Methods of Cultivate Indian Spinach

Indian Spinach is a principal summer leafy vegetable in Bangladesh. But it is available throughout the year. This vegetable is rich in vitamin A, calcium and magnesium. This vegetable is generally found to grow on the fences of households or on matcha.

Varieties of Indian spinach: Indian spinach has two cultivated varieties. These are:

1. Red Indian Spinach: Leaves and stems are reddish. 
2. Green Indian Spinach: Leaves and stems are green.

Besides, there are two varieties developed by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute. Such as- BARRI- 1 and BARI-2.

Land Preparation: Generally March-April or Chaitra is suitable for time for planting Indian spinach. But if irrigation facilities are prevailed, it can be planted from Falgun. Land should be made well pulverized by ploughing and laddering before transplanting seedling. Fertile sandy-loam or loamy soils are suitable for cultivating this leafy vegetable.

Fertilizer Application: It is better to apply cow dung or compost in Indian spinach cultivation. Thus soil properties can be maintained and environment can be conserved. In Indian spinach, per decimal or 40 square meter of land requires fertilizers as follows:

Name of fertilizer	Per decimal
Cow dung	40 kg
Urea	1 kg
TSP	500 gm
MP	500 gm

Rules for Fertilizer Application:

1. All fertilizers except urea should be applied during final ploughing. But it is better to applied cow dung at earlier ploughing.
2. Urea fertilizer should be applied in 2-3 installments starting from 8-10 days after seedling emergence by 10-12 day's intervals.

Seed Sowing Seedling Transplanting: Seeds of Indian spinach should be sown in the month of March�April. It can be cultivated by seed and branch cutting. But it is better to cultivate Indian spinach by raising seedlings by seed and transplanting the seedlings. Indian spinach should be transplanted maintaining distances between lines 60- 80 cm and between seedlings in lines 50 cm. In rainy season, some vines of Indian spinach can be cut and planted in soil.

Cultural Operations:

Land should be kept weed free with help of nirani. Regular irrigation should be supplied during drought. Soil should be made loose by breaking crust with the help of nirani after irrigation. Care should be taken not to stagnant water.

Harmful Insects: Among the harmful insects of this leafy vegetable, the remarkable one is semilooper. This insect harm by eating leaves and young twigs of the plants.

Crop Harvesting and Yield: When the twigs of Indian spinach started to become long, the twigs should be cut and collected. This facilitates the development of new twigs. The crop can be harvested by cutting new twigs several times. If cultivated properly, Indian spinach can yield 130-150 kg per decimal area.