1. Snake gourd is a tropical vine grown for its long greenish-white fruits that can reach over 1 meter in length. 2. It is cultivated across South and Southeast Asia and produces seeds through cross-pollination by bees. 3. Seed production requires isolation distances between plots to maintain varietal purity and genetic standards, as well as inspection and removal of off-type plants at key stages to select for desired fruit characteristics.

1. Seed production technology of
snake gourd
Vanisree Padmanabhan
2019534005

2. Introduction
Snake gourd is a tropical or subtropical vine crop
raised for its long fruit.
It is cultivated across south and south-east Asian
countries.
It produces greenish white and whitish color fruits
that develop into 100-150cm in length and 60-75cm
in diameter.
It is suitable for growing for home garden and
fresh market.

3. Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Genus: Trichosanthes
Species: T. cucumerina
Binomial name: Trichosanthes cucumerina L.
Synonyms: Trichosanthes anguina L.

4. Species of Trichosanthes:
• Trichosanthes contain totally 44 species, out of that
21 sp.,occur in India.
• Trichosanthes has 2 cultivated sp
T. anguina
T. dioica
• Origin -Indo Malayan region.
Classification by kundu(1942) & chakravarthy(1982),
• Genus is divided into 2 section
1.Eutrichosanthes-23 species
2.Pseudotrichosanthes-3 species

5. The species of snake gourd include;
• Trichosanthes cucumerina var.anguina-cultivated variant
• Trichosanthes cucumerina var.cucumerina-wild variant
• Trichosanthes cucumeroides- Japanese snake gourd
• Trichosanthes kirilowii var.japonica –grown for root
starch.
Some of the common names of snake gourd are;
Serpent gourd
Chichinda
Padwal

6. Uses of snake gourd
As vegetable
• Snake Gourd is grown principally for the
immature fruit that can be cooked
• Can be served as a vegetable like zucchini squash
As medicine
• Roots and seeds are used to expel worms and to
treat diarrhoea and syphilis
• acts as an excellent anti-inflammatory
• makes digestion easy

7. Botany of snake gourd
• It is a monoecious annual vine climbing by means
of tendrils.
• Leaves are palmately lobed, up to 25cm long.
• Flowers are unisexual, white, opening at night,
with long branching hairs on the margins of the
petals.
• These hairs are curled up in the day time when the
flowers are closed.
• But unfurl at night to form a delicate lacy display.

9. contd..
• Calyx - Sepals 5, gamosepalous, imbricate
aestivation.
• Corolla - Petals 5, gamopetalous, margin of each
petal ends in hair like structure, a special out
growth are found on the petal called papilla
• Androecium -3 stamens united filaments free.
• Gynoecium - Superior ovary , parietal placentation
where ovules develop on the wall or slight
outgrowths of the wall forming partitions.

11. Fruit
• Fruits can be up to 200cm long, deep red at
maturity, hanging below the vine.
• Narrow and longish fruit can grow more than 150
cm (5 feet) in length.
• Dark green with several light green lines or totally
white.
• It is soft and breaks easily when bend.
• Numerous seeds,relatively large and slightly gray.
• When it is fully ripe, the fruit pulp turns red.

13. Floral Biology
• Flowering normally starts in about 40-45 days.
• Flowers being auxiliary and the sequence of flowering
follows a set pattern, namely, the first 4-6 flowering
nodes bear staminate flowers and later pistillate
flowers appear on the main axis and secondary
branches.
• The sex ratio ranges from 25-30:1 to 15:1.
• Influenced by high temperature, long days and high N,
promoting more number of staminate flowers.

14. Sex forms
• Hermaphrodite sex is considered as primitive
form, where only bisexual flowers are present.
• The advanced sex form is monoecious, where
staminate and pistillate flowers are produced
separately in the same plant.
Sex modification
• Venkatram(1967) reported beneficial effect of
increased female flower production by application
of TIBA, NAA and MH(200-500 ppm)where MH
was effective.

