Studies on Methods of Pollination for Hybrid Seed Production of Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Poir.)

摘要

Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Poir.), is an important member of cucurbitace family and is grown extensively during kharif and summer season across India, for tender immature and mature fruits. Its fruits are consumed in cooked form and also used for preparation of sweets. The flowers and fruit juice has many medicinal values. India is the second largest producer of pumpkin in the world after China [11. Pumpkin, squash and gourd are grown in India over an area of 0.36 million ha, which is highest in theworld with the production of 3.50 million tones [1]. The average productivity of pumpkin, squashes and gourds is about 9.72t/ha in India, which is lower than the average world productivity of 12.7t/ha. The average productivity of pumpkin, squashes and gourd in Israel and Netherland is over 45.0t/ha, with the highest average productivity of 55.0t/ha in Netherland [1]. The higher productivity in these countries is due to the coverage of maximum area under hybrids where as OP varieties occupied major areain India. Pumpkin are being cultivated by resource poor farmers through self-saved seed. In order to enhance the productivity and make it comparable with the developed countries, the development of hybrid and supply of quality hybrid seed plays a vitalrole.