Ivy gourd production technology

2. Submitted by,
Sharath M N
MH2TBZ278

3. Ivygourd

4. Introduction
• Botanical name: Coccinia grandis or coccinia indica
• Family: Cucurbitaceae
• Chromosome no: 2n=24
• Origin: India
• Common Name: Little gourd, Hindi: Kundru, Kunduri;
• Immature fruits of ivy gourd are used as a vegetable besides fruits young shoots and leaves
are consumed as fried, blanched or boiled.
• The ripe fruits develop red colour and can be eaten raw.
• The main carotenoid of ripe fruit is lycopene (5.68 mg/ 100 g) and beta carotene (2.24
mg/100 g).
• The flesh can be processed into fermented or dehydrated chips, which can be stored for a
long period.

6. Nutritive values
• Moisture: 93.5%; Protein: 128 g; Fat; 0.1 g; Minerals: 0.5 g; Fibre: 1.6 g;
Carbohydrates: 3.1 g; Energy: 18 kcal; Calcium: 40 mg; Phosphorus: 30 mg Iron:
0.38 mg; Carotene: 156 µg; Thiamine: 0.07 mg; Riboflavin: 0.08 mg Niacine: 0.7
mg; Folic acid: 18 µg; Vitamin C: 15 mg
• The leaves are a rich source of protein (33-49 g), minerals and vitamins, in
particular vitamin A (8000 18000 10) (Boonkerd et al, 1993) The plant possesses
antioxidant property
• The roots and leaves of ivy gourd have been used in Ayurvedic and folk medicine
to treat the diabetes, mellitus, skin eruption, Tongue sores and earache.

7. Origin and distribution
• Ivy gourd is a native of India.
• The plants are distributed in Myanmar, Pakistan and whole of the South-East Asia
It is also distributed in Tropical Africa

8. Botanical description
• Ivy gourd belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae and genus Coccinia with about 35
species.
• The cultivated species Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt (Syn. Bryonia grandis L.
(1767), Coccinia indica Wight and Arnott (1834), C. cordifolia (auct. non L.)
Logn. (1881.) is a dioecious.
• Plant a climbing or prostrate perennial herb with long tuberous roots, stem green
and longitudinally ribbed when young, becoming white spotted when older and
eventually wood and substrate, tendrils simple, usually one per node, leaves
simple, alternate, with petiolate of 1.5 cm.

9. • Staminate flowers appear auxiliary,
solitary or paired, rarely 3-4 in short
racemes, sepals 5, corolla campanulate,
yellow-orange, green veined, 5 lobed,
lobes up to 2 cm x 1.5 cm; staminal
column 6 mm long, pistillate flowers
auxiliary, solitary, Fruits, smooth, bright
green with white stripes when immature,
become bright scarlet when ripe.
• Anthesis occurs early in the morning,
pistillate flowers open earlier as compared
to male.
• Stigma remains receptive 8-10 h before to
35-40 h after anthesis.

10. Climate and soil
• Ivy gourd prefers warm and humid climate.
• Plants remain in dormant conditions during winter season.
• Its plants can be spotted in grassland, bush wood, on road sides in hedges and
sparse forests from the plains up to 1500 m altitudes.
• Plant does well in area where there is uniform distribution of rain and high
humidity.
• Ivy gourd grows best in sandy loam and is not adapted to heavy soils. It needs fair
drainage and is very susceptible to water logging

11. Propagation
• Ivy gourd can be propagated both by seed as well as by cuttings.
I) Seed Propagation: Seed propagation is not in vogue because of its dioecious
nature (50 per cent male plants). A ratio of 1:10 male to female plant is
considered ideal for pollination. Further, seed propagated plants come very late
in bearing.
II) By cutting: Four to five months old vines are selected for making cuttings.
Cuttings of 12-15 cm length and pencil thickness having 5-6 leaves are taken
and planted in basins of 60 cm diameter dug 175 apart About 2-3 stem cuttings
are transplanted 3 cm deep in each basin. Planting is done during rainy season.

