Colourful Cauliflowers are in the news since Pioneer and Kalinga reports about Ramachandra Sahu, Harekrushna Sahu, and one Uttam Kumar Sahu (who works as Village Agriculture Worker in Bonei) in Bonei subdivision of Sundargarh district who has been growing color cauliflower this winter. They procured seeds from Bhubaneswar and had made a nursery three months ago.
After about four hundred seedlings came out from the seed, they had planted them in their field. They followed Organic methods of Cultivation and applied cow manure fertilizer and goat manure to the seedlings.
Ramachandra, Harekrushna, and Uttam are from one family and they are natives of Talita village under Bonei block. They are very interested in cultivating these kinds of improved varieties and they cultivated Broccoli last year and were successful. This year about 7,000 cauliflowers were developed and they were two types of colors, yellow and purple. There are reports that the family is also taking the colorful cauliflowers to Bonei weekly haat and selling them at Rs.100 per kg.
Winter is the main season for cultivating cauliflowers. White-headed varieties are predominantly grown but other colors of heads like purple, orange, and green also exist. Berkeley wellness reports about the colorful varieties and their peculiarities.
Orange Cauliflower is also known as Cheddar Cauliflower and the color is due to a genetic mutation and holds more beta carotene than the usual ones. Orange Color is a mutation that occurred in a cauliflower field in Canada. Purple cauliflower was first released in the late 20th century.
Purple cauliflower is referred to as Sicilian Violet, Violet Queen, or Graffiti Cauliflower, and Anthocyanins and phytochemicals are responsible for purple cauliflower’s vibrant hue. Green Colored one is a hybrid of Cauliflower and Broccoli. There are two variants available one is shaped like a regular cauliflower and the other is conical spiraling clusters of florets. They have more beta carotene than the orange one.
References: Berkeley Wellness, Pioneer
Images Courtesy: Kalinga TV
