Cucumber Production Technology In Pakistan | Agriproduction Marketing

 

Introduction:

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus), native of South Asia, belongs to cucurbitaceae family. Its cultivation goes back at lease 3000 years in India and 2000 years in China. Early travelers brought cucumber to Mediterranean countries 3000 to 4000 years ago. Cucumber plants were cultivated in UK in early fourteenth century, where the fruits were known as cow cumbers.

In agriculture changes have been widespread in land use and cropping systems. Land is now being used less for subsistence production and more for marketable crops. In cropping systems, the switch-over is from labour-intensive staples to high pay-off vegetables crops, which have been emerging as field activity with fairly extensive development and financial potentials in most of the areas in Pakistan. Cucumber is a popular vegetable all over the world. It is eaten in fresh and cooked forms. In Pakistan, it is mostly eaten fresh as salad with meal. It is cultivated through out the country as normal season in summer, off season in winter in frost free areas and under the plastic in the areas having severe frost occurrence. In hilly areas of Pakistan, it is grown as inter-crop with maize, potatoes and beans. It is also planted on the borders of the fields in the areas where land holdings are very small. It is potential commodity for export in the fresh and processed form. It is a cash crop and fits well in the cropping pattern in the country. Besides the traditional pattern of vegetables production in summer and winter seasons, another season of high value crops as off-season have been adopted by the growers in hilly areas of Pakistan, which are successfully marketed in large markets across the country with higher premium.

Climate:

In Pakistan, cucumber is grown round the year from sea level to 2500 meters successfully as profitable crop. This is the indication of the matter that this country has quite salubrious climate for cucumber production. As a warm season crop, it requires a long growing season and thrives under a vide range of environmental conditions but needs plenty of sunshine, comparatively cool nights with 15^oC to 20^oC temperatures and day temperatures between 25^oC to 30^oC for optimum production. Generally, seed germination is inhibited at temperatures below 15^oC and rapid at 25^oC to 30^oC. Cucumber crop is highly susceptible to frost and prolonged chilling.

Soil and land preparation:

Cucumber crop can be grown on almost all types of soils with a pH range of 5.5 to 7.5. However, the idle soil is sandy loam, which is preferred for early crop. Higher yields can be obtained from well-drained loamy, clay-loam, silt loam soils containing adequate organic matter. Poorly drained heavy soils are not suitable for cucumber cultivation. Special care should be taken while preparing the land for cucumber cultivation. Ploughing must be avoided when the soil is too wet, other wise large clods will be formed in heavier soil. Plough the soil when it is proper moisture conditions. A sample test to know the moisture condition is that the soil should be pressed in hand, if it crumbles, it is fit to plough. But if it retains the form, the land is too wet. The land should be ploughed 3.4 times. Planking should follow the ploughing. At the time of planting, the soil should be loose and friable.

Seed rate:

For any crop, seed rate depends upon inter and intra-row spacing in the field. Seed and varietal choice is the first step in the production planning of a crop. If it is of good quality and true to type, half of the battle of getting higher yield is won. Special care must be exercised in selecting variety and seed. About 400-500 gram seed is enough to plant one acre land under plastic.

Time and method of sowing:

Cucumber crop is usually planted in the field directly when the danger of late frost is passed. It grows quickly in warm weather, requiring less than 2 months from seeding to immature fruits. The time of planting varies from area to area. In Pakistan, the times of seeding in the field are as below:

Plantation area	Time of sowing
Plains (open field)	March to April
Plains (under plastic)	December to January (off-season)
Mid-hills (open field)	April to May (on season)
Mid-hills (under plastic)	End of January (off-season)
Frost free areas	July to August

Since cucumber seed germination is inhibited at temperatures below 15^oC and rapid at 25^oC to 30^oC. The seed should be planted under the plastic at time where the above temperature requirement is fulfilled. Otherwise, the planted seed will not germinate. The basic philosophy of the plastic tunnel is to provide the favourable environment internally for raising the inside temperature to get the seed germinated. This will enable the farmer to get the production 45-60 days earlier than the normal season. Cucumber crop is highly susceptible to frost and prolonged chilling.

Plantation:

The crop is seeded directly after the soil is well prepared. A row to row distance of 4-5 feet and plant to plant distance of 10 cm is maintained. Planting is done on 10-15 cm raised ridges. A 2-3 cm whole is made in the ridge with the finger to put the seed in and cover with soil.

Fertilizer requirements:

Farm yard and green manures are suitable for improving soil structure, water holding capacity and increasing aeration. Well rotten and dry animal manure should be applied at the rate of 8-12 ton per acre during land preparation in order to get high yield. Generally, the application of balanced fertilizers plays a vital role in getting higher yields from almost every crop. Cucumber crop is highly responsive to fertilizers. The recommended dose for cucumbers is; 1 bag Urea, 1.5 bag DAP and 1 bag Potash per acre. Half of the urea should be mixed with the DAP and potash applied at the time of sowing while the remaining urea should be applied  at the time of earthing-up.

Irrigation:

It is not possible to grow cucumber crop with out irrigation. The crop on sandy soil should be irrigated after 6-7 days in warm season and on heavier soil it should be irrigated after 10-12 days. Over irrigation must be avoided as it causes wilting in the crop.

Weeding and hoeing:

Cucumber field must be kept free of weeds all the time as weeds provide opportunity to insects and diseases to breed and groom in it, which attack the crop. Weeds reduce yields drastically. It should be eradicated before getting well established. Early 2-3 hoeing will keep the field clean enough. Earthing up to the crop should be done with the first hoeing and the remaining urea should be applied.

