Bottle Gourd Cultivation Income (Kaddu); Project Report

Bottle gourd cultivation 1 acre Income, project report, yield

Guys, today we will be discussinmg Bottle Gourd cultivation income in acre planting. Bottle gourd ( Lagenariasiceraria) is the most important crop in India belongs to cucurbitaceous family. Day by day its cultivation under pendal system is gaining popularity. Bottle gourd is grown in the area of 116939 ha with annual production of 1428296 tonnes in India. In Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Telangana, Assam, Tripura these are the to 10 bottle gourd growing states in India.

Bottle gourd is a most commonly grown vegetable in India. The fruits of bottle gourd can be used as a vegetable and for making sweets (e.g. halva, kheer, petha and burfi) and pickles. Bottle gourd is easily digestible, even by patients. Decoction made from the leaf is a very good medicine for curing jaundice. The fruit shows a cooling effect.

Seed rate for bottle gourd cultivation 1.3-1.6 kilo grams per acre. From 1 acre bottle gourd cultivation farmer can reap out the yield of 80 quintals normally however, this scenario can change by  using hybrid seed where the yield potential may increase up to 150-160 quintals per acre.

As per the recent market update one quintal of bottle gourd fetching around Rs.1700. Now, in this article we will look into the Bottle gourd cultivation profits in 1 acre of land in India.

Climate for Bottle gourd cultivation:

Bottle gourd cultivation needs combination of different types of climatic conditions. Bottle gourd is a warm season vegetable crop mainly grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the country. Temperature of 24 to 27°C is optimum for the bottle gourd cultivation. High rain fall during the cultivation of bottle gourd may increase the incidence of pest and diseases. Sandy loam soils with rich in organic matter were suitable for bottle gourd cultivation. 6-7 P.H in soil is suitable for the cultivation of this crop.

Bottle gourd varieties 

• Pusamanjari
• Punjab Komal
• Pusa Hybrid 3
• Varad
• Pusasandesh
• Pusamegadoot
• Arkabahar
• Samrat
• Pusa summer prolific long
• Pusa summer prolific round
• Kasha bahar
• Kasha ganga
• Pusa Naveen
• Pusasamridhi

Cost of cultivation for 1 acre Bottle gourd cultivation

Cost of seed material:

For cultivation of 1 acre bottle gourd farmer has to spend around Rs. 7,000-6,000 on seeds.However there might be difference in cost of seed material depending upon the variety, availability, company and quality. Here we will take Rs.6000 as an average seed material cost

Cost of land preparation:

For Bottle gourd cultivation land should be ploughed 3 times before sowing and we have to dig the pits of 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm size at 2.5 x 2 m spacing. Various systems of sowing can be adopted depending upon the season, crop and system of cultivation. In garden soils, furrows are made at 2-3m. Sowing is done on the top of the sides of furrows and the vines are allowed to trail on the ground. For all these operations it may costs around Rs. 8000 per acre for ploughing and digging the pits.

Cost of sowing:

Bottle gourd can be grown both as summer and rainy season crop. For rainy season crop sowing can be carried out during the months of June- July, for summer season crop sowing can be done during December –January. Sowing in 1 acre requires on an average 3-4 labour. It may cost around Rs.900-1200 if we pay Rs. 300 for single labour. Here we will take Rs. 1,000 as an average cost for sowing one acre bottle gourd.

Cost of weeding:

In the starting stages before they start vining, the beds, ridges, etc. requires to be kept free from weeds. Hand weeding should be done carefully so that the root system is not damaged.Weeding can be done by hoeing as and when necessary. Chemicals like Alachlor, Butachlor will effectively controls the weeds. Spraying of borax will increase the number of female flowers thus increase the yield. Weeding operation may cost around Rs. 3000 along with chemical sprays for weed control and hand weeding.

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Cost of training:

Growing vines should be trained for this we have to tie the growing tips of vine to the GI wire placed 2-3 meters above with the help of thread. One acre of bottle gourd field can be trained with the help 3 labour which costs around Rs.900. Cost of the thread is Rs.1,000

Fertilizer cost:

In general 8-10 tonnes farm yard manure should be incorporated during the last ploughing. Bottle gourd requires 40:40:20 kg nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium per acre, and there will be need of spraying other chemicals like micronutrients etc. This may cost Rs.4,000. Nitrogen should be divided into two parts and it has to be applied in two split doses. Cost of farm yard manure will be Rs.20,000. However it varies depending on the availability.

Cost of pesticides:

Chemicals sprays are necessary for the control of various pest and diseases during the all crop growth stages, on an average it requires more than three sprays depending upon pest and diseases incidence. This will cost around Rs.5,000-7,000. We will take Rs.6,000 as an average.

Cost of miscellaneous activities:

This may include interest over capital which is Rs.3000, depreciation cost for the pendals Rs.5,000 if we consider 20 years as the life span of pendals, depreciation on drip Rs.2,000, cost of family labours Rs.20,000, irrigation and electricity cost Rs. 2,000.

Cost of harvesting and loading:

Bottle gourd comes to harvesting after 50-60 days after sowing and pickings lasts up to 90 days after sowing. It takes around 12-15 days after fruit setting to reach the marketable maturity. Fruits should be picked for every 3-4 days. In cucurbits number of harvestings will be high compared to other crops. So cost of harvesting and loading will be near around Rs.7,000.

Transportation cost:

The harvested produce has to be marketed at nearby markets so transportation charges may vary up to Rs. 4000.

Total cost of 1 acre Bottle gourd farming:

 Total cost incurred in 1 acre Bottle gourd cultivation:

Total cost of cultivation involved in Bottle gourd cultivation was Rs.92,900 in addition if we assume extra 10 % cost to the various activities total cost of cultivation will be around Rs.1,02,190.

Income returns from 1 acre Bottle gourd cultivation:

Farmer can get an average yield between 150-160 quintals from 1 acre land if hybrids were used. If we consider 150 quintals as an average yield and market price for quintal of Bottle gourd is Rs.1,700. So farmer can get a total income of 2.55 lakhs in one acre of Bottle gourd.

Net profit from 1 acre Bottle gourd farming:

It is the result of difference between total returns and total cost incurred in cultivation. Then it will be like this:

Rs.2,55,000-Rs. 1,02,190 = Rs. 1,52,810.

Therefore the farmer can get net income of Rs.1,52,810 from 1 acre Bottle gourd cultivation.There might be little differences in costs depending upon the various factors like market, labour demand, climatic conditions and incidence of various pests and diseases etc.

Conclusion:

Thus it can be concluded that bottle gourd cultivation is highly profitable during summer as well as rainy season if the farmer takes proper care and pest management in the bottle gourd crop.

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