep their colour | 75–90 days | Medium–high | Uttarakhand |
| Pusa Meghna | A well-known early cauliflower for September–October curding | 60–75 days (after transplant) | 170–180 q/ha | Uttar Pradesh |
| Pusa Sharad | The November–December window at the highest yield here | About 80–85 days after transplanting | 240–260 q/ha | Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, West Bengal |
| Pusa Snowball K-1 | Snow-white winter curds that hold colour if harvest slips | 90–100 days from transplanting | 150–200 q/ha | Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar |
| Snowball-16 | The latest window, harvested January to March | 95–110 days | High | Punjab |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Cauliflower is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Cauliflower plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Cauliflower variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Cauliflower into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Cauliflower in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Cauliflower rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Cauliflower seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
What does "synthetic variety" mean for Pant Gobhi 3?
It means Pant Gobhi 3 was bred by combining eight separate inbred lines of the katki (early-autumn) cauliflower group, rather than crossing just two parent lines — a breeding method used to widen genetic diversity while keeping the early-maturity trait.
Why does the reported maturity time for Pant Gobhi 3 vary between sources?
The figure above is 70–80 days from transplanting, while some write-ups report about 110 days to curd development, likely because those figures are counted from nursery sowing rather than from the transplanting date.
Why does a snowball cauliflower fail in warm weather?
Snowball types need a real cold spell to form a tight white curd; in warm weather they either stay leafy or throw a loose, ricey head that the market rejects. Early-group varieties like Pant Gobhi 3 were selected to curd at higher temperatures, which is the whole reason the early group exists.
Can I save seed from Pant Gobhi 3?
Not reliably. It is a synthetic variety made by combining eight inbred lines, so seed taken from your field drifts away from that balance and the crop becomes uneven in curding date and quality. Buy fresh certified seed, which is also where the early-curding trait is maintained.
Why do some sources say 110 days for Pant Gobhi 3?
Because they are probably counting from nursery sowing, not from transplanting. A nursery of about 30 days plus the 70–80 days shown here lands close to 110. When you compare varieties, check which date the count starts from.
When should I transplant Pant Gobhi 3, and at what spacing?
June–July transplanting for an early-season crop (PAU), at 45 x 30 cm. Transplant in the evening and water the same day. A seedling put out at midday in June loses a week recovering, and an early cauliflower has no week to spare.
What yield does Pant Gobhi 3 give?
120–150 q/ha in 70–80 days from transplanting. That is modest next to a main-season variety such as Pusa Sharad at 240–260 q/ha, and the reason to grow it anyway is the date: it gives curd when the snowball types cannot.
Sourced from: Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops, Punjab Agricultural University: cauliflower season-wise transplanting and seed rate, spacing, nursery care, fertiliser and irrigation. editorial policy.