15. Anthesis and Pollination
• Anthesis takes place at early hours of the night and
anther dehiscence occurs simultaneously.
• Pollen grains remained viable 49-56 hours after
dehiscence.
• Stigma remained receptive from 20 hr before
anthesis to 51 hr after opening.
• It is cross pollinated where the extent of cross
pollination very from 60-80 per cent.

16. • The pollination is entomophilous and mostly by
bees.
• For maximum fruit set and seed yield, availability
of pollinators is a prerequisite.
• One bee colony per half hectare would be required
for seed production plots.

17. SEASON
• Seed crop should always be raised in seasons,
which remain dry at the time of seed maturity and
seed extraction.
• Summer season is preferred over rainy seasons for
raising seed crop.
Region of seed production:
• Deccan plateau of Telangana, north Karnataka and
Eastern Maharashtra and small parts of Tamil Nadu
are the regions of snake gourd seed production.

18. Seed rate and planting
• Pits are spaced at 1.5-2.0m in rows and dug at 0.75m
depth.
• Seed rate about 2.5g/ha.
SPACING
• long vined- Intra row-2m and Inter row -2m
• short vined - Intra row-1.5m and Inter row-1.5m
• It is cultivated by trailing on bower and pandals erected
at height of 1.5-2.0m
• Grows more vigorously and produces heavy yield a
strong bower would withstand weight of fruits and
foliage.

19. • Application of FYM of about 130kg/ha.
• 250kg Neem cake, 5kg Azospirillum, 5kg
Phosphobacteria and 6-7 kg of Pseudomonas
applied per hectare.
• N,P,K is applied at the rate of 180:240:250 kg at
the cropping period.
• About 90kg of N applied at basal and remaining as
top dressing.
• Spraying of Ethrel 200-250ppm at two true leaf
stage and after a week of 1st spray helps increase
female flowers.

20. Isolation
Under seed Act ,
It is the minimum isolation distance that has to
be maintained to separate the seed production plot,
from the fields of other variety , fields of same
variety not conforming to varietal purity
requirements for certification or wild cucurbit
species and other contaminants.

21. Isolation requirements
Contaminants Foundation
seed(m)
Certified
seed(m)
Open pollinated varieties
Fields of other variety 1000 500
Fields of same variety not
conforming to varietal purity
requirements for certification
1000 500
Hybrids 1500 1000

22. Field Inspection
• The objective of field inspection is to eliminate the
off-types for maintaining genetic purity.
• Rouging( removal of off-type plants) at different
stages are essential.
The stages are:
a) Before flowering
b) At the time of flowering
c) Fruit development stage
d) Marketable or edible maturity stage of fruit

23. contd..
In case of hybrid seed production, at least four
inspections are necessary :
i) Before flowering to ensure isolation, to detect
volunteer plants, demarcate seed parents and
pollinator block i.e.to determine the planting ratio.
ii) and iii) Flowering and fruiting stages to check
isolation, off-types, pinching of male bud in seed
parent block
iv) At maturity to verify true internal fruit
characters.

24. Genetic Purity and seed health standards
Factor Maximum permitted
Level(%)
Foundation seed Certified seed
Open pollinated varieties
Off –types 0.10 0.20
Objectionable weed plants None None
Hybrids
Off-types in seed parent,
pollinator parent,
pollen shedders in seed
parent(male sterile)
0.01
-
-
0.05
0.05
0.10

25. Varieties of snake gourd
KONKAN SWETA
• Developed at KKVP, Dapoli.
• Fruits 90-100 cm long, having whitish surface with
green stripes.
• Suits growing in Konkan regions of Maharashtra.
• Yields about 25-27t/ha in 125-130 days.

