Long Melon underexploited cucurbit veg.pdf

Underutilized cucurbit vegetable

1. Advances in production technology of Long melon
Production of underutilized vegetable crops
Course code- HVSC 0509
Presented by
Perumalu Bhuvaneswari
Reg no- 230805200005
MSc (Horti.)Vegetable science
Presented to
Dr. Subhrajyoti Chatterjee
Assistant Professor

2. Long Melon
•Long melon popularly known as kakri and Tar.
•It is valued for tender fruits which are eaten raw along with salt
and pepper.
•Some of them are used in the form of salad, cooked as
vegetables, and preserved in the form of sweets.
•It has cooling effect on our body.

3. Botany
•Scientific name: Cucumis melo var. utilissimus Duthic and
fuller
•Family : Cucurbitaceae
•Origin : India
•Chromosome no : 2n=24

4. Floral biology
•Plants are monoecious in nature. Corolla is showy, yellow in
colour.
•Petals are 5 in number, united, stamens are attached to calyx
tubes. Ovary is inferior.
•The period of bud developmental stage is completed within 12-
15 days in male and within 11-13 days in female bud.

5. Soil requirement
•Deep well drained soil with sandy or sandy loam texture is
suitable.
•The pH of the soil should be between 5.8 to 7.5

6. Climate
•Warm season crops.
•Grow well at day temperature between 25-35℃.
•It cannot tolerate frost and strong winds.
•Low temperature and high relative humidity stimulate the
development of female flowers.

7. Improved varieties
•Arka sheetal
–A selection from a collection IIHR–3 from Lucknow. Fruits are non
bitter, tender with crisp texture and delicate aroma. Duration of crop
90-100 days.
• Karnal selection
- Fruits tender, light green, long thin, flesh crisp with good flavor.
•Punjab long melon-1
–Early maturing variety. It gives an average yield of 86qtl/acre.

8. Arka Sheetal Karnal selection

9. Institution Name of Variety
•IARI, New Delhi Pusa Utkarsh
•IIHR, Bengaluru Arka Sheetal
•PAU, Ludhiana Punjab long melon-1
•G.B. Pant University of agriculture and
Tech, Pantnagar
Pant long melon-1

10. NURSERY RAISING
•Raised on soil-less media in plastic portrays having cells of 1.0-
1.5 inch size.
•Cocopeat, vermiculite and perlite is used in 3:1:1 ratio as media.
•1 kg seeds is sufficient to raise the nursery for one acre.
•Seedlings are ready for transplanting within 12-15 days.

11. Seed rate and Sowing time
•It is summer season crop. It is mainly
grown in the month of February to March
(open field condition).
•The seed rate of long melon is 2-2.5
kg/ha(open condition).

12. Sowing method and spacing
•Hills are made on the inner side of the ridges of the sowing
channels.(open condition)
•For better germination , the sowing channels should be irrigated two
days before sowing.
•4-5 seeds are sown in hills.
Spacing:
•Between channels - 200- 250cm
•Spacing between hills - 60-90 cm

13. Nutrient management
•Besides N:P:K @ 40:60:40 kg per hectare(open condition)
should applied at the time of sowing.
•Nitrogen at the rate of 20kg per hectare should also be top
dressed when plant starts bearing.

14. Irrigation
•Irrigate the crop once in 4-5 days (open conditions) during
summer depending upon the soil and weather condition.
•Provide Irrigation at every alternate days 1-2 hours in protected
cultivation.

15. Intercultural practices and weed control
•Two shallow hoeing should be done before spreading of vines
to control weeds.
•Apply Fluchloralin or Trifluralin (0.75 – 1.5kg/ha) as pre plant
soil incorporation at two weeks before sowing.

16. Harvesting and Yield
•The fruits are picked when they are still tender-about one-third
or one-fourth their full size.
•The fruits do not keep well for more than one day, so they
should be disposed of promptly.
•For pickling, fruits are harvested when full size but still
immature.
Yield:
The yield of long melon is about 350 – 400 quintal/ha (open
condition).

17. Plant protection practices
1. Powdery mildew
•Symptoms
•It is caused by Erysiphae cichoracearum
and E fuliginea.
•The powdery mildew on the foliage and
green stems is characterized by the
appearance of tiny.
•White to dirty grey spots. They become
powdery as they enlarge.

18. Control
•Blue copper/Blitox (0.4%) or Dithane M-45 (0.2%) has also
been recommended to spray at 8 days interval.
•About 3-4 sprays will be enough.
•The cucurbitaceous weeds should not be allowed to grow near
cultivated field of these vegetables.

19. 2. Downy mildew
• It is caused by Pseudopernospora
cubensis.
•It becomes serious during latter part of
the rainy season.
•On the lower sides of these spots a
purplish downy growth appears in moist
weather.

20. Control
•Badly affected vines or leaves should be removed.
•Spraying of fungicides can control the disease. Dithane M- 45
(Maned), Dithane Z- 78 (Zineb) and Tricop – 50 are some of
the fungicides recommended for spraying.
•Spray thrice Blue copper blitox (0.4%) at 8 days interval.

21. 3. Fusarium wilt
•The fungus is seed-born as well as a persistent soil
inhabitant. Seedling injury is high at 20-30℃ temperature.
•Germinating seeds may rot in the soil.
•When very young seedlings are invaded, they may damp-
off or die or be stunted in growth.

22. Control
•Follow crop rotation of 10 years.
•Treat the seed with Benlate or Bavistin (2.5 g/Kg seed).
•Bavistin (0.1%) or JK stein (0.1%) or Dithane M-45 (0.2%) or
Blitox (0.5%) can also afford partial control.

23. C. Viral diseases
•In older plants symptoms appear first on younger leaves.
These are alternate green and yellow patches on the leaf.
•Internodes of stems are shortened, thus dwarfing the plant.
•Young fruits are rough, mottled and deformed.

24. Control
•Only virus free seeds should be used for sowing.
•All the infected plants should be eradicated from the field.
•Spray insecticides such as Thiodan (0.1%) or Metasystox
(0.1%) or Dimecron (0.05%) or Dimethoate (0.05%) at 10 days
interval to control vector population.

25. Insects
Aphids
•Turn leaves yellow and stunt
shoots
•Transmit viruses from plant to
plant
•Control
•Monitoring
•Spray Malathion @ 2-3 ml/lit