The botanical name of Pumpkin is Cucurbita moschata Poir.; it belongs to family 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 (5 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 g as basal and 10 g of N per pit after 30 days of planting.
After cultivation: Hoe and weed thrice. Spray Ethrel 250 ppm (2.5 ml per 10 lit of water) four times at weekly intervals commencing from 10 to 15 days after sowing.
Pests and diseases
Beetles and caterpillars: Spray malathion 50 EC 1 ml/lit. or dimethoate 30 EC 1 ml/lit. or methyl demeton 25 EC 1 ml/lit. or fenthion 1000 EC 1 ml/lit.
Fruit fly
1) Collect the damaged fruits and destroy.
2) The fly population low in hot day conditions and it is peak in rainy season. Hence adjust the sowing time accordingly.
1) Plough the field to expose the pupae.
2) Use polythene bags fish meal trap with 5 gm of wet fish meal + 1 ml. dichlorvos in
cotton. 50 traps are required per ha, fish meal + dichlorvos soaked cotton are to be
renewed once in 20 and 7 days respectively.
Do not use DDT, lindane 1.3% dust, copper and sulphur dust. These are phytotoxic
Diseases
Powdery mildew: Spray Dinocap 1 ml/lit or Carbendazim 0.5 g/lit.
Downy mildew: Spray Mancozeb or Chlorothalonil 2 g/lit twice at 10 days interval.
Yield: 18-20 t/ha in 140 days.
