Method of seed production

Method of seed production

    • Ash gourd (Benincasa hispida cogn) is otherwise called wax gourd.
    Varieties
    • CO1, CO 2, APAU Shakthi and S 1.
    Season
    • January – February and June - July
    Seed rate
    • 1.5 kg / ha
    Seed treatment
    • Seeds soaked in KNO3 @ 1 % for 12hr are found to improve the germination.
    Spacing
    • 45 x 45 x 45 cm at 2.5 x 2 m, sowing of three seeds per pit at 2cm depth
    Manuring
    • 100 g of the mixture (6:12:12) per pit as basal and 10 g N / pit 30 days after sowing.
    Foliar application
    • Maleic hydrazide @ 400 ppm at 2 leaves and 5 leaves stages enhances the seed yield and quality or ethrel @ 100-200 ppm at weekly intervals from 4 leaves stage for 4 times.
    • During the course of fruit development apply urea 12 kg / ha, super phosphate 4 kg/ha, potash @ 2 kg /ha and micronutrients 400 g / ha.
    Irrigation
    • After sowing pits should be irrigated. After the seedling emergence, field should be irrigated once in a week.
    Weeding
    • In ash gourd, one or two manual weeding is necessary before the flowering stage.
    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
    Leaf cutting beetles and fruit flies and borers
    • Spray Malathion 50 EC 1 ml or Dimethioate 30 EC 1 ml or Fenthion 100 EC 1 ml/lit of water.
    Powdery mildew
    • Spray carbendazim 0.5 g or Dinocob 1 ml/lit of water.
    Harvest
    • Fruits can be harvested 80-85 days after anthesis when stalk becomes dry and ashy coat prominent.

    Optimum stage of harvest
    Figure 1. Optimum stage of harvest

    Seed extraction
    • Fresh fruits can be used for extraction. On fresh extraction immature seeds can be removed as floaters.
    • Cutting the fruits into longitudinal bits and soaking in concentrated HCl acid at 1 part acid in 6 parts water for 30 minutes and wash the seeds with water 2 to 3 times to remove the acid.

    Seed Extration
    Figure 2. Seed extraction

    Grading
    • Using 16 / 64" round perforated metal sieve or BSS 4 x 4 wire mesh sieve grade the seeds.
    Storage (Fruit & seed storage)
    1. Half matured fruits available at the last harvest can be removed and stored over sand bed at ambient conditions. On dry storage seed develops and can be used for seed extraction. It Facilitate early field release.
    2. Fruits weighing not less than 2 kg without bruishes and proper protection from insect pathogen and rodents can be stored over sand for more than 6 months. The loss in fruit weighing amount to 35% with germination of 80-90%
    3. Seeds should be dried to 8% moisture and treated with thiram 4 g kg-1 of seeds or halogen mixture 5 g / kg and stored in moisture vapour proof container for longer storage.

Last modified: Monday, 25 June 2012, 4:42 AM