Hi go through he following
Pumpkin: Cucurbita moschata Poir.; Cucurbitaceae
Varieties: CO 1, CO 2, Arka Suryamuki and Arka Chandan.
Soil
Sandy loam rich in organic matter and with good drainage. The pH range from 6.5-7.5 is found ideal.
Season and sowing: June- July and December- January. Soak the seeds in double the quantity of water for 30 minutes and incubate for 6 days. Sow the seeds (3 seeds/pit) treated with Azospirillum just before sowing and thin the seedlings to two per pit after 15 days.
Seed rate: 1.0 kg /ha.
Spacing: 2 m x 2 m. Pit size 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm.
Application of fertilizers
Apply 10 kg of FYM (20 t/ha) and 100 g of NPK 6:12:12 mixture as basal and 10 g of N per pit after 30 days of planting. Apply Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria @ 2 kg/ha such and
Pseudomonas 2.5 kg/ha along with FYM 50 kg and neem cake @ 100 kg before last ploughing.
After cultivation
Hoe and weed thrice. Spray Ethrel 250 ppm (2.5 ml per 10 l of water) four times at weekly intervals commencing from 10 to 15 days after sowing.
Quality seedling production
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.
Fertigation
Apply a dose of 60:30:30 kg NPK/ha throughout the cropping period through split application. Apply 75% of the phosphorus as superphosphate as basal dose.
Pests and diseases
Beetles and caterpillars: Spray Dichlorvos 76% EC @ 6.5 ml/10 l or Trichlorofen 50% EC @ 1.0 ml/lit.
Fruit fly
1) Collect the damaged fruits and destroy.
2) The fly population is low in hot day conditions and it is peak in rainy season. Hence adjust the
sowing time accordingly.
3) Plough the field to expose the pupae.
4) Use polythene bags fish meal trap with 5 g of wet fish meal + 1 ml dichlorvos in absorbent
cotton. 50 traps are required per ha, fish meal + dichlorvos soaked cotton are to be renewed
once in 20 and 7 days respectively.
5).Neem oil @ 3.0 % as foliar spray as need based
Do not use, copper and sulphur dust. These are phytotoxic
Diseases
Powdery mildew: Spray Dinocap 1 ml/l or Carbendazim 0.5 g/l.
Downy mildew: Spray Mancozeb or Chlorothalonil 2 g/l twice at 10 days interval.
Yield: 18-20 t/ha in 140 days.
Regards
Harish
