UNDERUTILIZED VEGETABLES PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY CUCURBITS- 1) SWEET GOURD 2)SPINE GOURD 3)ROUND GOURD/ROUND MELON 4)IVY GOURD

1. SUBMITTED BY- TANDRIMA CHAKRABORTY
M.Sc VEGETABLE SCIENCE 1ST YEAR
NH-2022-30-M
SUBMITTED TO- DR. SANTOSH KUMARI

2. Momordica cochinchinensis

3. BOTANICAL NAME- Momordica cochinchinesis
FAMILY- CUCURBITACEAE
CHROMOSOME NUMBER- 2N=28
COMMON NAMES- KAKROL , BHAT KARELA, GAC FRUIT, CHINESE
BITTER CUCUMBER
ORIGIN- SOUTH EAST ASIA
EDIBLE PARTS –FRUITS , FLOWERS AND YOUNG LEAVES

4. • Southeast Asian fruit mainly found throughout the region
from Southern China to North-eastern Australia, including
Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
• In India, it is cultivated in Assam, north-eastern states,
Gujarat, Andaman Islands and southern states.

5. BOTANY
• It is dioecious perennial
climber with tuberous roots.
• The fruits are ovate, about
10-20 cm long with numerous
closely set conical spines and
light yellow thick flesh.
• The green colour of immature
fruit turns to orange yellow
/red colour on ripening.
• The ripened fruits contain
several seeds inside the thick
orange red flesh.

6.  High nutritional value.
 Tender fruits and young leaves are
edible.
 High protein, Vitamin-C and
Vitamin-A
 The leaves, seeds and roots of
sweet gourd have medicinal uses,
particularly for treatment of sores,
ulcers and fracture of bones.
 Fruits contains
moisture(84.09%),protein(2.61%),fa
t(0.66%), carbohydrate(5.69%),
calcium(21mg),phosphorus(148mg),
iron(2.5mg) per 100 g edible portion.

7. SOIL AND CLIMATE
• The crop grows well in warm and humid climate. The optimum
temperature its successful cultivation is 20°-35°C. It requires
well-drained light sandy loam soil with good fertility and pH range
from 6.5 to 7.0. An average annual rainfall of 1500-2500mm is
ideally suitable for cultivating the sweet gourd. It is susceptible to
waterlogging.
• Vines of sweet gourd remain dormant during winter season and
sprouts with onset of spring.

8. • Through Seeds, Tubers & cutting
• Seed: 3-5 kg, longer period to attain maturity (3-5 years)
• Tubers: 50,000 sprouted tubers/ha, selected from 2-3 year old plants,
Tubers are collected from both male and female plants separately. 40g piece is the best for
propagation. About 10 percent male plants are required in the total plant population in the field.
The tubers are planted in nursery beds in February-March and after sprouting these are
transplanted in the field. The sprouted tubers are planted about 5-8 cm. deep in pits of 45 cm3
dimension, in a row, about 90-120 cm apart. The distance between the rows is also the same (90-
120 cm)
• Stem cuttings: 2 nodes/cutting, treat with 200-500ppm IBA, July-Aug,
When sprouted cutting attain 4-5 leaves, they are planted in the main field.

9. • Apply 10-12 tonnes farmyard manure or Well rotten cow dung at the
time of field preparation.
• In addition, 100-120 kg nitrogen, 60 kg P205 and 50 kg K20 should be
given every year.
• Nitrogen should be given in two split doses.
• Sprouted cuttings planted in basin when they attain 4- 5 leaf stage
approximately 30-35 days after planning are top dressed with 15 g of
urea.

10. During the rainy season the crop is generally not irrigated but it may
require irrigation when there is a long dry period.
The crop is irrigated at the end of dormancy after the winter is over.
Regular irrigation is required during summer season.
The new vines start growing in summer, April-May / June, when there is
flowering and fruit set.
It takes 55-65 days to flower after planting. The fruits are harvested
during May to September.

