Pusa Kanchan
An IARI turnip selected from a cross of Local Red Round (Asiatic) and Golden Ball (European): red skin, creamy-yellow flesh of excellent flavour, and roots that stay longer in the field before turning spongy.
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
- About 25 t/ha (250 quintals) in course notes
- 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 Kanchan is an ICAR-IARI turnip selected from a cross between Local Red Round (Asiatic) and Golden Ball (European), according to the TNAU lecture note. The roots look like the red local parent: red skin and creamy-yellow flesh with excellent flavour (NHB), and a shorter leaf top. It is ready about 10 days after the local parent, and the roots can stay longer in the field without turning spongy. A course deck gives an early 1960s release, 55 to 60 days, about 250 quintals a hectare and sowing from September to mid-October in the plains; it also says the variety sets seed on the plains. It is red-skinned, not white, so check what your market buys.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Pusa Kanchan if your buyers like a red-skinned turnip with creamy-yellow flesh and you cannot always harvest on the day. TNAU describes it as a selection from a cross of Local Red Round (Asiatic) and Golden Ball (European). Roots look like the red local parent, flavour is excellent, the leaf top is shorter, it is ready about 10 days later than the local parent, and roots stay longer in the field without turning spongy. A course deck gives 55 to 60 days, about 250 quintals a hectare, sowing from September to mid-October and an early 1960s release. Choose Pusa Sweti or Chandrima instead if you want white.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeSeptember in the northern plains — slightly later than the fastest desi types
- Seed rate2–3 kg an acre (about 5–7.5 kg/ha) per the PAU package; thin early to the spacing below
- SpacingRows 30–35 cm apart; plants thinned to 8–10 cm apart in the row
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Red skin and creamy-yellow flesh of excellent flavour (NHB, TNAU).
- Roots stay in the field longer than the local red parent before turning spongy (TNAU).
- A course deck says it sets seed on the plains.
Things to consider
- Ready about 10 days after the local red parent, so it ties up the plot a little longer than the quickest desi types.
- Red-skinned, so it will not suit a market that buys only white turnips.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Uttar Pradesh
- Bihar
- Punjab
- Haryana
- Delhi
Harvesting Kanchan and holding it: what TNAU says
TNAU's lecture note gives the rules that apply to any turnip, and Kanchan's slow-to-go-spongy habit gives a little slack within them. Pull roots at 5 to 10 cm across, depending on the variety; they turn tough and fibrous if you wait. Harvest in the evening, wash off the soil, trim the side roots and sort by colour, shape and size. Roots keep 2 to 3 days in cool, moist conditions and 8 to 16 weeks at 0 degrees C with 90 to 95% relative humidity.
Grade by colour, shape and size as TNAU advises; for a red-skinned turnip, keep roots with green or cracked patches apart from the clean red ones. Sell the evenly sized roots first. Because Kanchan is ready about 10 days later than the local red parent (TNAU), count the days from your own sowing date and start checking size from about day 50, since a course deck gives 55 to 60 days.
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 Chandrima | 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 Kanchanthis page | 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
What colour is Pusa Kanchan inside and out?
Red skin and creamy-yellow flesh. NHB says the skin is red with creamy yellow flesh and excellent flavour and taste, and TNAU says the roots look just like the Local Red Round parent. So it is not a white turnip. If your market buys only white turnips, Kanchan will be harder to sell, and a Pusa Sweti type is the safer choice.
What does 'stays longer in the field without going spongy' mean for harvest?
It gives you a few extra days of margin, not weeks. TNAU says Kanchan is ready about 10 days after its local parent and its roots keep in the field longer before they turn spongy. The same TNAU note still says to pull at 5 to 10 cm across, because roots turn tough and fibrous if harvest is delayed. Do not leave it for convenience; use the extra margin only for a late market day.
Which traits come from which parent?
TNAU says Kanchan has good qualities of both: Local Red Round is the Asiatic parent for the plains, and Golden Ball is the European one. A course deck says yellow-fleshed turnips are slower to mature, hold more dry matter (8 to 9% against 7 to 8% for white-fleshed) and store better. That fits Kanchan's creamy-yellow flesh and field-holding, but those figures are for the two classes, not measured on Kanchan itself.
Can I save Pusa Kanchan seed on the plains?
A course deck says Pusa Kanchan produces seed in the plains, and TNAU says Asiatic turnips seed in the plains while European types seed only in the hills. Because Golden Ball is a parent, test a small plot first. Keep 1,000 to 1,600 m from other turnips, Chinese cabbage and mustard (TNAU), pick true-to-type red roots, and transplant at 45 x 35 cm in the plains. Seed from an open crop beside mustard will cross.
When should I sow Pusa Kanchan compared with Pusa Sweti?
A little later. A course deck gives September to mid-October for Kanchan, against August to September for Pusa Sweti in the same deck; PAU says desi turnips are best sown in August to September. Kanchan needs 55 to 60 days, so a mid-September sowing lets you pull in November. As with all turnips, hot soil pushes plants to bolt, so wait for the heat to break.
Sourced from: National Horticulture Board (NHB), turnip varieties sheet, TNAU eAgri, HORT281 lecture 29: Origin, area, production, varieties and package of practices for turnip, PAU, Package of Practices for Cultivation of Vegetables 2021 (radish and turnip chapter), Turnip course slide deck (early 1960s release, 55 to 60 days, 250 q/ha; secondary source), ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. editorial policy.