How to Grow Spine Gourd from Seed to Harvest

Spine gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb.) is a perennial vegetable belonging to the Cucumber family (Cucurbitaceae). Once we plant, we can harvest for many years. Agagakara itself is called “Bodakakara” and “Bonthakakara” in Telugu. In Hindi “Junglikarela” is called “Kakrol”, in Sanskrit “Karkotaki” and in English “Spine gourd”. Grows in high hilly areas and forests of all the states of our country. It grows mainly in forest areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra.

Grows naturally in the forest areas of our state. The tribals collect these from the forested hilly areas during the monsoon season and sell them in nearby markets and towns. In recent times, farmers are cultivating these vegetables in large areas in both Godavari districts. These vegetables fetch high prices in big cities. So farmers can earn high profits by cultivating this vegetable.

Agakara is a perennial, creeping vine. It has separate male and female plants. The first part of the root becomes fat like sweet potato. The leaves are cylindrical and have 3-4 leaflets. Flowers are yellow in color and the fruits are about the size of a lemon, 2.5-6.3 cm long, and the fruits are smooth. Greenish in color, the ripe fruit is orange in color and the seeds are covered with a red pulp.

The tender fruits are used as a vegetable. Agakara roots are used for the prevention of diseases related to digestive and urinary system. The oil from the seeds is used in paints and varnish industries.

Varieties:

1 KG of seeds Contains approximately 2500 seeds
Spine Gourd Seed Germination time is 7 to 10 Days

No distinct varieties have yet been identified. Vines yielding 2 kg per plant can be selected for good varieties and tubers can be collected from such vines and planted.

Weather:

High rainfall, high heat, high humidity climate is very suitable for spine gourd cultivation. Forest areas and high hilly areas of Khammam, Adilabad, Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts of our states are Perfect.

Soils:

Red soils, fertile sandy soils are suitable. It can also be cultivated on hilly red soils with little depth of stones.

Soil preparation:

The soil should be plowed well. 30x30x30 cm holes should be dig at a distance of one meter between two rows and one meter between two plants in a row.

Seed Per Acre:

Seed Rate: 8-10 kg of seed is required per acre.
Harvesting: Harvest the fruits 2-3 times a week.
Yield: 8-10 t/a

Seed:

It is best to observe when the vines are covered and when they ripen, and collect tubers from well-ripened female plants and plant them. Seeds can be collected from ripe fruits and sown by seed but the germination percentage is only 27-30 percent. Also, three-quarters of the plants that come are male plants and only one-fourth are female plants. So about 8-10 kg of seed is required per acre.

If strong 5-node strong vines are cut from effective growing female vines and their tips are dipped in ‘Ceradex-B’ hormone powder and planted in raised pits, roots will emerge. In the year of planting, they should be planted in the field in June of the next year, after their roots turn into tubers.

Planting time:

If the seeds are sown in the last week of ‘May’, they will germinate in 40-45 days. If it is the same tubers, it should be planted in the first half of June. Cattle dung, phosphorus and potash fertilizers should be added to that hole and tuber should be placed in the middle and the upper part of the stem should be placed parallel to the ground and filled with soil and compacted tightly.

After that if the soil is covered with grass and watered, the moisture will not dry out and the seedling will grow well. One male plant should be planted for every 10 female plants.

Harvesting, Yields:

Fruits ripen from last week of August to end of October. Harvest the fruits 2-3 times a week. Be careful not to break the vines while cutting the fruits. Even in normal weather the fruits will last for 3-4 days.