Unlocking the Profit Potential of Celery Farming in India

Table of Contents

• An Overview of Celery
• Popular Varieties of Celery
• Uses of Celery
• Steps for Celery Cultivation
• • Climate and Soil Requirements
  • Land Preparation
  • Nursery Management
  • Planting
  • Irrigation & Fertilizer application
  • Disease and pest control
  • Weed Control
  • Harvesting 
  • Post-harvest management- Oil Exaction
• Tips to have a healthy Celery Crop

An Overview of Celery

Apium graveolens is the botanical name of celery. This versatile, low-calorie vegetable is used raw in salads and snacks, or cooked in soups, stews, and stir-fries. It is rich in vitamins K and folate, supporting bone and heart health. The leaves of celery add peppery flavour to dishes, while its seeds are used as a seasoning. It is not just a vegetable. It has medical properties that work like magic. It is used to treat joint pain, headaches, weight loss, nervousness, blood purification, gout, and more.

Popular Varieties of Celery

There are various types of celery plants that grow worldwide. Celery is primarily cultivated as an annual seed spice, with key high-yielding varieties including Punjab Celery 1, RRL-85-1, Standard Bearer, Wright Grove Giant, Fordhook Emperor, and Giant Pascal. Also, the most popular variety of celery in India is Ooty–1.

Uses of Celery

Celery is not an ordinary vegetable. Its young leaves and stems contain minerals, vitamins, and protein. It also offers many medical benefits. Additionally, celery oil has a pleasant fragrance that supports effective brain function. It is also the best medicine for rheumatoid arthritis.

Steps for Celery Cultivation

Celery cultivation involves various steps, including climate and soil requirements, land preparation, Nursery Management, and more. Remember that the plant grows in rich, moist soil with plenty of organic matter. You must ensure consistent moisture, full sun, and regular fertilization for a successful celery crop. So, let’s check out the celery cultivation process in detail:

Climate and Soil Requirements

Celery is a winter (rabi) crop, which requires cool nights and warm days, plenty of sunshine, and low humidity. The crop thrives well on silt loam to loamy soil with moderate organic matter, and the soil drains well. This crop requires 12-30°C temperature, 100 cm rainfall, 25-30°C sowing temperature, and 12-18°C harvesting temperature.

Land Preparation

To prepare a land for a celery plantation, you must ensure that the land is well levelled and pulverized. To bring the soil to a good level, 4-5 ploughings should be done, followed by planking. And, the transplantation of celery is done on prepared nursery beds.

Nursery Management

Before sowing, you need to apply a mixture of calcium ammonium nitrate and single superphosphate at 150 g on the raised beds. Now sow the seeds in raised beds measuring 8 m x 1.25 m of a convenient width. Once sowing is complete, cover the seed beds with FYM, mix it well into the soil, and immediately water with a sprinkler.

The germination of the seed takes place in 12-15 days, then application of calcium ammonium nitrate at fortnight to each bed is necessary. Moreover, to achieve good plant size, calcium ammonium nitrate @100g is applied to each bed every 1 month.

Planting

The ideal time to sow celery is mid-September to mid-October. Regarding spacing, the transplants are spaced 45 cm x 25 cm. The sowing depth must be 2-4 cm. For the sowing method, transplanting is done 60-70 days after sowing, and the seed rate for open-pollinated varieties is 400 gm/acre. After sowing, seedlings are ready for transplantation in 60-70 days.

Irrigation & Fertilizer application

Now, it's time for irrigation. You must not forget light irrigation even before transplanting, so that seedlings can be uprooted and remain turgid at transplanting time. Usually, the transplant takes place in mid-November and at the end of December. For good growth, celery requires too much water. Frequent but light irrigations are required for celery, especially after nitrogen application.

At the time of land preparation, apply well-rotted FYM or compost at 15 cartloads/acre and mix it well into the soil. Apply Nitrogen@40 kg, Phosphorus@16 kg in the form of Urea@90 kg, SSP@35 kg/acre. At the time of transplanting, a full dose of phosphorus and half a dose of Nitrogen are given. Apply one-fourth of the Nitrogen dose 45 days after transplanting and then apply the remaining dose 75 days after transplanting.

Disease and pest control

Do you know that plants can also get infected, and that Celery Mosaic Virus is generally transmitted to other plants by aphids? The symptoms are vein clearing, vein mottling, leaves curling and twisting, and stunted growth. To curse-spray Rogor30 EC @ 3ml/ltr or Acephate @ 6-8gm/ltr in water, do it at the time of flowering to get rid of celery mosaic virus.

Weed Control

As you know, when you are growing a successful crop, some unwanted plants also grow along with your crop, which can reduce crop yields and compete for resources like nutrients, water, and sunlight to the main crop. That is why weed control is a must process, and for celery, do hand weeding and light hoeing. Hence, Mulching and the application of Linuron @ 6 kg/acre can be effective for weed control.

Harvesting

After sowing, harvesting is done 4-5 months later, and plants are cut just above ground with a sharp knife. Seed harvesting is mainly done when most seeds in the umbel turn light brown. Remember that immediate harvesting is required, as delays result in seed loss.

Post-harvest management- Oil Extraction

After harvesting and trimming, the celery is stored in cellars, trenches, or cold storage facilities to increase shelf life. The sun-dried product is threshed to obtain the seeds, which are then cleaned by winnowing. The Prolonged exposure to the sun can cause the skin to lose oil. The storage life of the seeds is 1-3 years with no major loss in quality. The Essential oil, with a high concentration of limonene (60%) along with other components, is obtained by steam distillation for 10-12 hours after sprinkling the freshly crushed seeds over perforated grids. The oil is kept in an airtight container in cool, dark, dry places. Only a few firms are involved in exports due to the low-margin trade.

Tips to have a healthy Celery Crop

To grow a healthy celery crop, you must follow some simple steps that can give you a successful crop. Check out some of the following tips that you can use to get the best results:

• Prevent the crop from diseases, Damping-off, Downy mildew, Early blight, Fusarium yellows, Pest, Carrot weevil, and Aphids. If you see any symptoms, take action and treat the crop immediately.
• Celery is 95% water and requires consistent moisture to avoid stringy stalks. Water deeply 1-2 inches per week.
• Soil, planting, climate, season, land preparation, and fertilization are some of the basic steps that you need to take care of to have a good quality crop.