Disease and insect pest management:

Cucumber suffers from numerous bacterial, viral and fungal diseases. Disease attacks cucumber crop at every stage of development, right from germination to fruiting. Reliable productivity and quality of cucumber is dependent upon adequate pathogen control. For controlling these diseases, good quality seed should be used and field should be kept clean from weeds. As the symptoms of disease appear, sprays of contact and systemic fungicides should be done on regular basis to control it. The incidences of diseases and insects are separately discussed below:

Diseases:

In diseases, fungal, bacterial and viral types of diseases attack cucumber, which cause severe losses to the crop. In fungal diseases the common ones are damping off, fusarium fruit rot, powdery mildew and fusarium wilt. Its treatment and symptoms are given below:

Damping off:  In damping off seedling turns dull green in colour. A water soaked lesion occurs at the soil line and the seedlings wilt and collapse. Damping Off occurs worldwide and it tends to occur due to over crowding, high soil moisture and poor aeration. Seedlings in the nursery are most susceptible to damping off during the first few weeks after emergence. For the control of this disease, Aiette @ 1.0-1.5 gram or , Ridomil Gold @ 2.5-3.0 gram should be sprayed. one of the fungicides should be sprayed 

Fruit Rots: Fruit rot disease occurs worldwide. Symptoms vary depending on weather and disease causing organism. For reducing the severity of the disease, avoid injury to and direct contact of the fruit with the soil. Spray either, Ridomil Gold, Success or Acrobate MZ @ 2.5 to 3.0 gram/litre of water on the crop

Powdery mildew: All cucurbits are susceptible to powdery mildew disease. The first signs of the disease appear as pale yellow spots on stems, petioles and leaves. These spots enlarge, become covered with white spores and appear powery. However, powdery mildew is very serious disease of cucurbits. For the control of this disease, Topsin M, Kumulus @ 2-2.5 grams/litre of water or Thiophenatemethyle @ 3 gram /liter of water should be sprayed as the disease appears. 

Verticillium Wilt: The disease can affect all cucurbits. The first symptoms are wilting and yellow v shaped areas ath the leaf edge. Also a cross section through a node near the base of the plant may reveal darkening of the water conducting tissue. Any one among the above mentioned fungicides should be sprayed on the crop in the initial stage of the disease appearance.

Bacterial wilt: This disease attacks cucumber crop severely. Initial symptoms appear as dull green and wilted areas on leaf. Later more leaves and branches wilt. The bacterial wilt organism is carried in the digestive system of both the spotted and striped cucumber beetles. The beetles become the sources of transmitting the disease by chewing on infected tissues and then feeding on healthy plants. For the control of these diseases copper based fungicides like Copperoxychloride Champion, Cobox, Copride Clipper @ 2.5 to 3 gram/litre of water should be sprayed. However, the best way to eliminate the disease is to control the beetles, which is its source.

Soft Rot:

At first a soft water soaked area of the fruit is affected which develops very quickly into a complete softening and watery breakdown of the entire fruit. Soft rot often follows a physiological disorder, such as poor pollination or other fruit rot diseases.  Soft rot occurs most commonly under  hot and wet or humid conditions. Losses due to soft rot can be reduced to some extent by harvesting carefully to avoid injury and by cooling fruit quickly after harvest. Moreover, a regular spray programme which has been explained in the diseases control programme would also help in minimizing the incidence.

Cucumber Mosaic:  In viral diseases, the most common virus, which attacks this crop, is cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), which can be controlled with the control of aphids and white flies through the sprays of confidor @ 0.5-1.0 ml/litre of water.

Insects:

The most common insects, which attack this crop, are aphids, beetles, white flies and cutworms. These can be controlled with the sprays of insecticides with specific methods in accordance to the nature of insect pest. Management decision should be taken as insect pest cross the economic injury levels.

Aphids:  These insects occur worldwide. These soft-bodied insects are 1-2 millimeters long, green or flesh-coloured, with or without wings. They damage plants by sucking sap from leaves or stems. Symptoms of aphids attack are wrinkling and curling of leaves downward. Since aphids move for plant to plant, they can transmit viruses. For effective control of aphids, spray Confidor @ 0.5-1.0 ml/litre of water.

Cutworms:  These insects are nocturnally active insect and found every where in the world. They are about 50 millimeters long. The black cutworm cuts stems near the soil surface and the armyworms consume leaves of a plant. Cutworm can be controlled with the application of Cypermethrin @ 3 ml/litre of water on the crop in heavy wattar conditions the evening or it should be applied with first irrigation.

Beetles: Many species of beetles are known in the world, which attack cucumber crop. They eat leaves of the plants and inflict considerable losses to the crop. As the attack appears, the crop should be sprayed with Karate and Lambda cyahalothrin @ 2.5 ml/litre of water.  

Harvesting and postharvest handling:

The fruit should be harvested for market when it reaches to edible maturity. In order to get maximum return, the produce should be washed and marketed immediately after harvesting. It should be packed in plastic shopping bags, plastic knits,  baskets; made of mulberry sticks. The baskets should be covered with a piece of old gunny bags. Cucumber can be stored for 1-6 weeks, depending upon cultivar and storage conditions. However, it can be stored easily for 2 weeks at 3.4^oC and 85-90% relative humidity.