Pusa Chandrima
An IARI turnip with smooth, pure white, fine-grained roots that mature in 55 to 60 days; the TNAU note advises sowing from October to December in the plains.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Turnip (Shalgam)
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- 55–60 days
- Seed rate
- 2–3 kg an acre (about 5–7.5 kg/ha) per the PAU package; thin early to the spacing below
- Expected yield
- 30–40 t/ha as reported; no trial found
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No special resistance widely documented
- Release
- Released by ICAR-IARI, New Delhi
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Pusa Chandrima is a turnip released by ICAR-IARI, New Delhi. NHB describes an early maturing, high-yielding variety with smooth, pure white, fine-grained skin and sweet, tender flesh, ready 55 to 60 days after sowing. The TNAU lecture note gives medium to large roots, nearly flattened globe to globular in shape, an average yield of 400 quintals a hectare and sowing from October to December in the plains; a course deck says 1979 and 30 to 40 t/ha. It is white, not purple-topped, and the sources disagree on whether it is Asiatic or temperate, so plan a cool-weather sowing. We found no independent trial for it.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Pusa Chandrima for a bigger white root and a heavier crop than the quick desi types. NHB describes it as early maturing and high yielding, with smooth pure white skin, fine-grained, sweet and tender flesh, ready in 55 to 60 days. The TNAU eAgri lecture note gives medium to large roots, an average of 400 quintals a hectare and sowing from October to December; a course deck says 30 to 40 t/ha and a 1979 release. It is white, not purple-topped. Treat the 30 to 40 t/ha as the best case: we found no independent trial for it.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeOctober to December in the plains (TNAU lecture note)
- Seed rate2–3 kg an acre (about 5–7.5 kg/ha) per the PAU package; thin early to the spacing below
- SpacingRows 30 cm apart; plants thinned to 8–10 cm apart in the row
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Smooth, pure white, fine-grained root with sweet, tender flesh (NHB).
- Medium to large roots and a heavy-cropper claim of 400 quintals a hectare in the TNAU note, which is a claim, not a trial result.
Things to consider
- Takes 55 to 60 days, 10 days longer than Pusa Sweti.
- Sources disagree on whether it is Asiatic or temperate and on yield; sow with cooler weather and keep your own plot record.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Uttar Pradesh
- Bihar
- Delhi
Three descriptions of Pusa Chandrima, side by side
NHB: early maturing and high yielding; skin smooth, pure white and fine grained; flesh sweet and tender; ready in 55 to 60 days; listed under the Asiatic types. TNAU eAgri lecture note: roots medium to large, nearly flattened globe to globular, pure white skin; early maturing at 50 to 60 days; heavy cropper with an average yield of 400 quintals a hectare; sow from October to December in the plains. Course slide deck: released 1979; 30 to 40 t/ha; roots large, round to flattish, white; listed with the temperate types.
What holds across all three: a white, fine-grained, sweet root that takes about 55 to 60 days (50 at the least). What does not: the type, Asiatic or temperate, and the yield. Treat the sowing window of October to December as the safe one, and plan a yield you can live with if the true figure is lower than 40 t/ha. If your buyer wants a coloured top, Chandrima is the wrong turnip.
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 Turnip (Shalgam) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Ball | Farmers and kitchen gardeners in cool areas who want a yellow-fleshed turnip with fine flavour, not the quickest or the biggest root | 60–70 days | 20–25 t/ha in course notes | Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh |
| Punjab Safed-4 | Farmers in Punjab and Haryana who want a plain white early turnip and will ask the seller where the seed came from | Early maturing; days not published | No variety figure published | Punjab, Haryana |
| Purple Top White Globe | Hill farmers and late-sown plains farmers who want a large, firm globe turnip that keeps, and who can wait for real cold | 60–70 days | 25–30 t/ha | Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh |
| Pusa Chandrimathis page | Plains farmers who want a larger white turnip than Pusa Sweti and can wait 55 to 60 days for it | 55–60 days | 30–40 t/ha as reported; no trial found | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi |
| Pusa Kanchan | Farmers who want a red-skinned, creamy-yellow-fleshed turnip that can stand in the field a little longer without going spongy | 55–60 days | About 25 t/ha (250 quintals) in course notes | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi |
| Pusa Sweti | Plains farmers who want a quick, plain white desi turnip for the local fresh market and can match the sowing month to their own advice | 45–50 days | 20–30 t/ha | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana |
| Snowball | Farmers who want a quick, mild, near-white European turnip for a cool-season catch crop and will pull it young | 50–60 days | 25–30 t/ha in course notes | Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh |
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 Turnip (Shalgam) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Turnip (Shalgam) 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 Turnip (Shalgam) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Turnip (Shalgam) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Turnip (Shalgam) in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Turnip (Shalgam) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Turnip (Shalgam) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pusa Chandrima purple-topped or pure white?
Pure white. NHB says the skin is smooth, pure white and fine grained; the TNAU eAgri note says the skin is smooth, pure white with fine grains; a course deck calls the roots white with a pale outer skin. None of them mentions a purple top. Purple-topped globes are Purple Top White Globe and Early Milan Red Top. If a seller shows you a purple-topped root as Chandrima, ask which variety it really is.
Is it an Asiatic or a European turnip, and when do I sow it?
The sources do not agree. NHB lists it with the Asiatic types. TNAU says to sow it from October to December in the plains, which is the European window. A course deck puts it with the temperate types and says it suits temperate, sub-tropical and tropical north India. Plan on the cooler sowing, October to December, and do not assume it shrugs off August heat the way Pusa Sweti is said to. Sown into warm soil, a turnip bolts or gives tough roots.
Can I really expect 30 to 40 tonnes a hectare?
Only as a best case. The 400 quintals a hectare (40 t/ha) comes from the TNAU note and the 30 to 40 t/ha from a course deck; NHB gives no yield for it, and we found no independent trial. For scale, the Anand (middle Gujarat) trial got 392 quintals a hectare, 39 t/ha, from its best sowing date of 20 October across three varieties, and about 195 quintals from a 5 December sowing. Late sowing costs yield, so do not count on the top figure.
What do we know about its release year and parents?
Little that is checked. A course slide deck gives 1979 as the release year and says it suits temperate, sub-tropical and tropical north India. We found no IARI release notice, so we cannot confirm the year or the parentage, and we do not print a parentage here. The fields that matter to a grower, white skin, 55 to 60 days and a sowing from October, come from NHB and the TNAU lecture note.
Is Pusa Chandrima purple-topped or white, and how many days does it take?
NHB and the TNAU lecture note both give pure white skin, 55 to 60 days (NHB) or 50 to 60 days (TNAU), and an October to December sowing. Listings that call it purple-topped, ready in 45 to 55 days and sown in August do not match either source. If you grew it and saw something different, a local seed lot may be mislabelled or a different line.
Sourced from: National Horticulture Board (NHB), turnip varieties sheet, TNAU eAgri, HORT281 lecture 29: Origin, area, production, varieties and package of practices for turnip, Turnip course slide deck (1979 release and 30 to 40 t/ha; secondary source), Effect of sowing time and nitrogen on cultivars of turnip under middle Gujarat conditions, AAU Anand thesis abstract, KrishiKosh, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. editorial policy.