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Popular Kheti
Volume -2, Issue-3 (July-September), 2014
Available online at www.popularkheti.info
2014 popularkheti.info
ISSN: 2321-0001

Quality Seed Production of Pumpkin

R. M. Ishwaree*, Abhishek Katagi and T. Chetan
K. R. C. College of Horticulture, Arabhavi -591 218, P. G. Centre Bengaluru, Karnataka
*Email of corresponding author: [email protected]

Pumpkin is one of the most important crops of family Cucurbitaceae. Pumpkin now
occupies a prominent place among vegetables owing to its high
productivity, nutritive value, good storability, long period of availability and better
transport potentialities. Seed production of pumpkin in India is still dominated by
locally available open pollinated cultivars. There is need to scientifically produce
quality seeds of Pumpkin.
Introduction
It is estimated that 70% area of different gourds including pumpkin and 60% area of melons is
covered by unidentified local varieties, although several improved varieties of pumpkin (Kashi
Harit, Pusa Vishwas, Pusa Vikas, CO-1, CO-2 and Ambili) are available. Hence, great scope
exists to improve the local cultivars by breeding and replace them with improved varieties and
hybrids. The main seed production area of pumpkin in India is West Bengal (West Midanpur
and Bankura), Karnataka (Ranebennur and Koppal) and U. P. (Allahabad and Faizabad).
Climatic Requirements and Sowing Time
Pumpkin is a warm season crop that grows best at 21 to 320 C. Freezing kills the plants and
cool weather below 160C slows or stops the growth. Pumpkin seeds germinate and emerge
within 3-4 days at a soil temperature and from 6 to 12 days at 200C. It has been well
documented that short days and low temperature condition favour the expression of female
flowers in all the cucurbits. Sowing in June-July and February-March ensured proper maturity
of both fruits and seeds. Early sowing is quite conducive for fruit and flower development.
Soil and Field Preparation
Pumpkin grows in a wide range of soil types but do best in well drained soils with good
physical characters and rich in organic matter. Careful irrigation management is required when
the crop is grown in clay-loam soil to obtain high yielding crops. Most cucurbits including
pumpkin are moderately sensitive to soil salinity, displaying a 50% yield reduction in the range
of EC 4 to 6 (mmhos/cm at 250C). The land should be free from volunteer plants. Field
preparation starts 3-4 weeks before seed sowing. Thorough soil preparation and leveling are
essential. Nearly 2-3 ploughing and planking is sufficient to obtain good tilth.
Sowing System and Seed Rate
Seeds of pumpkin should be sown on raised beds or furrow or trenches or pits. It is better to
train the plants on a bower system for increased seed yield. Trenches are prepared in well
prepared field at the distance of 4m. Generally, depth of trench is kept 20-30 cm with the width
of 40-50 cm. Near to these trenches pits of 60 x 60 x 60 cm size are dug and filled with well
decomposed FYM (4-5 kg per pit) and top soil. Generally, 3-4 g Furadan is mixed in the soil
and filled upto the height of 10 cm above ground. In case of raised bed, two seeds per hill
should be sown while; three to four seed should be sown in case of pit method. In case of early
sowing, sprouted seeds are sown on the ridges. The optimum plant spacing is 4 m between

