Ash Gourd(Benincasa hispida cogn.); Cucurbitaceae

CO 1, CO 2, TNAU Ash Gourd Hybrid CO 1

Varieties : 2.5 kg/ha.
Hybrids : 1.50 kg /ha

Hydropriming for 24 h with seed to water ratio of 1:4.

Treat the seeds with Trichoderma viride @ 4g/kg or Pseudomonas fluorescens @10g/kg before sowing.

A deep loamy soil with pH range of 6.5-7.5 is suitable

Plough the field 3 – 4 times. Dig pits of 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm at a spacing of 2 x 1.5 m and form basins.

For varieties, apply FYM @ 10 kg/ pit along with 100 g of NPK mixture (6:12:12) per pit as basal and 10 g N/pit as top dress on 30 days after sowing.


Hybrids          Apply NPK @ 200:100:100 kg per hectare.
Basal Dose : 50% of N&K and full of P
Top dressing : 50% of N & K, 30 DAS

Irrigate the basins before dibbling the seeds and thereafter once a week.

Application of ethrel at 250 ppm at 2 leaf stage and 5 leaf stage enhances female flower production.
Seeds attain physiological maturity at 80 – 85 days after anthesis when fruit stalk becomes dry and ashy coat on the fruit surface is prominent. Under sized fruits should be rejected.

 

Varieties : 30 – 35 t/ha
Hybrids : 80-90 t/ha

Matured fruits can be stored over sand bed at ambient condition.

Nursery raising
In hi-tech horticulture, use 12 days old healthy seedlings obtained from shade net
houses for planting. Raise the seedlings in protrays having 98 cells. Use well decomposed
cocopeat as medium. Sow one seed per cell. Water regularly twice a day. Transplant about
12 days old seedlings in the main field

Apply 60:30:30 kg of NPK/ha throughout the cropping period through split application. 75% of phosphorus is applied through superphosphate as basal dose.

Ash gourd (Hybrid)
Recommended Dose: 200:100:100 kg/ha
Crop Stage Duration
in Days
Fertilizer
Grade
Total
Fertiliz
er
(kg/ha)
Nutrient Supplied % Requirement
N P K N P K
Crop
establishme
nt
10 19:19:19 +
MN
13-0-45
Urea
26.81
11.00
29.03
5.00
1.43
13.35
5.00


5.00
4.95

10.00 5.00 10.0
Sub
total
19.78 5.00 9.95
Vegetative 30 12-61-0
13-0-45
Urea
12.28
66.00
109.00
1.47
8.58
50.14
7.50



29.70

30.00 7.50 30.0
Sub
total
60.19 7.50 29.70
Flower
initiation to
first picking
30 12-61-0
13-0-45
Urea
12.28
44.00
115.00
1.47
5.72
52.90
7.50



19.80

30.00 7.50 20.0
Sub
total
60.09 7.50 19.80
Harvesting 45 19:19:19 +
MN
13-0-45
Urea
26.31
78.00
97.52
5.00
10.14
44.86
5.00


5.00
35.10

30.00 5.0 40.0
0
Total
duration
115
days
Sub
total
60.00 5.00 40.10
Total 200.06 25.0 100.0 100 25 100
*75% RD of Phosphorus applied as superphosphate = 469 Kg/ha.
1. 19:19:19 = 53 kg/ha
2. 13:0:45 = 199kg/ha
3. 12:61:0 = 25 kg/ha
4. Urea = 351 kg/ha

For Leaf miner – Liriomyza trifolii,
Red pumpkin beetle – Aulacophora foveicollis,
Aphids– Aphis gossypii,
Thrips– Thrips palmi,
White fly – Bemesia tabaci,

Pumpkin caterpillar – Diaphania indica and
Fruit fly– Bactrocera cucurbitae,
Spray cyantraniliprole 10.26 OD @1.8ml/lit. or Azadirachtin 0.03%


Aphids and jassids
Imidacloprid 70 WG                                              1.0g/10lit.


Fruit borers & Caterpillars
Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC                                  2.0ml/10lit.
Red Spider mite
Dicofol 18.5 EC                                                       2.0ml/lit.
Fruit fly
 Collect the affected fruits and destroy.
 The fly population is low in hot day conditions and it is peak in rainy season.
Hence adjust the sowing time accordingly.
 Expose the pupae by ploughing.
 Install cucurbit fruit fly trap @ 4/ acre
 Neem oil @ 3.0 %
Do not use copper and sulphur dust, as these are phytotoxic

Apply neemcake @ 30g/plant as spot treatment 10 days prior to sowing. Soil application of P. fluorescens @ 2.5kg/ha

Powdery mildew
 Spray dinocap @ 1 ml/l or carbendazim @ 0.5 gm/l
Downy mildew
 Spray mancozeb or chlorothalonil @ 2 g/l twice at 10 days interval
CIB recommendation
 Spray ametoctradin + dimethomorph 20.27% w/w SC @ 0.04%

Crop Growing districts                          Erode, Coimbatore, Villupuram
Major markets in Tamil Nadu             Periyar Vegetable Market, Koyambedu, Chennai Natchipalayam vegetable market, Coimbatore Preferred Varieties and hybrids          Co 1 and Co 2

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