Seed Production of Vegetable, Tuber and Spice Crops

Method of seed production

Bitter gourd (Memordica charantia L) is also called as Balsom pear.
Varieties

• CO 1, MDU 1, Pusa Visesh, Pusa Do Mausami, VK1 Priya, Arka Harit, Konkan, Preethi
Hybrids

• CBGH 1, Pusa Hybrid 1
Season

• June-July and January - February.
Sowing

• Sowing pre-germinated seeds to maintain optimum field population, the seeds are soaked in water for 24 hours. Then place the seeds in moistened sand and cover the seeds with sand and left for 3 days. Maintain the sand in wet condition. After 3 days the seeds with protruding radicle are separated and used for sowing.

Figure 2. Good quality seeds Ill filled seeds

Seed rate

• 1.8 kg /ha
Spacing

• 45 x 45 x 45 cm at 2.5 x 2 m, sowing of three seeds per pit at 2cm depth micropylar end facing upward is favorable for better field emergence.
Manuring

• Application of 10 kg FYM per pit
Top dressing

1. Urea 22 g / pit during 1st flowering.
2. Urea + potash 18 + 5 gm/pit at 20 days after flowering.
3. Urea 18 gm + potash 5 gm/ pit at 40 days after flowering.
Foliar application

• Spraying ethrel 200 ppm from 4 leaves stage onwards at one week interval for four times.
Weeding

• Field has to be maintained clean by frequent hand weeding in order to remove objectionable weed species like Mimordica balsamina. L., M. cochinchinens and M. diocia ex wild.
Main field maintenance

• Each plant has to be provided with stacking 20-25 days after sowing for training the vines over the pandal. Training operation has to be carried out daily until the fruiting stage.
Irrigation

• Irrigated the crop before dibbling the seeds and thereafter once in a week.
Roguing

• During vegetative, fruit formation and fruit harvest phases, roguing is attempted based on plant characters like height of plant, leaf shape, size, surface of leaf and fruit characteristics like length of fruit, size, shape and colour.
Plant protection
Pests

• Beetles, fruit flies and caterpillars: Spray malathion 50 EC 1ml/lit or dimethoate 30 EC 1ml/lit or methyl demeton 25 EC 1ml/lit or fenthion 1000 EC 1ml/lit. Avoid copper and sulphur dust since these chemicals cause injury to the plants.
Diseases
Powdery mildew

• Spray Dinocap 1ml/lit or Carbendazim 0.5 g/lit.
Downy mildew

• Spray Mancozeb or Chlorothalonil 2 g/lit twice at 10 days interval.
Harvest

• The harvest starts from 60-65 days after sowing and matured fruits can be harvested once in a week.
  
• The fruits with yellow or yellowish orange colour should be harvested for seed extraction.

Figure 3. Optimum stage of harvest


Seed extraction

• Fruits are cut longitudinally and the seeds are removed along with mucilaginous material and then the seeds are washed with water.

Figure 4. Separation of seeds

Drying

• The seeds are dried under shade for one or 2 days followed by drying under sun to reduce the moisture content 7-8% for storing in cloth bag and 6% for moisture vapour proof containers.
Grading

• For grading the seeds BSS 4 x 4 size sieves are used
Storage

• Seed treating chemicals captan or thiram 4 gm /kg of seeds or halogen mixture @ 5 g/kg of seeds is recommended.