إنتاج الخضروات

Vegetable Production

• Definition of Vegetables: Herbaceous plants, mostly annuals, some biennials, and a few perennials like asparagus, potatoes, eggplants, and tomatoes. Used for food, including leaves, roots, flowers, stems, fruits, and seeds. Require specific care during cultivation, processing, handling, and storage. Grown in specific areas and require significant capital investment.

• Difference from Field Crops: Field crops require processing before human consumption, cover large areas, need little care, and are easily stored for long periods. Fruits are trees and shrubs, while vegetables are herbaceous plants.

• Overlap with Field Crops: Some crops can be either vegetables or field crops depending on the purpose of cultivation. For example, beans are vegetables when grown for green pods and field crops when grown for dry seeds. Onions, grown extensively, are a field crop, while those grown in limited quantities are vegetables.

• Olericulture: A branch of horticulture.

• Origin/Habitat: The location where plants first developed and naturally multiplied; example: China (onions, turnips), India (gourds, cucumbers).

Purpose of Vegetable Cultivation

• Home gardening
• Local marketing
• Specialized cultivation (export or local)
• Industrial processing
• Seed/seedling production
• Protected cultivation for higher profits during off-seasons

Nutritional and Medicinal Importance of Vegetables

• Provide essential nutrients
• Aid digestion and prevent constipation (especially fiber-rich leafy and root vegetables)
• Balance acidity from animal-derived foods and blood acidity from animal protein; help dissolve mineral deposits in blood vessels, preventing hardening.
• Low in fat—does not cause obesity—except for legumes and potatoes (high in carbohydrates).
• Inexpensive source of plant protein (legumes) and carbohydrates (potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, gourds)
• Certain vegetables act as anticancer agents.

Additional Nutritional Content

• High in antioxidants and vitamins (e.g., beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, tocopherol, glutathione).
• High in fiber.
• High in flavonoids.
• Reduce blood fat.
• Used in medicines (e.g., blood pressure, heart disease).

Examples of Vegetables Containing Specific Nutrients:

• Carbohydrates: Gourds, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes
• Fats: All ripe legume seeds
• Vitamin A: Carrots, squash, bell peppers
• Vitamin C: Tomatoes, parsley

Vegetable Classification

• Temperature Requirements:
• Cool Season Vegetables: Prefer cool, moist climates. Seed germination range: 4°C - 32°C. Optimal temperatures for growth: 10°C - 25°C.
• Warm Season Vegetables: Prefer warm climates. Seed germination range: 12°C - 38°C. Optimal temperatures for growth: 25°C - 30°C; daytime: 25°C, nighttime: 18°C.
• Planting Time:
• Winter Vegetables: Planted late summer/early autumn, harvested during winter (e.g., leafy vegetables, onions, leeks).
• Spring Vegetables: Planted autumn (October/November), harvested spring (e.g., basil).
• Summer Vegetables: Planted spring (after frost danger), harvested during summer (e.g., cucumbers, watermelons, corn).
• Autumn Vegetables: Planted summer (July/August) harvested autumn (e.g., cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes).
• Botanical Classification: Grouping by appearance, structure, and flowering for understanding genetic relationships. Advantages: establishing genetic similarities, enabling crop processing, determining suitable cultivation practices. Disadvantages include variations within plant families regarding needs (e.g., legumes, solanaceae—fruits vs. tubers in tomatoes and peppers vs. potatoes).

Botanical Classification Example for Tomatoes:

• Kingdom: Plantae
• Class: Spermatophyta
• Division: Angiospermae
• Order: Solanales
• Family: Solanaceae
• Genus: Solanum
• Species: Lycopersicon

Vegetable Classification (Continued)

• Part of the Plant Used:

• Leaves

• Roots

• Stems

• Flowers

• Fruits

• Seeds

• Types of Vegetable Farms:

• Home gardens

• Local markets

• Distant markets

• Processing farms

• Optimum Soil Type: Fertile, well-drained, well-aerated, free of salts and weeds; suitable pH of 5-7.

• Storage Conditions: Winter vegetables: 0°C, 95% humidity; Summer vegetables: 5-10°C, 90% humidity.

• Harvesting: Factors influence ripeness: type of crop, variety, weather, marketing, and shipping methods. Criteria for harvesting: ripeness characteristics of fruits, vegetables (maturity signs of roots, leaves, and stems), etc.

تستعرض هذه الاختبارات مفهوم الخضروات والاختلاف بينها وبين المحاصيل الحقلية. تشمل المناقشة العناية الخاصة خلال الزراعة والمعالجة والتخزين. كما تناقش موضوع الأليوركولتر والفروق بين المحاصيل المختلفة.