11. NEELACHAL ARAKTA (CHMC-2 ):An exquisite sweet gourd variety
CHMC-2 having high lycopene and carotenoid content .The salient feature of the variety
are: dioecious plants, vine length more than 15 m, petioles 5 cm long with 2-5 glands, leaves
broadly ovate, tri-lobed, 10-15 cm long with pointed tips. Leaf base is cordate. Male
flowers are solitary, peduncles robust 3-5 cm long, and bracteate
Female flowers are also solitary, peduncles 4-6 cm long. Anthesis takes place from 7 am to
8 am. Fruits are 10-15 cm long, fleshy, round to ovoid, reddish yellow with scattered
tubercle-like spines. One plant produces 25-30 fruits weighing approximately 400-450 g
at maturity in one cropping season. Preliminary evaluation showed that this vegetable can
be grown successfully in Orissa and it needs popularization among the growing communities
and consumers.

12. • The fully developed tender fruits with immature seeds are harvested.
The fruits become marketable in 10-12 days after anthesis.
• The average yield is about 10-15 tonnes per hectare.
For preserving the fruits of sweet gourd, slice the hard green mass, blanch 1 kg slice in 3
liter lactic acid solution at 3.5 pH for 4 minutes at 82°C. At this level the retention of
ascorbic acid is maximum.
The slice can be dried in sun and kept in closed tin containers for use in future.

13. Momordica dioica

14. • BOTANICAL NAME- Momordica dioica
• FAMILY- Cucurbitaceae
• CHROMOSOME NUMBER- 2n=28
• COMMON NAMES- Kankad, Kantola,Kartoli
• ORIGIN- India
• EDIBLE PARTS –Fruits ,Young leaves ,flowers

15. • Spine gourd is believed to have originated in India.
• It is, indigenous dioecious, perennial vegetables, are grown for their nutritious fruits
• Though spine gourd is closely related to bitter gourd, it is not as much popular as
bitter gourd largely due to lack of awareness among consumers. The tuberous
vegetable is mainly cultivated in West Bengal, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra and Karnataka. Besides, this vegetable grows naturally in the forest
areas of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha where it is regularly consumed by the
native tribals.

16. • Nutritive Value: 100g edible fruit of spine
gourd contains:-
• Moisture : 84.1%
• Carbohydrate : 7.7 g
• Protein : 3.1 g
• Fat : 3.1 g
• Fiber : 3.0 g
• Minerals : 1.1 g
• Trace amount of ascorbic acid, carotene,
thiamin, riboflavin and niacin

17. CLIMATE
• The spine gourd is a summer loving crop and requires an optimum temperature of 25-35°C
temperature and an average rainfall of 150-250 cm.
• Plants remains dormant during winter season.
• Frost or severe cold especially below 5 °C, is unfavourable for the crop.
• The crop can with stand water stress but not water logging.
SOIL
• A well drained sandy loam and fertile soil is best suited for cultivation of spine gourd.
• There should be ample organic matter in the soil.
• Diara cultivation can also be used for its cultivation.
• An optimum soil pH is 6.0-7.0

18. INDIRA KANKAD -1
Indira Kankoda I (RMF 37) The popular hybrid variety (RMF 37)
developed by the Indira Gandhi Agriculture University The plants start
yielding after 75-80 days from seeds in the first year and 35-40 days from
tubers from second year onwards up to six years. The green fruits are very
attractive, dark green with long shelf life and single fruit weight is about
14 gram. The average green fruit yield is about 8-10 q/ha in the first year,
10-15 q/ha in the second year and 15-20 q/ha in the third year.
ARKA NEELACHAL SREE
• Developed through clonal selection at CHES, Bhubaneswar.
• High yield (4-5 kg/ plant) and high market preference.
• Its vines are thin and spreading which grows well on 3-line wire-trellis
system.
• Moderately resistant to anthracnose and downy mildew in fields, and is
moderately susceptible to angular leaf blight and pumpkin caterpillar.

19. PROPAGATION BY – Seeds, tubers and stem cuttings
Spine gourd can be cultivated through seeds, but the population
will segregate. However, the crop grown vegetatively through
tubers and stem cutting will result in uniform, true to type
plants. The seed requirement to cultivate a commercial crop in
one hectare area will be 2.5-5.0 kg owing to difficulties in seed
germination and maintenance of male/female ratio for a
healthy fruit set. However, if the vegetative mode of
propagation through tubers or plants generated from stem
cuttings is used where the male and female plants or tubers are
already known, a total of 3000–5000 tubers will be sufficient to
cultivate 1 ha area.
The field should be ploughed thoroughly and harrowed to bring the soil to a fine tilth and free from weeds. The
field must be levelled and prepared by dig pit of 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm size. About 10-15 tonnes of well rotten
farm yard manure should be applied at the time of the last ploughing.

