Successful Cultivation of Baby Corn

By:- Mahesh Kumar,  Tosh Garg and  Rumesh Ranjan

Maize is the third most important cereal crop in our country. It is widely raised for food, feed or industrial purpose. Maize is highly versatile with respect to its adaptability and economic use. At the vegetative stage, it can be used as nutritious green fodder; at silking, as baby corn, a nutritious vegetable; at maturity, as a grain crop. Baby corn is a young finger-like unfertilized cob of maize harvested within 1-3 days of silk emergence. It is used in the preparation of diverse recipes viz. sweet products (halwa, kheer, burfi), preserved products (jam, chutney, pickle, candy, murabba), chinese products (soup, manchurian, chowmein etc.) and traditional products (pakora, cutlet chaat, salad, dry vegetables, kofta, mixed vegetable, riata) etc. In recent years, baby corn is becoming more and more popular especially in urban areas because of its taste and nutritional value. As the baby corn, crop can be harvested within 60-65 days, hence multiple crop of baby corn can be raised which would fetch additional income to the farmers. Thus, baby corn can be effectively used as a nutritious vegetable and as an export crop to earn valuable foreign exchange. After picking, the young plants stalks can be used as green fodder.

Recommended hybrid: 

Hybrid Punjab Baby Corn 1 :

is recommended for baby corn purposes. This is a CMS-based maize hybrid by PAU. The earlier recommended varieties need detasseling at flowering to get good quality baby corn for commercial use. This hurdle has been successfully overcome in this hybrid. In this hybrid, farmers need not to remove the tassels which save time and labor cost incurred to remove the tassels at the time of flowering. This hybrid will be ready for first picking (harvest of baby ears) in 52 days after sowing and farmers can take 2 to 3 pickings within a span of 10-12 days. The average baby corn yield (without husk) of this hybrid is 8.4 q/acre. Farmers need to follow the picking schedule of baby corn strictly. Delayed picking, even 2-3 days, will not only reduce the sweetness of baby corn but also lead to an increase in the length and girth of ears which may render it unfit for marketing. After picking, cobs should be placed in the shade and cold stored immediately to retain their freshness and hence, to ensure good consumer acceptability and market price. After picking baby corn the stalks can be used as green fodder, this hybrid gives 128 q/acre green fodder yield after picking baby corn.

Time and method of sowing:

Baby corn can be sown any time from April to the first week of August. The crop should be sown in well-prepared fields in 30 cm apart rows keeping plant to plant distance of 20 cm. 20 kg seed per acre is sufficient for the sowing of crops. It is suggested to attempt sowing on short intervals (staggered sowing) to maintain the continuous supply of baby corn depending upon the demand in the market.  

Crop rotation:

Baby corn is a short-duration crop and vacates the field in just 60-65 days, so it can be adjusted easily in different crop cycles. For instance, one crop of baby corn may be raised between wheat and rice. Another option is, two to three crops of baby corn may be obtained from April to September in place of a single crop of rice. Two crops of baby corn may be produced successfully before planting peas and potatoes in the month of September and October.

Fertilizer requirement:

Nitrogen dose is low for baby corn because of short duration of crop. Apply 52 kg urea, 75 kg super phosphate or 27 kg DAP and 15 kg muriate of potash per acre. 10 kg zinc sulphate per acre should also be applied in the Zn-deficient soils. If DAP @ 27 kg per acre has been used, the urea dose may be reduced by 10 kg per acre. Apply half dose of urea and the whole of the phosphorus and potash at the time of sowing and the remaining half dose of urea at knee high stage.

Nutritional quality:

Nutritional quality of baby corn is at par or even superior to most of seasonal vegetables. Besides protein, vitamins, calcium and iron, it is also the richest source of phosphorus (Table 1). Baby corn is a low-carbohydrate, high-fiber, fat-free vegetable and helps in weight management. Baby corn is preferred over vegetables because it remains free from any residual effect of pesticides as the young ear is wrapped up with husk and well protected from insects and diseases.

Table 1. Nutritive value of baby corn in comparison to common vegetables (per 100 g of edible portion)

(Source: www. cornindia.com)

Harvesting/ picking:

The most appropriate time of picking of baby corn is immediately after silk initiation but before fertilization. The ears picked late after silking become woody, pithy and less crispy and are unacceptable for consumption as salad or vegetable. The top ear would be ready for first pick and lower one will be ready for harvesting few days later. Normally two or three years should be picked from each plant and picking of ears appearing later should be avoided as they may not be of good quality. The baby corn ears should be picked along with the husk.   

Marketing and export potential:

It is in great demand in hotels, airlines, shipping companies and many European countries. Therefore, a great potential for this crop is visualized in the future. Many private companies in India are undertaking baby corn export business. Baby corn cultivation offers rich dividends, especially for the dairy farmers of peri-urban areas. Adoption of baby corn on a wide scale will improve the net farm income of farmers and also promote crop diversification in the state.

Writers are from the Maize Section Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics PAU, Ludhiana