1. The document discusses advances in production technology for cucurbit crops such as cucumber, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, and sponge gourd. It covers their introduction, nutritional value, commonly grown types, cultivation practices including climate, soil preparation, manure and fertilizer use, and sowing. 2. Harvesting techniques and post-harvest storage conditions are described for different cucurbit crops. Important vegetable varieties are listed along with their traits. Production constraints and the role of plant growth regulators in inducing flowering and increasing yields are also covered. 3. Experimental findings on the effects of seed orientation on bottle gourd germination and yield, and the influence of growth regulators on

1. Advances in Production Technology Of
CUCURBITS
Presented by – Vivek Yadav
Dept. Of Horticulture
School Of Life Sciences
Sikkim University
CUCUMBER, BITTER GOURD, BOTTLE GOURD,SPONGE GOURD,

2. INTRODUCTION
Botanically – ‘Pepo’
Family- Cucurbitaceae
Largest group of Summer Season crops
More then 20 vegetables of this group are grown in India
Nutrients in Cucurbits:
Vitamin A and calcium : Pumpkin, Squash
Vitamin C : Muskmelon. Bitter gourd
Iron : Bitter gourd
Protein and Edible oil : Pumpkin, Squash, Muskmelon, Watermelon. Cucumber

3. Commonly Grown Cucurbits
Category Crop Scientific Name Edible part Chromosom
e number
Annual Monoecious Watermelon Citrullus lanatus Ripe fruit 22
Muskmelon Cucumis melo L. Ripe fruit 24
Snap melon C. melo L. momordica Duth. -do- 24
Netted melon C. Melo L. var. reticulatus -do- 24
Cucumber Cucumis sativus L. Immature fruit 14
Bottle Gourd Lagenaria siceraria -do- 22
Pumpkin Cucurbita moschata Ripe fruit 40
Ash gourd Beninacasa hispida Immature fruit 24
Summer squash Cucurbita pepo. L. Immature fruit 40
Winter squash C. Maxima Duch. Ripe fruit 40
Perennial Monoecious Chayote Sechium edule Immature fruit 28
Perennial Dioecious Pointed gourd Trichosanthes anguina L. -do- 22
Kakrol Momordica cochincchinensis -do- 28
Ivy Gourd/little Coccinia grandis L. -do- 24

4. Classification
Salad
Cucumber
Long melon
Dessert fruit
Musk melon
Water melon
Vegetable (Cooked)
Bottle gourd
Bitter gourd
Ridge gourd
Sponge gourd
Preserved form
Petha
Pointed gourd

5. Cultivation : Climate
Mainly warm season crop.
Tropical and sub tropical region.
Vegetable forcing- river bed
cultivation (winter).
Day temperature b/w 25-350 C.
Can’t tolerate frost and strong wind.
Low temp high humidity stimulates
female flower.

6. Soil and field Preparation
• Deep, well drained soil
• Sandy to sandy loam.
• pH 5.8-7.5
• Ploughing- 2/3- fine-tilth.
• Sowing channels- 3.5m long
30cm wide, 30cm wide 15cm
high ridges on either side of
channels.
Soil
and
field
5.8-7.5
2/3
Ploughing
Channels
30cm

7. Manure & Fertilizer
• 25-30 t/ha FYM after first ploughing.
• Fertilizer mixture
• In shallow furrows made in the
showing channels
Cucurbits
Kg/ha
N 80-100
P2O5 60-80
K2O 40-60

8. Nutritional requirement of cucurbitaceous crops
Crop FYM (t/ha) Fertilizer
(Kg/ha)
N P2O5 K2O
Muskmelon 20-30 80-120 60-80 40-50
Watermelon 30-40 80-100 50-80 40-80
Roundmelon 10-15 50-100 30-50 30-100
Bottle gourd 15-20 50-100 50-75 30-60
Bitter gourd 20-25 50-100 40-60 30-60
Ash gourd 20-25 50-100 50-60 50-60
Pointed gourd 25-30 80-100 50-60 40-50
Pumpkin 15-20 80-120 50-100 30-80
Cucumber 25-30 50-100 25-75 24-50
Source : Fageria, M.S. ,Choudhery, B.R., 2002. vegetable crops production technology vol II. P.176 Kalyani publishers Noida UP.

9. Sowing
Crop Season Seed rate kg/ha Fruit yield t/ha
Watermelon Summer 3-4 30-50
Muskmelon Summer 1.5-2.0 15-20
Cucumber Summer/Rainy 1.5-2.0 25-30
Bottle gourd --do-- 4.0-5.0 30-40
Ash gourd --do-- 4.0-5.0 30-40
Bitter gourd --do-- 5.0-6.0 15-20
Summer squash --do-- 4.0-6.0 40-50
Pumpkin --do-- 4.0-5.0 20-25
Cucurbits
 For better germination, the sowing channels should be
irrigated two days before showing.
 Maintenance of 10-15% male population in Dioecious
like Kakrol, kartoli, ivy gourd and pointed gourd.
 Chow-chow – viviparous
 Pointed gourd – stem cutting (6000-7000 cutting/ha)
 Ivy gourd/ Coccinia stem cutting require trellis.

10. I/C operations
Cucurbits
Irrigation : once in 4-5 during summer
depending on soil condition. In rainy season
irrigation depends on rain.
Thinning : 10-15 days after sowing. Only 2
seedlings in each hills.
Weeding : 2shallow hoeing before spreading of
wines.
Pre emergence Butachore
Chloramban
Post emergence Naptalam
Dressing : with nitrogen (25kg/ha) at 30-35
days after sowing.

