Keywords: Raphanus sativus, cultivar, date of sowing

An experiment was conducted at the Horticulture Farm of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (IAAS), Rampur, Chitwan to assess the effect of sowing dates on yield and quality of radish cultivars. The experiment with 4 replications was laid out in a factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD) with a treatment combination of seven cultivars, viz. Mino Early, Chalis Dine, Tokinasi, White Icicle, Sparklar White Tip, Cherry Belle and Chinese-1, and three dates of sowing, viz. September 9, October 9 and November 8, which represent early, normal and late sowing, respectively. Root length varied from 3.2 cm (Cherry Belle) to 19.5 cm (Mino Early) in September sowing, while in October sowing it varied from 3.8 cm (Cherry Belle) to 25.7 cm (Tokinasi). Likewise, Sparklar White Tip had the shortest root length (4 cm) and Mino Early the longest (24.7 cm) in November sowing. Average of three sowings showed that Cherry Belle produced the shortest (3.7 cm) and Mino Early the longest (22.8 cm) roots. The shortest root diameter among all the varieties was found in White Icicle in all three sowings, i.e. 2.5 cm, 2.9 cm and 2.6 cm in September, October and November sowing, respectively. Similarly, Mino Early (4.3 cm), Sparklar White Tip (4.6 cm) and Tokinasi (4.1 cm) produced roots having the highest root diameters in September, October and November sowing, respectively. In terms of marketable root yield, Chinese-I became the first in early and the late sowing, which produced 32.5 mt/ha in September and 37.7 mt/ha in November sowing. Cherry Belle produced the lowest in all three sowings (i.e. 5.4, 5.9 and 7.2 mt/ha in September, October and November sowing, respectively). On an average, Chinese-I produced the highest marketable root yield (36.1mt/ha) and Cherry Belle the lowest (6.2 mt/ha). Though, Cherry Belle produced the lowest marketable root yield, it was suitable for salad purpose and became ready for harvest within short period fetching high price. These two cultivars could be suggested for growing as off-season crop.