20. MANURE AND FERTILIZERS
The dose of fertilizer depends upon soil, climate and system of cultivation. Well rotten FYM @15-20 t/ha is
applied at the time of land preparation.
NPK @ 120:80:80 kg/ha is added with full dose of P and K before sowing and half dose of N at the time of
vining and remaining half dose of N before flowering.
IRRIGATION
• Irrigation should be given once in 10 days depending upon the soils and climatic condition. Irrigation is
given at 4-5 days interval during dry season.
• No irrigation is needed in rainy season to the crop. When crop is over, vine dries and dormancy is
commenced then no need to irrigate the crop.
INTERCULTURE
Weeds affect growth and yield of spine gourd and also indirectly serve as a host for insect pests and
pathogens. In the early stage of the crop, the first weeding is done 30 days after planting and subsequent
weeding is done at a monthly interval.
• Two to three shallow hoeing is done commencing 15 days after planting.
• It keeps the soil loose and give proper development to root and shoot system of the plant. After each
irrigation soil in the ring/ pits should be kept loose for proper aeration and to maintain the moisture for
longer period. After each hoeing, earthing up is necessary

21. WEED CONTROL
• Weeding should be started after the plants have sprouted and well set in the field. In early stage
weed uprooted carefully so the plant should not be uprooted or damage.
• Then subsequent weeding is done before top dressing of fertilizer i.e. 35 and 55 days after
planting.
• Generally manual weeding is done to control the weed from the crop.
• Application of alachlor or butachlor @ 2.0 kg a.i./ ha give effective control.
• Pre-emergence/ planting application of stomp 30 C @ 1 kg a.i./ha followed by hoeing/ weeding
35-40 days after planting and 60 days after planting is advisable to escape the critical period of
crop weed competition.
TRAINING
In order to prevent fruits from direct contact to soil which may caused rotting, it is better to train
the vine on bamboo stakes or on bower.
Training of spine gourd vines is important as it helps to encourage proper vegetative growth,
facilitate different cultural operations and thus contribute to higher yield and quality of fruits. The
most prevalent type of training are single stake system, bower and kniffin system.

22. Normally, after planting it takes 75 to 80 days to reach the marketable
maturity. At harvest, the fruit should be tender, green in colour and seed
should be soft (vegetable purpose). Harvest the fruits once in two to three
days by hand picking. The fully ripened fruits turn colour from green to
orange and red colour pulp with matured seeds used for seed production.
The average yield of spine gourd is about 75-100 quintals per hectare and
it depends on variety and management.
• Fruits can be stored for 1-2 days in well ventilated ordinary room
condition.
• In cold storage fruits may be kept in good condition at temperature of
0°C to 2 °C with high humidity (90-95%) for 3-4 days.

23. Kakrol or sweet gourd
(Momordica cochinchinensis Roxb)
Kartoli or spine gourd
(Momordica dioica Roxb)
Roots develop bigger tuber Roots develop small tuber.
Leaves are bigger. Leavers are small.
Flowers large and white to light yellow in colour. Flowers small and yellow in colour.
There are three small circular dots at the base of
petals which are deep blue.
No circular dot on the base of petals.
Anthesis during early morning (3.30-6.30 hours) and
flowers take 72 hours to open.
Anthesis during evening (16.30-18.00 hours) and
flowers take 7-22 minutes to open.
Fruits are large and oblong Fruits are small and round to oval.
Individual fruit weight is around 60-80g and attains up
to 500g.
Individual fruit weight is around 10-15 g and attains
up to 30g.
Fruit ripening starts from periphery to inner Fruit ripening starts from inner to periphery.
Fruit light green to light yellow in colour Fruits dark green in colour.
Tough spines on fruit. Smooth and false spines on fruit.
It takes 26 days to reach edible maturity from days to
bud formation
It takes 20 days to reach edible maturity from days to
bud formation.
Short flowering and fruiting period Flowering and fruiting continue for long period.