11. River bed cultivation
• Cucurbits are sown in the month of October and
November.
• The trenches or pits are made at 2.5-4 m
spacing.
• Depth of trenches depends upon the depth of
retention of soil moisture.
• Before showing trenches are manured with
FYM.
• Grass stubbles- (Dec- Jan)
• sand drifting
• Protection against chilling
winds
• Covering of sand
Vegetable forcing is being used in India
where cucurbits are grown in the river-
beds during winter season.

12. 3-3.5m
30-50cm depth
10-15cm Hill
PLANTS
IRRIGATION CHANNEL
PATH
RIVER BED CULTIVATION

13. Cucurbitaceous vegetable

14. Harvesting
• Cucumber, bottle gourd, bitter gourd,
tinda, snake gourd, ridge gourd,
sponge gourd, and parwal.
Still young
Tiny hairs
Seed inside fruit is soft
Before it turns to yellow
Cucurbits
Pumpkin: fully ripe
Ash gourd/ Wax gourd : attains full size
Muskmelon: climacteric fruit fully slip and half slip
stage
Watermelon: non climacteric
 Dull at fruit axil
 Withering of tendrils
 Ground spot- yellow colour
 Rind of melon emits a crisp
 Decrease in fruit weight

15. Cucumber variety Institute Salient feature
Japanese Long Green IARI REG RES. Stn.
Katrain
Early , green Skin
Straight eight --do-- Early, suitable for Hills
Pusa Sanyog --do-- Early, high yielding
Poinsette NSC R- powdery mildew,
Downy mildew
Priya IAHS Co. Dark green,25cm long R-
Bottle gourd variety
Punjab
Ins. Salient Feature
Arka Bahar IIHR High yielding
Pusa Summer Prolific Round IARI Long fruits, high yielding
Pusa Meghdoot --do-- Long fruit
Pusa Manjari --do-- Rounded fruited variety
Pusa Naveen --do-- Straight fruit, heavy
yielder, summer and
rainy
Punjab Long PAU 200q/ha

16. Important variety
Crop Variety Institute Salient Feature
Bitter
gourd
Arka Harit IARI Spindle shaped, small size,
smooth regular bits
Arka Sumeet --do-- Av. Fruit wt. 380g, less seed
Arka Sujat --do-- Light green, tol. Downy mildew
Pusa Vishesh IARI Dwarf vined Variety
Solan Safaid UHF Solan Low and mid hills 4-6cm thick
Sponge
Gourd
Pusa Chickni IARI Early mat., spring summer and
rainy
Pusa Supriya IARI Pale green, medium green
Ridge
Gourd
Pusa Nasdar --do-- Early, club shape, light green
Pusa
Sadabahar
--do-- Long, thick, ridged
IIHR-8 IIHR Round, wt. 100g, tol- downy
mildew
Satputia --------- Hermaphrodite, small fruit
Round
gourd
Arka Tinda IIHR Early summer season
Bitter gourd & Ridge gourd, Sponge gourd

17. PRODUCTION
CONSTRAINTS
• Excess of staminate flower and low
Fruit set
• Chemical spray
• Avoid over irrigation
• Unfruitfulness
• Maintain of desire population of female
• Avoid chemical spray in morning.
• Delayed ripening
• Adjust sowing time
• Withhold irrigation at ripening stage.
Cucurbits

18. Role of PGR in Cucurbits
Crop PGR Effects Remark
Bottle gourd MH @50-150ppm Induction of female flower
Ridge and sponge
gourd
IAA@20-220ppm
NAA@25-100ppm
induction of female flower
Water melon TIBA@25-250ppm induction of female flower
Musk melon Etheral @250ppm Female flower production
Musk melon
(gynoecious line)
Silver Thiosulphate @300-
400ppm
Induction of female flower 2-4 true leaf
stage
Cucumber Ethrel @150-200ppm Female flower
Cucumber
Gynoecious line
Silver nitrate@200-300 Male flower
Silver Thiosulphate
Amino etoxyvinyl glycine@50-
100
Male flower
Pumpkin Ethephon@250ppm Female
Summer squash Etephone @250ppm Temporarily suppression of
male flower
For complete
600ppm

19. Storage
Crop Temperature rH % Storage life weeks
Bitter gourd 0.6-1.7 85-95 4.0
Cucumber 10.0-11.7 92 2.0
Musk melon 1.7-3.3 85-90 1.5
Pumpkin 10.0-12.0 70-75 24-36
Winter squash 12.8-15.6 70-75 24-36
Water melon 7.2-15.6 80-90 2.0

20. Experimental finding
EFFECT OF GROWTH REGULATOR IN BITTER
GOURD

21. Effects of Seed orientation and on
Germination, Seedling vigor
and yield in Bottle gourd, Lagenaria
siceraria
This study was conducted to determine the
appropriate sowing depth and seed orientation
for a good germination, seedling vigor and best
yield. Four orientation (vertical with the
extremity of the seed upward (VU); or with the
extremity of the seed downward (VD);
horizontal with the seed on the side (HS); with
the seed on the flattened face (HF)) were
tested. According to seed orientation,
germination was better in horizontal position,
but the best seedling vigor was recorded with
vertical position VD. The highest grain yield
was obtained in vertical position VU.
Kevin et al., 2015

22. Influence of plant growth
regulators on earliness, sex
expression, fruit and seed yield in
bitter gourd at different
growth stages
Kumar et al, 2009

23. Effect of growth
regulators on sex
expression of the female
parental lines of bitter
gourd
Ghani et al , 2015

24. Interaction of Bacillus Subtilis and
Trichoderma Harzianum with Mycorrhiza
on Growth and Yield
ofCucumber (Cucumis Sativus l.)
Hadi Mahdi Aboud et al. 2014

26. Thank you