Kerala agri varsity develops a new hybrid variety of salad cucumber

Salad cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a dietary ingredient in uncooked or cooked veggies served with lunch or evening meal. It is a multipurpose crop for rising either less than open up problem, shaded situation or guarded cultivation less than shade-web or poly-property.

Although standard cucumber variety ideal for rising less than open up problem deliver equally male and woman bouquets, these Parthenocarpic hybrids ideal for rising less than poly-residences deliver only woman bouquets and all these bouquets acquire into fruits devoid of pollination.

Having said that, business creation of Parthenocarpic cucumber hybrids carried out in the company sector by greenhouses has built the seeds dearer to farmers with its rate ranging concerning ₹4 and ₹6 for every seed, states T Pradeepkumar, Head of Section of Vegetable Science, Kerala Agricultural College (KAU).

Polyhouse cultivation

To make it a financially rewarding agri-venture, he mentioned KAU has released a new hybrid variety — KAU Parthenocarpic Cucumber Hybrid-one(KPCH-one) — ideal for poly-property cultivation. The breeding strains generated by KAU could make out there fruits at an very affordable price of ₹1 for every seed.

According to him, the recently-produced cucumber is ideally suited for poly-property cultivation, as the fruit is harvested in immature phase and vertical peak of the poly-property framework can be utilised for the creation of far more selection of fruiting nodes.

Prices and Returns

In India, cucumber is grown over a few lakh hectares with a industry price of ₹60 crore for seeds equally hybrid and standard. The Parthenocarpic cucumber hybrid is specialty section and its profitability has attracted several younger farmers to go for its cultivation. A 10 cent poly-property can produce five tonnes with a return of ₹3 lakh in 4 months at a offering rate of ₹60 for every kg, Pradeepkumar additional.

KPCH-one was produced by the College with a targeted breeding programme in 2011. It was notified for Kerala by the Central Seed Committee in 2019. This is the only public sector hybrid in Parthenocarpic cucumber hybrids notified in India.

These new cucumber hybrids are now the most sought-soon after variety of farmers in Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Quite a few upcountry farmers have presently started on line procurement of seeds from KAU.

Moreover, the agricultural universities in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka have presently executed trials with this hybrid variety and located it to be superior to business hybrids in the non-public sector, Pradeepkumar mentioned.