The botanical name of Tinda is Citrullus vulgaris Schrad var. fistulousus; it is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family.
Varieties: Annamalai and Arka Tinda.
Soil: Sandy loam rich in organic matter with good drainage and pH ranges from 6.5-7.5. The crop requires a moderate warm temperature.
Season and sowing: Sow the seeds on one side of the channel during January-February.
Seed rate: 3.5 Kg/ha.
Treat the seeds with Trichoderma viride 4g or Pseudomonas fluroscens 10 g or carbendazim 2g/kg of seed. Thin the seedlings after 15 days to maintain two per pit at 0.9 m spacing.
Preparation of field: Plough the field to fine tilth and form long channels at 1.5m apart.
Irrigation: Irrigate the field before dibbling the seeds and thereafter once in a week.
Application of fertilizers: Apply FYM 10 t/ha, N 20 kg/ha as basal and N 20 kg/ha 30 days after sowing.
After cultivation: Hoe and weed thrice.
Plant protection
Beetles: Spray malathion 50 EC 1 ml/lit at weekly intervals.
Fruit fly
1. Collect the affected 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. Expose the pupae by ploughing.
4. Use polythene bags, fish meal trap with 5 gm of wet fish meal and 1 g of dichlorvos in cotton, 50 traps are required per hectare. Fish meal and dichlorvos impregnated cotton are to be renewed once in 20 and 7 days respectively.
Do not use DDT, lindane 1.3% dust, copper and sulphur dust, as these are phytotoxic.
White fly: Spray Neem Seed Kernal Extract 5 %.
Yield: 10 t/ha in 90 days.