26. CO-1
• It is a selection, bearing long fruit 60-180cm with
white stripes, weighing 500-750g.
• Yields about 18 tonne/ha with a duration of 135 days.
CO-2
• It is a selection , bearing short fruits(30 cm length),
light greenish white.
• Yields about 35 tonne per ha, with a duration of 105-
120 days.
• Suitable for high density planting.

27. PKM-1
• A mutant with crop
duration of 145 days.
• Fruit weighs about 500-
800 g with length of 155-
170cm.
• Yields about 24t/ha.
MDU-1
• Hybrid between a long
fruited selection 1 and a
short fruited pannipudal.
• Plant is less spreading.
• Fruits green with white
stripes and medium in
length(70cm).
• Yields about 32t/ha in
143 days.

28. APAU Swetha
• Developed by APAU, Hyderabad.
• Fruits long having whitish background with green
stripes.
• Yield 28t/ha in 125-130 days.
TA 19
• It is new collection recommended by the KAU.
• Fruits are about 60cm long.
• At immature stage they are light green with white stripes
at the styler end.
• Average fruit weight 600g and the fruits are ready in 65-
70 days from sowing.

29. MANUSREE
• Developed by KAU.
• Uniformly white and
medium long(67.72 cm),
cylindrical fruits with
green markings at the
pedicel.
• Av.fruit weight 775.0 g.
yields around 32.5t/ha.
PLR(SG) 1
• Pure line selection from
white long type is
suitable for cultivation
under irrigated condition.
• Fruits has excellent
cooking quality due to
less fibre and high flesh
content and does not
twist due to maturity.

30. PLR( SG) 2
• Excellent cooking quality due to less fibre content.
• Fruits plumpy with attractive flesh colour.
• Single fruit weighs 600 g.
• Short fruit enables easy transportation.

31. Maturity
• It takes relatively less time for maturing compared
to other cucurbits.
• The maturity is also influenced by environmental
conditions and crop management.
• The physiological maturity is observed where 1/3
of fruit tip changes from yellow to red.
• Snake gourd takes around 65 days for maturing.

33. Seed Extraction
• Seed extraction in snake gourd is done by wet
method.
• The dried fruits are cut from one side and the seeds
come out from the fruit.
• Seeds are kept in soaked condition for overnight
that helps faster germination.
• Seeds soaked in 2% Bavistin for 6-8months helps
control fungal diseases.
• Fruit to seed recover is about 15-16%
• Seed yield of snake gourd ranges from 220-250
kg/ha.

34. Seed Storage
• Seeds stored should have moisture content not
more than 6-7 per cent.
• Dry seeds stored in air tight containers at about
5⁰C and 25% relative humidity.
• Silica gel can be added to absorb moisture.
• Seed viability lasts for more than 5 years.

35. Seed Borne Diseases
• Virus diseases like SqMV,CMV,CGMMV are
carried through seeds.
• Bacterial pathogens like
Pseudomonas syringae - Angular leaf spot
Xanthomonas campestris-Bacterial leaf spot are
seed borne.
• At the time of field inspection thorough checking
of diseased plants and their immediate removal
along with fruit is enforced.

36. Hybrid seed production
• Three steps are involved in F1 hybrid seed
production;
1.Development of inbred lines and their production
2.Testing of combining ability
3.Production of F1 hybrid seed.
Techniques of hybrid seed production:
• Hand emasculation and hand pollination
• Hand emasculation and insect pollination

37. contd.
• In snake gourd hand pollination is widely adapted.
• One pollination/fruit gives a high seed recovery of
200-300 hybrid seeds per fruit.
• The male and female plants grown in isolation and
male plant sown 15 days earlier than female plant.
• During pollination and fruit set any off-types
identified are removed from male parent.
• When female parent flowers hand pollination is
done and covered after crossing.

39. contd..
• Male buds are collected and moistened and stored
overnight for use in next day.
• Pollination is done using two male flowers on the
stigma of female parent by thoroughly dusting on
the stigma lobes.
• Enough to have 3 fruits (crossed) set per vine and
allowed for fully maturity.