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ISSN: 2321-0001

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rows and 60-80 cm between hills. Five to six kilogram seed is enough for sowing in one
hectare area. It is must to treat the seeds by adding 4g Thiram in 1 kg seeds. For summer
sowing it is also advisable to soak the seeds in water for 24 hours, wrap the moisten seeds in
wet gunny bag and keep for 3-4 days in warm place.
Manure and Fertilizers
Fertilizer requirement depends on the nutritional status of the soil. About 200-250 q/ha of well
rotten FYM should be added in the field. It should be mixed with the soil at the time of last
ploughing or applied to each pit during pit preparation as the case may be. Pumpkin seed crop
typically demonstrates on economical fertilizer response to 100-120 kg N, 80-100 kg P2O5 and
60-80 kg K2O per hectare. Half of N and full dose of P and K should be applied pre-plant in the
mound and the remainder 5 to 6 weeks after seedling emergence. Additional N should be
placed 20-25 cm from the plant row and about even with the bottom of the furrow as top
dressing after 25-30 says after sowing. Care must be taken not cause excessive damage to plant
roots. Irrigation water should be supplied shortly after applying the fertilizer to move it towards
the plant roots.
Thinning
When the seed is sown on hills, the plants should be thinned so that not more than three plants
are left standing on each hill. When sown along the furrows, the plants at each place are
thinned to one or two.
Irrigation
Pre sowing irrigation practice if there is insufficient moisture in the soil. It is better to delay
further irrigation for some time so that the root system may hardened and develop well.
Pumpkin seed field be furrow irrigated instead of flood irrigation, which considerably reduce
leaf and fruit wetting and check disease occurrence. Pumpkin has deep root system and
therefore requires less frequent irrigations. Irrigation should be stopped at least 15 days before
fruit harvest at full ripe stage. Regular irrigation at an interval of 5-7 days should be given.
Avoid the moisture stress during vine development, pre-flowering, flowering and fruit
development stages. In rainy season crop, irrigation may not necessary at all if rainfall is well
distributed between July to September.
Weed Management
The field should be kept free from weeds, especially in the early stages. Later on, rapidly
spreading vines suppress the weeds. It is desirable to stake this crop during the rainy season.
First weeding should be done at 15-20 days after sowing and second at 30-35 days after sowing
at the time of earthing. Frequent hoeing in the early stages is also desirable. The pre-emergence
application of Alachlor @ 2.5 kg a.i./ha can be used for weed control.
Pollination
Hence bees are the most reliable and cost effective agent to achieve pollination although 58 bee
species belonging to 29 genera and 6 families visit pumpkin crop. Both pollen and nectar are
produced in the staminate flowers and nectar in the pistillate flowers. Pumpkin flower open at
about 5.0 am and withers by 11-30 am. Bee pollination, therefore is most effective in the early
morning hours hence, any spraying should not be scheduled in the morning hours particularly
in the flowering span, which may deter the bees. Most authorities favour keeping one or two
beehives per acre when 5-10% plants have open flowers. Beehives should be placed in clusters
around the periphery of field, with additional hives placed inside the larger fields.

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Sex Expression
The sex expression and sex ratio are varietal characters. It is, however, modified by the
environment, lower fertility, higher temperature, longer light period all induce maleness.
Certain gases and chemicals also affect sex. Both auxins and anti-auxins at proper
concentrations modify sex. Gibberillic acid at higher concentrations induces maleness; but at
the lower concentration of 10 to 25 ppm increases the number of female flowers. Two sprays at
two leaf stages and again at four leaf stage with 25 to 100 ppm maleic acid, 100 ppm of NAA,
3 ppm ethrel, 3 ppm boron or 3 ppm of molybdenum can suppress the number of male flowers
and increase the number of female flowers, fruit set and ultimate yield.
Rouging
Rouging of off types, diseased plants, objectionable weeds, plants of other crops and
undesirable plants (wild type) from the seed crop throughout the growing season is a must to
maintain the true to type plants. There are four stages of rouging. The first is done before
flowering when vegetative characters are checked. The second stage is at early flowering when
morphology of the ovary is checked. The third stage is when the developing fruits are checked
for trueness to type, and the final rouging is confirming the external morphological characters
of the fruits to be harvested. Field inspections for rouging should be based on the stable
characters like leaf spot, length of peduncle, shape of peduncle, flaring of the peduncle, ovary
shape, matured fruit shape and rind colour of the matured fruit.
Off-type plants are usually detectable fairly early in most of the cucurbits. Bush type
plants in a variety, which normally has runners, or vice versa, is easily detected. Likewise,
even in varieties with similar vines, the early shape of the fruit and even the shape of the ovary
at flowering will sometime reveal on off-type plants. Although some damage may have already
resulted from cross pollination, such off-type plants should be considered as a unit. Through
some minor injury a fruit may be off-shape, but if the plant, from which it comes, as well as the
other fruits borne on it, is all true to type, the seed within the deformed fruit should be no less
satisfactory and hence should not be rejected.
Isolation
Maintaining proper isolation distance is a must for obtaining pure seed. The seed production
field should be isolated from other varieties/species, which are cross-compatible, the four
Cucurbita species namely; moschata, pepo, maxima and mixta are treated as a unit and some
intercrossing can occur among these species. Keeping the heavy and sticking nature of the
pollen in view, 1000 m and 500 m isolation distance is sufficient for foundation and certified
seed production, respectively.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
IPM depends on the judicious use of the agrochemicals, management of the pollinators,
production technology adjustments and tolerance level of pest management. Red pumpkin
beetle attack the plants at an early growth stage of plants. Fruit fly is one of the most serious
pests of pumpkin, which cause heavy loss. These insects can be controlled by adopting the
following schedule:
1. Expose the dormant pupae of fruit fly by deep summer ploughing.
2. Follow crop rotation incorporating non-cucurbitaceous crops.

