tailieunhanh - The vegetable garden in the tropics - Part 5

9 Choosing the right crops You should take the following factors into consideration when choosing which plants to cultivate in the family garden. 1 Climate. The abundant rains and high daytime temperatures of the tropical forest are very suitable for the cultivation of tropical leaf vegetables. | 9 Choosing the right crops You should take the following factors into consideration when choosing which plants to cultivate in the family garden. 1 Climate. The abundant rains and high daytime temperatures of the tropical forest are very suitable for the cultivation of tropical leaf vegetables. The climate of grassland regions is less wet and has two distinct seasons which allows the cultivation of a large variety of annual plants. In mountain regions with a lower daytime temperature the cultivation of vegetables from more temperate climates European vegetables is possible. Some of these vegetables cultivated for their leaves cabbage lettuce or their bulbs onion do not normally set seed in the tropics for reasons already mentioned in Chapter 7. 2 Crop rotation. When choosing your plants it is important to preserve the fertility of the soil control diseases and plant parasites and guaran-tee a regular supply of vegetables by rotating crops see Chapters 6 and 8 . 3 Objectives and possibilities. When planning your garden you should consider whether you are growing the vegetables to feed members of the family or for the market and how much land water and labour are available. Among the suitable plants for the family garden we mention Annual vegetables such as amaranth African eggplant okra jews mallow tomato roselle hot pepper. Leaf vegetables give particularly high yields where the size of garden is limited. Perennial plants such as pigeon pea cassava banana papaya fruittrees ginger drumstick tree. The shade of these plants is good for taro and cocoyam. Perennial plants keep producing for several years and they often produce in the dry season when the cultivation of annuals is difficult if not enough water is available. Choosing the right crops 57 Climbing plants along fences such as Ceylon spinach bitter gourd and yardlong bean. In this manual it is impossible to discuss each vegetable in detail. Some characteristics of 30 important vegetables are shown in the table