After capsicum, it's time for yellow, purple cauliflower

Parveen Arora

Karnal, January 3

After producing coloured capsicum, the Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence for Vegetables in Gharaunda successfully cultivated coloured cauliflower. The centre has produced cauliflower in purple and yellow colours.

Rich in Anti-oxidants, Vitamin A

The nutritional value of the coloured cauliflower is very high, due to which it is in high demand. The coloured cauliflower varieties have more anti-oxidants and vitamin A as compared to the conventional cauliflower. — Dr Sudhir Kumar Yadav, Deputy Director of Horticulture

As per experts of the centre, the seed has the genetic property of colour. Now, several multinational companies have developed seeds for producing coloured cauliflower, but the centre has cultivated the coloured cauliflower for demonstration.

“We have cultivated these cauliflower for demonstration purposes, which has been successful. Now, farmers can grow the cauliflower across the state. We are providing training to them,” said Dr Sudhir Kumar Yadav, Deputy Director of Horticulture and in-charge of the centre.

Earlier, the centre had started the production of coloured capsicums and now the farmers are cultivating it in large areas and getting good returns, he added. Dr Ajay Chauhan, the subject matter specialist of the centre, said farming of colourful cauliflower could be a good business for the farmers due to its high nutritional value. The coloured cauliflower are in high demand in most metro cities due to its uniqueness of colour and its nutrients. This is a profitable business for the farmers. He further said the farmers could get seedlings from the centre and also training to cultivate the vegetable.