Features of intensive vegetable growing and specific technologies for crop maturation.

Vegetable growing attracts agronomists due to the high intensity of land use and the opportunity to get maximum returns from every square meter. In this industry, not only familiar root crops, onions, or melons are grown, but also edible mushrooms — champignons and oyster mushrooms. Due to the huge variety of crops in terms of habit and ripening periods, a single standard technology cannot be applied here. However, this same feature allows for harvesting two or more crops per season from one plot through dense sowing and the transplant method.

High productivity requires significant expenditure. The production of succulent crops relies on specific care, manual harvesting, and special storage conditions. Even on advanced farms, manual labor remains a necessity, especially when growing leafy greens for fresh market sales.

• Growing costs — Tens of times higher than for grain crops
• Temperature during heeling-in — Around 0 °С
• Cabbage finishing period — 1–2 months

Specific technologies: forcing, finishing, and heeling-in

In vegetable growing, agrotechnical methods are used that have no analogues in other industries. For example, during forcing, greens of parsley, celery, sorrel, beet, onion scallions, asparagus shoots, and rhubarb petioles are obtained using the stored nutrients in root crops, rhizomes, and bulbs. In specialized farms, this same method is used to grow etiolated heads from chicory root crops.

For cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli that have not reached commercial size by the time of harvest, finishing is applied. The heads are formed within 1–2 months after storage at the expense of the plant's own vegetative organs. To improve the taste of unripe tomato and melon fruits, another technique is used — artificial ripening in a controlled atmosphere.

To extend the consumption period of fresh greens, heeling-in of plants that do not enter a dormant state is used. This method allows products to be kept fresh in greenhouses or hotbeds for several months. To obtain a high-quality result, strictly follow the sequence of technological operations.

1. In autumn, dig up vegetative plants of leeks, welsh onions, romaine lettuce, celery, or parsley with part of the roots.
2. Heel the plants in a hotbed or greenhouse using the bridge method, placing several dozen plants per square meter.
3. Ensure constant lighting, sufficient soil moisture, good ventilation, and an air temperature close to 0 °С.

Modern vegetable growing is closely connected with other branches of agriculture. Livestock production consumes succulent vegetable crop waste and supplies organic fertilizers to the fields. In addition, vegetable peas, tomatoes, and melon crops are often grown directly in field crop rotations together with forage crops.