Horticulture: Vegetable Crops (Volume II) - Instructional-Cum-Practical Manual

Abstract

Vegetables are one of the important items of human diet. Their importance is all the more in a country like India where the population pressure is very high and at the same time majority of the people are vegetarian. Commercializing vegetables production can play a great role in meeting the shortage of food, particularly by the turn of the century when many more mouths will be required to be fed from the limited land resources. Vegetables being short duration crops, can produce more nutritious food per unit area in a year and thus, can provide better protection to the rising population. Vegetables contain proteins, vitamins and minerals like calcium, iron, phosphorus etc., besides large quantities of fiber which facilitates the movement of food in the digestive tract, neutralizes acidity and improves digestion. Vegetables can thus, help in bringing up persons of healthy body and mind.