Ooty 1, Crimson Globe, Detroit Dark Red and Red Ball are the popular varieties.

1) Soil
It comes up well in all types of friable soils. The suitable soil pH is 6.0-7.0. It is considered to be a cool weather crop.

2) Season
It is planted during July – August.

3) Sowing
Sow the seeds directly in ridges at a spacing of 10 cm.

4) Seed Rate
About 6 kg seeds are required for a hectare.

5)Drip Irrigation
Install the drip system with main and sub main pipes and place the inline lateral tubes at an interval of 1.5 m. Place the drippers in lateral tubes at an interval of 60 cm and 50cm spacing with 4 LPH and 3.5 LPH capacities respectively. Form the raised beds at 120 cm width at an interval of 30cm and place the laterals at the centre of each bed.

6) Preparation of field
The land is ploughed to a fine tilth and ridges and furrows are formed at 30 cm apart.

7) Spacing
30 x30 x10 cm as four rows in each paired row / raised bed system.

8) Irrigation
Irrigate the field copiously immediately after sowing and afterwards as and when necessary.

Cercospora leaf spot
Cercospora leaf spot and flea beetle can be controlled by spraying Mancozeb at 2 g/lit.

Rhizoctonia root rot
Rhizoctonia root rot can be controlled by spot drenching with Carbendazim at 1 g/lit.