24. Praecitrullus fistulosus

25. • BOTANICAL NAME- Praecitrullus fistulosus
• FAMILY- Cucurbitaceae
• CHROMOSOME NUMBER- 2n=24
• COMMON NAMES- Tinda, Indian squash, round melon, Indian round
gourd or apple gourd or Indian baby pumpkin
• ORIGIN- India
• EDIBLE PARTS –Fruits , seeds

26. • It is mainly grown for its immature fruit, much popular in
South Asia and the member of single genus i.e.
Praecitrullus. A miraculous plant, Tinda gifted by nature
with all the essential nutrients required by the human body
for growth and development.
MORPHOLOGY
The plant is a prolific vine, herbaceous and is grown as an
annual having pointed hairy stem with curly long tendrils.
FRUIT
Botanically the fruit is a type is known as berry or pepo. It is
approximately spherical in shape and 5-8 cm in diameter. The
Fruit size is about of a small turnip, depressed at each end,
hispid glabrous when young (Gautam et al., 2011)

27. The whole plant of tinda are enriched with all dietary components like carbohyadrate,
protein, fat and fibers, vitamins and minerals and a host of plant substances including
phenolics and cucurbitacins.

28. CLIMATE
It is mainly a warm and dry season crop. The vines do not grow well in cool or
humid weather. The seeds require soil temperature of 21-350 C to germinate. It
likes warm, sunny conditions of 25-300 C at daytime and 180 C or more during
night.
SOIL
• Well drained, fertile, sandy or loamy soils are ideal for the crop. But it prefers
light or sandy soils where its roots can penetrate easily.
• Ideal pH of 6.5-7.5 is suitable for cultivation of Tinda.
SOWING
In east India the growing season of Tinda is either in dry season from February to
April and also in rainy season on monsoon mid of June to end of July.
CULTIVATION

29. ARKA TINDA
It is a hybrid between Rajasthan Local and T8 (Punjab)
followed by pedigree method of selection. Fruits
round with lush green shining skin covered with soft
hair when young and tender (60 g). it gives an average
yield of 10 t/ha.
PUNJAB TINDA
This variety is suitable for sowing in spring season. The leaves
of this variety are green and moderately lobed. Vines are long
and bears 4-5 primary branches. It is an early variety, ready
for first picking in 54 days after sowing and yields about 15-16
tonnes per acre from first 3 pickings. Fruits are round, shining,
green, pubescent and white fleshed. It gives 14-16 pickings
over a period of 30-40 days. It is moderately resistant to
mosaic under natural field condition. This variety gives an
average marketable fruit yield of 72 quintals per acre.

30. SEED RATE-3.5 kg/ha.
Treat the seeds with Trichoderma viride @ 4g or Pseudomonas @ fluorescens 10 g or
carbendazim 2g/kg of seeds. Thin the seedlings after 15 days to maintain two per pit at 0.9 m
spacing.
SEED TREATMENT
Treat the seeds with Trichoderma viride 4g or Pseudomonas fluroscens 10 g or Carbendazim
2g/kg of seed.
PREPARATION OF FIELD
Plough the field to fine tilth and form long channels at 1.5m apart.
Spacing between channels:150-200cm
Hills :60-90cm
SOWING
Sow the seeds on one side of the channel. Thin the seedlings after 15 days to maintain two/pit at
0.9 m spacing.

31. MANURES AND FERTILIZERS
It requires 40 kg N (90 kg Urea), 20 kg of P2O5 (125 kg of Single Superphosphate) and 20 kg of K2O (35 kg
of Muriate of Potash). Apply 1/3 N along with full dose of P2O5 and K2O at the time of sowing. Apply rest
of the N during the early period of the growth.
IRRIGATION
The seeds are sown on the pre-irrigated furrows on the top of ridge on both sides of the beds. Subsequent
irrigation is applied on second or third day after sowing. During summer, irrigate after 4-5 days. In rainy
season, irrigation is applied depending on intensity of rains.
WEEDING
Weeding is done thrice to control the weed population.