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Maintain sanitation in the field through removal and destination of infested fruits
immediately after the initial infestation.
Spray Carbaryl 50 WP @ 2 g/lit. of water to control red pumpkin beetle at 2-3 leaf stage
Application of 0.1% Carbaryl at tender fruit stage (upto 5 days after fertilization) gives
excellent control of fruit fly.
Control of aphids in the early stage can effectively check the incidence of some serious
diseases like cucumber mosaic, cucurbit aphid borne yellow mosaic, zucchini yellow
mosaic, squash mosaic, etc. Cucumber mosaic virus can be controlled by:
Use of resistant varieties.
Elimination of weed hosts from the field.
Elimination of infected plants from the field.
Use of barrier crops like sunflower, sorghum and pearl millet.
Spraying of plants with Dimethoate (0.05%) or Nuvacron (0.05%) or Metasystox
(0.02%) at weekly intervals controls aphid population and the disease spread.

Integrated Disease Management (IDM)

Phytophthora root rot can be a problem early in the season and proper irrigation management
can often minimize this. Diseases like anthracnose, downy mildew, powdery mildew and leaf
spot attack the pumpkin crop. Adopt the following packages to produce quality seed of
pumpkin.
1. Select disease free healthy seeds.
2. Follow crop rotation.
3. Maintain field sanitation.
4. Maintain proper drainage and aeration.
5. Seed production should be carried out in summer to get disease free seed.
6. Treat the seeds with Thiram or Carbendazim @ 2.5g/kg seed.
7. Green manuring followed by soil application of Trichoderma @ 5 kg/ha in soil is
highly effective in checking most of the fruit rotting.
8. Apply Trichoderma @ 15 g/pit during sowing.
9. Foliar spray of Carbendazim @ 1 g/lit. or Chlorothalonil @ 2 g/lit. of water.
10. Spray the crop with wettable sulphur @ 2 g/lit. of water to control powdery mildew.
11. Collect affected fruits and burn them to reduce primary inoculum.
Harvesting and Seed Extraction
Pumpkin varieties take about 85 to 120 days (after seed sowing) to reach maturity. Fruits are
ready to harvest when fruits redden and seeds inside the shell break readily from the pulp.
Immature seeds adhere to pulp. The fruits are cut in half and the seeds scooped out. The seeds
are removed from the flesh by rubbing over a sieve, and finally winnowed to remove the light
matter. Seeds may be washed, if necessary, and dried in trays to safe moisture content of 6 to 8
percent and stored in a cool, dry place. In pumpkin seeds are embedded in the pulp and the
following methods are applied for seed extraction.
1. Mechanical Method: In this method machines like Axial Flow Vegetable Extractor are
used to separate out the pulp from seeds.
2. Chemical Method: In this method commercial HCl is used to separate the pulp from
seeds within 15-20 minutes. Thereafter the seeds are washed in water and dried to
prescribed moisture level.
Conclusion
Considering adequate crop and pollinator management practices, 3-4 q seed can be produced
from one hectare area.

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ISSN: 2321-0001