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Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation
Chinese Broccoli (Kailaan) in Southern Australia by Dr Wendy Morgan and Professor David Midmore
January 2003
RIRDC Publication No 02/161 RIRDC Project No UCQ-10A
Chinese broccoli, commonly known as Kailaan (Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra) is harvested for its flowering stems with compact florets. Harvest time, and post-harvest conditions are critical in order that the flowering heads do not contain (m)any opened flowerbuds.
Characteristic of Asian cuisine, Chinese broccoli is found in Asian markets and to a small, but increasing, extent in Australian retail outlets. The Australian demand is satisfied though production by Asian background growers and by a small number of specialist growers. Open pollination (OP) lines developed by growers meet the requirements of particular markets.
A number of trials were established in Victoria and Tasmania within this project, to determine site and variety specificity for optimal production, taking advantage of the varied climatic conditions afforded by the states. Trials assessed the primary stem production, the ratoon sideshoot production, and quantified quality parameters of the respective harvests.
All varieties bolted (very early flowering) in Tasmania, in summer or autumn seasons. While low temperatures are known to induce bolting, it may be that the practice of transplanting (seedlings 52 days old in summer and 63 days old in autumn) further induced bolting. The OP variety Mandy was more tolerant to bolting than other varieties.
Location and sowing dates in Victoria (all trials were established by direct seeding) affected yield and time to harvest. Crop duration was greater in the north of the state in the winter (sown April to August, c. 110-150 days), and least in early summer (sown December) when the crop duration did not markedly differ between locations (all c. 60 days).
There was an inverse relationship between crop duration and marketable yield across sites; the slower longer period of growth in colder plantings did not compensate for the shorter season faster growth of warmer plantings.
Yields of shoots ranged from 0.3-21 t/ha, and from 1-42 t/ha when side shoot harvests were included.
These are higher than reported yields elsewhere. Almost invariably the higher yields were achieved by the OP varieties, but the market characteristic (eg due to greater resemblance to broccolini) would limit their acceptance beyond the specific markets for which they have been selected.
Essentially, harvests of Chinese broccoli could be achieved throughout the year in Victoria by objective choice of variety and location. Marketable yields as a percentage of total yield (based on numbers of marketable shoots per total number of shoots) were consistently low in a number of site by sowing date combinations, and those site by sowing date combinations were not considered suitable for commercial production.
For August and February sowings, Boneo (Melbourne), the only site with current commercial production, would appear the most suitable for production of main and side shoots, but October sowing in Myrtleford north east of Victoria, January/February in Mornington Peninsular (Melbourne), September/October in East Gippsland, July in the south west (Geelong), and February for Tatura in north central Victoria.
From a variety perspective, the following were trialed
in both years:
Other varieties, sown in only one of two years included
OP Mandy (later maturing and higher yields than most, but undesirable marketable
characteristics), Dai Sum (well performing across most sites/sowing dates,
but quite low yields due to shoot stems), Sak Sum (fast growing and poor
yield), 4502 (unsuitable for warm sowings, but otherwise acceptable), BBT
35 (suitable for each of August.
October, December, and February sowings for at least one site), Cultivar A (generally poor performing), Cultivar B (consistently high performing, and warranting more attention) and King (on a par with Cultivar B at Boneo, the only site where it was sown). Specific suggestions for varieties, regions and sowing dates are made within the text
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