This presentation is done by Export Agriculture students of Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka as a requirement for the subject which is “Fruit & Vegetable Cultivation”. Note that the information included here is relevant to Sri Lankan condition.

1. PUMPKIN
Cucurbita maxima(L)
Group : N

2. Introduction
• Pumpkin is a nutritious vegetable vine plant
• Economically important part - Fruit
• Largest fruit in the plant kingdom
• warm-weather crop
• Origin- Central America
• Districts
Ampara
Anuradhapura
Moneragala

3. Cont’d
• Yield : 15000-25000kg/ha
• Cultivated area:9197 ha

4. Scientific Classification
• Kingdom Plantae
• Division Magnoliophyta
• Class Magnoliopsida
• Order Cucurbitales
• Family Cucurbitaceae
• Genus Cucurbita
• Species Cucurbita maxima(L)

5. Morphology
• Stem
– Vine
– Cylindrical
– Green colour
• Roots
– tap root system
• Leaves
– lobed with 3 or 5 lobes

6. Cont’d
• Flowers
– Monoecious
– Bright yellow color
– 5 petals
– female flower has a little pumpkin at the bottom
• Fruit
– spherical shape
– thick peel
– orange & green colour, containing pulp & seeds

7. Nutritional value (per 100 g)
Energy 109kJ
Carbohydrate 6.5g
Sugar 2.76g
Dietary fiber 0.5g
Fat 0.1g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A ( beta-carotene) 3100ϻg
Vitamin C 9mg
Riboflavin (vit.B2) 0.11mg
Thiamine (vit.B1) 0.05mg
Niacin (vit.B3) 0.6mg
Vitamin E 0.44mg
Potassium 340mg
Phosphorus 44mg

8. Uses
• Food
o Pumpkin curry
o Pumpkin pie
o Pumpkin soup
o Eggless Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

9. Cont’d
• Pumpkin oil seed
• Animal feed
• Recreational purposes during Halloween.

10. Medicinal Value
• anti-diabetic
• antioxidant
• anti-carcinogenic
• Pain killer
• Solution for bladder problems

12. Recommended Varieties
• ANK Ruhunu
• Local variety

13. Climatic Requirements
• Cultivated up to 500m AMSL
• Temperature - 27˚C
• ARF - 600-1000mm
• Long day plant

14. Soil
• Well drainage soil
• high amount of organic matter
• Optimum pH range is about 5.5-7.5

15. Management practices

16. Land Preparation
• Turn over the soil up to 20-30 cm depth
• Moderately rough texture is important
• Apply 5kg of decayed organic materials per pit and
mixed with top soil
• Fill the pits with this texture up to 10 cm height
• Seed Requirements
- Seed 1kg/ha

17. Cont’d
• Spacing
Ruhunu 2.5 X 2.5m
Local varieties 3 X 3m

19. Fertilizer Recommendation
• Fertilizer application (Kg/ha)
Urea TSP MOP
Basal dressing 75 195 60
WAP- Weeks After Planting
Top dressing 1
(4WAP)
75 - 60
Top dressing 2
(8WAP)
75 - 60

20. Irrigation
• Regular watering is important up to seed
germination
• After germination water should be applied once in
5-7 days

21. Weed Management
• Weeding should be done at three weeks after
germination
• Hand weeding is most suitable
• A mulch of straw can be used to prevent weed
growth

22. Disease Management
1. Downey Mildew
– Yellow colour, triangular shape spots appear on
the leaves
– Leaves turn in to brown colour and get wrinkled
– Ash colour spores are visible on lower parts of the
leaves

23. Cont’d
2. Powdery Mildew
– Fungal disease
– Leaves become yellow in colour
– White colour spores are visible on both sides of
the leaves
Control
Discard host plants and weeds
belongs to family cucurbitaceae

24. 3. Soft rot (Phythium spp)
– fungal disease
– Rotting is visible on lower portion of the stem
and on the surface of the fruits
Control
 Avoid high moisture and relative humidity
 improve soil aeration
 use recommended fungicides

25. 4. Mosaic Virus
– Green and yellow colour spots are visible on
leaves
– Leaves become curly and wrinkled
– Also patches appear on the leaves
control
 Destroy infected plants
 Control vectors like white flies by insecticide
application

26. Pest management
• Cucumber beetles
– Seedlings
– Vine
– Mature plant
• Gall fly
– Female gall fly lay eggs on small pods and
the larvae feed on flesh of the fruit
– Due to this damage the flower and pod drop
– Sometimes rotting of pods also occur

27. Cont’d
Control
 Cover the fruit with straw
 Use pheromones traps
 Destroy infected fruit

28. Harvesting
• Powdery appearance on the fruit is the best stage for
harvesting
Ruhunu 40 days after flowering
Local Varieties 60 days after flowering

29. Postharvest practices
• Matured fruit of pumpkin can be stored in dry place
for 6-8 months

30. Group members
• J.A.K.Dhananjaya UWU/EAG/11/0039
• P.M.Belpage UWU/EAG/11/0042

31. Thank you