Bitter Gourd Project Report, Cultivation Cost, Profit (Karela)

 A step by step guide for Bitter Gourd farming project report

Today, we discuss the bitter gourd project report (Karela farming project report), cost of cultivation of bitter gourd and profits of bitter gourd farming. We explain to you in detailed economics of bitter gourd cultivation in India.

Bitter gourd (Momordicacharantai) is a vegetable crop which is famous for its unique bitter taste which is rarely present in other vegetable crops. They are the rich source of proteins and vitamins especially vitamin c. There are many advantages of bitter gourds in our daily life. They are used for cooking, making various juice recipes and medicinal properties too. In addition, the roots and stem of the bitter gourd plants are also used for making various ayurvedic medicines. The area under bitter gourd crop cultivation in India is increasing rapidly from the past ten years. The area under bitter gourd crop cultivation is around 99,000 ha and the production rate is 1204 MT per ha. The annual yield across the country is 12.16 MT per ha during the year 2018 – 19according to Indiastat source from Ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare, Govt. of India.

Bitter gourd is mostly cultivated for the vegetable purpose. It is a climbing vine type plant with supports in agri farms. It is cultivated in almost all the states of the country. Bitter gourd seed rate is 2 to 2.4 kg per acre. Yielding starts from 55 to 60 days after sowing and it continues for up to 75 to 80 days. Harvesting can be done for every 3 to 4 days from the first day of harvesting. The farmer can get yield up to 4 ton per acre. They are further graded based on the quality and size of the field before marketing at the nearest vegetable market if necessary.

List of Bittergourd varieties

Bitter gourd varieties

• Pusadomousami
• Coimbatore green long
• white long
• ArkaHarith
• Pusavishesh
• DK 1
• Priya
• Mahyco green long
• Other local bitter gourd varieties

Hybrid Bitter gourd varieties

• MBTH 101
• MBTH 102
• SS 431
• Arkaharit
• Pusa hybrid 1
• Pusavishesh
• SS 432
• BIT 711
• Preethi MC 4
• Priyanka
• CoBGh 1
• Konkan Tara
• Phule green
• Hirkani
• ShwethaPoonam
• Shreya
• Prachi
• Paali
• Other private company hybrid bitter gourd varieties

Cost and the seed rate of bitter gourd per acre:

The required seed rate of bitter gourd to sow in 1-acre is 2 to 2.4 kg. It is less for hybrid bitter gourd varieties. It is for Rs. 500 per kg for local variety whereas it is Rs. 1500 per kg bitter gourd hybrid seed. Therefore, the cost of bitter gourd seed per 1 acre is Rs. 1,500 for local variety and Rs. 4,500 for hybrid bitter gourd seed. However, in this post, we will let you know the cost profit guide for 1 acre local bitter gourd farming.

Cost of seed treatment:

Seed treatment is done with 3 grams thiuram for 1 kg seed and biocontrol agents like Trichoderma and Pseudomonas where it incurs Rs. 500 for seed treatment of bitter gourd.

You may be interested in Tomato Farming in Winter.

Cost of intercultural operations:

Intercultural operations include weeding, irrigating the plants and other activities where it incurs about Rs. 2,500 as it is for laborers engaged for intercultural operations.

Cost of fertilizers:

As compared to other crops, these vegetable crops require less number of micro and macronutrients. However, it is mandatory to apply macronutrients as well as micronutrients like Ca, Mg and Bo. Fertilizers cost about Rs. 1,000 to apply for 1-acre bitter gourd field.

Cost of pesticides:

Bitter gourd is the vine plant that is susceptible to both insect pests and disease-causing pathogens. Insecticides like imidacloprid and chlorpyrifos are sprayed in order to control insect pests and fungicides like sulfur fungicides and metalaxyl are sprayed I no order to control disease like powdery mildew, wilts, Downey mildews, etc.such type of insecticides and fungicides cost about Rs. 3,000 in 1-acre Bitter gourd farming.

You may also like Bottle Gourd Farming, Planting, Care, Harvesting.

Cost of wiring:

As bitter gourd is a climber plant and requires support from the seedling stage, supports like threads with poles are constructed within the 1-acre fields which cost up to Rs. 5,000 per acre which can be used for the preceding crop.

Cost of miscellaneous:

these include labor cost like 2 labors for every 15 days which is about16 laborers for 4 months up to final harvesting that costs Rs. 4,000. In addition, other miscellaneous costs are included like mulching cost, drip irrigation cost, and other costs. Let us consider it as Rs. 5,000.

The total cost of 1-acre Bitter gourd farming (In Indian Rupees)

• Cost of bitter gourd seeds: 1,500
• Cost of seed treatment: 500
• Cost of intercultural operations: 2,500
• Cost of fertilizers: 1,000
• Pesticides cost: 3,000
• Cost of wiring: 5,000
• Harvesting cost: 3,500
• Marketing cost: 3,000
• Miscellaneous costs: 5,000

Total cost in 1-acre bitter gourd farming: Rs. 25,000

      Therefore, to cultivate one-acre bitter gourd farming by a farmer, it costs him around Rs. 25,000. Let us consider costs as “C”.

Income returns in 1-acre bitter gourd farming:

      The farmer can sell the bitter gourd at the nearest vegetable market at the price of Rs. 40 per kg on an average as on 10^th July 2019. He gets a total yield of 4 ton or 4000 kg. Therefore, the farmer can get up to Rs. 1,60,000. Let us consider it as ‘B”.

Net profits in one acre Bitter gourd farming

Net profits in 1-acre bitter gourd farming: It is the difference between the total cost of one-acre bitter gourd cultivation and the income returns in it. Therefore it is B-C i.e., Rs. 1,60,000 – Rs. 25,000 = Rs 1,35,000.

Hence, the farmer can earn around Rs. 1.35 lakh if he goes for one-acre bitter gourd cultivation in his own land. In addition, he also gets many more benefits if he does organic bitter gourd farming in one acre. Check out our article regarding organic farming or organic vegetable cultivation.

You may also like Solar Subsidy, Loan Schemes for Agriculture.

Some facts of bitter gourd farming:

Bitter Gourd is popularly known as karela and can be grown all around the year. However, the best season for growing bitter gourd in India is summer and rainy season.

Bitter gourd can be grown commercially in greenhouse, polyhouse. Home gardeners can try growing this vegetable in pots, backyards even on the terrace.

Bitter gourd plant care is very much essential and you should provide proper support for vines to be grown. Choose well-drained sandy loam soils for good yields.

Bitter gourd is a short living perennial plant and can climb to a height of 10 to 15 feet.

Bitter gourd seeds take 1 to 2 weeks to germinate when planted on the ground.

The best sowing season of bitter melon is 8 weeks before the last frost.

Bitter gourd plant takes around 3 to 4 months to produce the green fruits after plantation. Leave the fruits on the vine, if you are growing for seeds. However, the fruit producing time of bitter melon depends on the variety. Usually, the hybrid bitter gourds take less time.

Conclusion: This is all about profits from 1-acre Bitter gourd vegetable farming. For any queries of bitter gourd project report, comment us below.

You may be interested in Growing Lemon Tree in Pots at Home.