12. Manures and fertilizers
• At the time of field preparation @ 15-20 tonnes FYM per hectare is mixed in the
soil.
• In addition, at the time of planting 25-30 kg nitrogen, 40 kg P2O5, and 40 kg K2O
are applied in a hectare field.
• Plant is of perennial nature and continues up to 2-3 years in same field.
• Vine goes in dormant conditions during winter months and new growth starts in
the Feb-March during onset of spring season, For early yield during summer
season, 2 kg well rotten cow dung, 50 g urea, 150 g single superphosphate and 25
g muriate of potash should be given in basin of each plant (Pandey, 2003).

13. Irrigation, intercultural operations
• Just after planting of sprouted cuttings, a light irrigation is must for proper establishments of
cuttings.
• During summer season, light irrigations should be given at the interval of 5-6 days.
• Care should be taken that during rainy season, water should not stand in the basin of the vine
otherwise plant may wilt.
• Weeds should be removed during early stage of plant growth and earthing up is given.

14. • During winter months, when vine rests in dormant
conditions, leaving 20-25 cm basal portion, rest part is
removed.
• With the commencement of spring season, new sprouts
emerge.
• Flowering and fruiting commence on these new
sprouts.
• Ivy gourd is usually grown with a trellis support or
trained on bowers.
• Bowers can be made with locally available materials
like bamboo, wooden post and wire or rope.
• Training promotes the vine growth and also facilitates
in harvesting of fruits.

15. Harvesting and yield
• Fruiting starts during March to June and second flush starts with the rains and
fruiting continues till October.
• Fully developed but immature fruits should be harvested for vegetable use.
• Delay in harvesting may cause ripening of the fruits which make them unfit for
vegetable use.
• Generally, single vine yields 10 kg fruits.
• Average yield of a hectare field ranges between 100 and 150 quintals.
• Fruits are perishable and cannot be stored for 3-4 days at room temperature.
• In cold storage at 7-8°C temperature and 80 per cent RH, it may be stored for 12-
15 days.

16. Varieties
No improved varieties have been recommended, so far and only local collections are planted
in different regions. At Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi 4 genotypes were
selected from the locally collected germplasm on the basis of their fruit size and yield
attributes (Ram and Pandey, 1998). They are given as under:
i) VRK-20: It is an early type. Fruits are 6-8 cm long and 2.7 cm of thickness, weight 20 g.
Average yields varies between 300 and 350 quintals per hectare.
ii) VRK- 31: Fruits of this genotype is quite bold and skin is thin. Single fruit weighs 25-30
g and average yield varies between 325 and 350 quintals per hectare.
iii) VRK-35: It is a prolific bearer. Fruits medium size (6 cm length) and light white spots on
the surface. Fruit weighs 15-18 g. Av. yield is 250 quintals per hectare.
iv) VRK. 37: It bears round shape fruits. Average girth of fruit is 1.9 cm and weight 16 g.
Average yield ranges from 350-400 quintals per hectare.

17. v) Arka Neelachal Sabuja: The plants are very vigorous (>10m long) and produce
high biomass. Fruits are dark green in appearance with fractured stripe and conical
in shape. It gives 70-80 harvest per season (10-11 months) and yield up to 20-25
t/ha.
vi) Arka Neelachal Kunkhi: A dual-purpose (salad as well as cooked) early variety
with high yield (20-25 t/ha). Fruits are extra-long (8.39 cm), weighing around 15-
20g, uniform, cylindrical with attractive stripes. It produces around 800 fruits in a
season with yield potential of 15-20 t/ha. (IIHR website)

18. Pest and diseases
• Anthracnose (Colletotrichum sp.) powdery mildew (Erysiphe cichorucearum),
leaf spot (Alternaria tencissima, Kumar et al., 2001) are major foliar diseases of
ivy gourd.
• Fruit rot caused by Penicillium italium appear as discoloured patches followed by
black green patches which further decay and form small cavities at the advance
stage of infection (Sharma et al. 2003).
• The major pests of ivy gourd include pumpkin beetle (Aulucophora sp.) and fruit
flies (Dacus spp.)