About Thota kura[amarnath leaves]

GREEN LEAFY vegetables, rich minerals and vitamins, form integral part of vegetarian diets in India. The greens, as these leafy vegetables are often called and mostly derived from the Amaranthus group, are popular in homesteads and also in the farms. Amaranthus varieties find an important place in all the nutrition gardens.
A variety of dishes are made of these leafy vegetables, and they are a group of most sought after vegetables.
They come in a wide range of colours, from light green to dark red. Many people prefer the greener varieties to the reddish ones.
Scientists at the department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, have developed a high yielding Amaranthus variety with attractive green leaves. This improved variety has been released by the Kerala Agricultural University under the name "Mohini".
It was developed under the leadership of Dr. V.S. Devadas, Associate Professor of Olericulture after intensive research and extensive field trials.
Initially about 262 Amaranthus varieties were collected at the College of Horticulture in February 1996. Out of which 68 came from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the rest were got from the Asian Vegetables Research and Development Centre (AVRDC), Taiwan.
In the first season of testing, about 175 varieties were short listed for further trials in the second season of 1996. From this were selected 21 promising varieties, and the best among them was finally tested extensively in the adaptive research trials and multi-location trials. After careful evaluation of all the performances, finally the new variety was chosen, and it was released as "Mohini".
"Mohini" was tested in Thrissur, Palakkad and Ernakulam districts of Kerala, and it proved its superiority over the other varieties. It was approved for release by the State Seed Sub-Committee on Crop Standards held at the Central Tuber Crops Research Institute at Thiruvananthapuram in September 2002, according to the scientists.
This variety was found highly suited for cultivating in the Central Zone of Kerala.
"Mohini" is a medium branching variety with erect growth habit. It attains a height of 82 to 90 cm at flowering stage. Its stem is thick, green with red basal parts. The leaves are dark green, elliptical with acute tip.
Under average management, it can yield about 13.2 tonnes per hectare. It has a leaf, stem ratio of 2.15. The greens contain high amounts of carotene (25 to 59 ppm) and protein (4.46 per cent). It has low oxalates content (2.92 per cent) and low nitrates (1.74 per cent). It has good market preference in Palakkad district.
This Amararanthus can be ideally grown in summer. It is not resistant to leaf virus diseases.
It can be grown with organic amendments and by using botanical insecticides. The variety will do well under sound cultural management and good water management. When the fields are kept free of weeds and major sucking pests, the variety is bound to do exceedingly well, according to experts.