Performance of some local cultivars of Pumpkin of Karbi Anglong in North Bank Plain Zone of Assam
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Date
2021
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Abstract
The present investigation entitled “Performance of some local cultivars of
Pumpkin of Karbi Anglong in North Bank Plain Zone of Assam” was carried out at the
Instructional Cum Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, Biswanath College of
Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University, Biswanath Chariali during 2019-20 with
three objectives viz., i) To study morpho-physiological performances of different
Pumpkin cultivars, ii) To study the yield and quality of different Pumpkin cultivars and
iii) To document the incidence of pest and diseases. The experiment was laid out in
RBD with three replications and seven treatments. The cultivars viz., T1, T2, T3, T4, T5
and T6 were collected from Karbi Anglong and T7 was collected locally from a farmer
of Garahagi, Biswanath Chariali. Seeds were sown on prepared beds on 29 November,
2019.
The cultivars were significantly different in respect of morpho-physiological,
phenological, yield and quality parameters. Among the treatments, T3 produced the
significantly highest vine length (447.62 cm and 532.77 cm at 90 and 120 DAS,
respectively), number of primary branches per plant (7.86 and 8.86 at 90 and 120 DAS,
respectively), number of functional leaf per plant (147.65 and 141.42 at 90 and 120
DAS, respectively), leaf area per plant (3.88 m2
and 3.71 m2 at 90 and 120 DAS,
respectively), Specific leaf weight (22.87 mg/cm2 and 18.01 mg/cm2 at 90 and 120
DAS, respectively), total leaf chlorophyll content (2.18 and 1.53 mg g-1 fw at 90 and
120 DAS, respectively), chlorophyll stability index (71.95% and 69.56% at 90 and 120
DAS, respectively) and relative water content (83.99% and 74.14% at 90 and 120 DAS,
respectively) while, they were lowest in T6. On the other hand the highest fresh weight
of leaf (23.08g and 21.72 g at 90 and 120 DAS, respectively) and dry weight of leaf
(6.48 g and 5.28 g at 90 and 120 DAS, respectively) were produced by T1 while they
were lowest in T6. The longest duration to appear the first male flower (60.22 days) and
female flower (72.07 days) were recorded in T7, while the shortest duration (53.31 days
and 62.02 days for male flower and female flower, respectively) were recorded in T3.
Similarly the highest male: female flower ratio (17.89) was recorded in T7, while the
lowest was observed in T3 (11.37). In contrast, T4 took shortest duration (121.77 days)
and T7 took the longest duration (133.88 days) to first harvest. Again the number of fruit
per plant was highest in T3 (5.03) and lowest in T7 (2.25). Whereas individual fruit
weight (3.06 kg), fruit diameter (19.81 cm), pulp thickness (4.87 cm) and number of
seeds per fruit (563.12) were recorded highest in T7 while they were lowest in T6. The
highest fruit yield per plant (7.99 kg) was recorded in T3 and the lowest in T6 (4.27 kg).
The treatment T3 produced highest significant fruit yield (26.63 t/ha) and T6
produced the lowest (14.23 t/ha). The TSS (8.39 obrix) and ß-carotene content (6.05
mg/100g) were highest in T3 and lowest in T6 (5.16 obrix and 4.25 mg/100g for TSS and
ß-carotene, respectively) while ascorbic acid content (5.18 mg/100g) was highest in T7
and lowest in T6 (3.48 mg/100g). No serious incidence of pest and diseases were
observed during the period of investigation. The experiment, therefore revealed T3 as
the best cultivar among all cultivars tested which could be well cultivated in North Bank
Plane Zone of Assam.