32. The first flush of fruits is borne very early.
These fruits remain very small, are
unmarketable and therefore should be
removed as soon as they appear for
proper vegetative growth. The fruits of the
later flush attain marketable size and are
harvested when still tender and hairy. The
marketable fruits are ready for first picking
after 54-60 days of sowing depending
upon the variety. The later pickings should
be done at 2-3 days interval.
YIELD-80-120q/ha

33. Cocccinia grandis (L) Voigt

34. BOTANICAL NAME-Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt.
Syn: Coccinia indica and C. Cordifolia
FAMILY- Cucurbitaceae
CHROMOSOME NUMBER- 2n=24
COMMON NAMES- Kundru, Little gourd,
tondali, tindora scarlet gourd ,baby watermelon
ORIGIN- India
EDIBLE PARTS –Fruits , seeds
PROPAGATION- cuttings

35. The ivy gourd is a climbing perennial having small (4-5
cm long and 1-2cm in diameter) ovoid or elliptical. The
fruits are smooth and bright green with stripes which
become scarlet red on ripening. The roots are long and
tuberous. The leaves have five lobes with serrated
margin.
MAJOR IVY GOURD PRODUCING STATES IN
INDIA
In India, this vegetable is widely grown in southern,
eastern and western regions, mainly in states like
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, & West Bengal.

36. TWO TYPES OF IVY GOURD-
1. Striped Tindora
2. Non-striped Tindora
1. 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 upto 20-25 t/ha .
2. 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 .

37. CLIMATE
This vegetable crop thrives best in humid and warm climatic conditions. The ideal temperature
range of 20°C to 32°C is best for its growth, quality and good yield. This vegetable can be cultivated
throughout the year. However, peak seasons of fruiting are rainy season & summer.
SOIL
Well-drained rich sandy loam soils are best for its cultivation. Heavy clay soils, acidic and alkaline
soils should be avoided.
The soil pH of 6.0-6.5 results in the best yield and quality of the vegetable.
LAND PREPARATION
Plough the land/soil until fine tilth is achieved and to kill any weeds. Apply any well- rotted manure
along with micronutrients.

38. The ivy gourd is vegetatively propagated by stem cutting.
Semi hardwood cuttings, 15-20 cm long and 1.5-2.0 cm thick,
having 5-6 leaves on each cutting, are used for planting. Two
to three cuttings are planted, about 5-6 cm. deep, in each
basin of 60 cm. diameter. The distance between the basins is
1.5-2.0 metre. The planting is done in June-July or February-
March. The plant population in a field should have female
and male plants in a ratio of 10: 1. The plants are perennial,
replanting is advocated after every 4-5 years.
TRAINING AND PRUNING: Plants require support to
keep their shoots, to grow up. Plants are trained on bower
system.
• The central shoots growing from the main stem below the
bower should be removed in order to encourage shoots on the
bower.
• Dead and diseased branches should be removed.

39. • About 20 tonnes of FYM are applied at the time of basin preparation and
planting. The fertilizer requirements are 60-80 kg N, 40-60 kg P and 40 kg K
per hectare. Both manures and fertilizers are applied every year before fruiting
starts. The plants start fruiting in 10-12 weeks after planting. The vines are
pruned back after the fruiting is completed, leaving 60-75 cm long vines. In N
plants are pruned twice in a year, in September and April. About 8-10 mm
thick is pruned back to two buds. Every year after pruning about 3-5 kg. FYM
is applied to each plant.

40. • INTERCULTURE :Weeding and light hoeing are done during the early stages
of vine growth.
• IRRIGATION :The plants require light irrigation at 10-12 days interval
during summer. Watering may not be necessary in rainy season. The soil
should have adequate moisture during flowering and water logging is harmful
to the plants.
• HARVESTING : It will be ready for harvesting in 3 months period. Hand-
picking or sickle is used to harvest the vegetable. handpicking may damage the
vine, so better use a small cutter to harvest the Tindora vegetable.
• YIELD :The flowering starts after 50-60 days of planting. The average yield is
about 10-15 tonnes per hectare.
• STORAGE: The immature fruits after harvesting can be stored at room
temperature for about a week.