Bitter Gourd Farming by Pandal Technique

If the cultivation of vegetables is done in the right and advanced way, then good profit can be earned from it. The chances of getting damaged by diseases and pests are also less. Farmer N Vijayakumar from Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu has achieved success by cultivating bitter gourd with the pandal technique. Seeing him, other farmers in the area have also started cultivating bitter gourd in the same way.

Pests and Diseases harmed the crop

Farmer N.K., a resident of Periyakuppam village in Tiruvannamalai district. Vijayakumar has 5 acres of land. He cultivates vegetables and grows paddy in 3 acres and 2 acres of land respectively. In vegetables, Chichinda (snake gourd), bitter gourd and ridge gourd are mainly cultivated. He mainly depended on the cultivation of these vegetables for the family’s income. But gradually the production started decreasing, and the cost also started increasing. Outbreaks of pests and diseases caused heavy losses.

Help received from Krishi Vigyan Kendra 

Vijayakumar contacted the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in his district. KVK team reached Vijayakumar’s village and visited his farm. His field was then selected for front-line performance. The advanced techniques of bitter gourd cultivation in his farm were demonstrated. Apart from this, he also attended a training organized by KVK on Pumpkin cultivation through the pandal system. He collected information by visiting several horticulture research centers.

Production of an advanced variety of Bitter Gourd by Pandal Technique 

On the basis of the knowledge gained in the training and on the strength of his confidence, he started cultivating Abhishek, a hybrid variety of bitter gourd. Cultivated bitter gourd with pandal system in one acre. He adopted the Integrated Plant Nutrition System. In this system, more focus is on foliar nutrition. Besides this, special emphasis was laid on the use of pheromone traps, yellow sticky traps, etc. The effect of the use of advanced technology was soon visible. The yield of bitter gourd was 452 quintals per hectare, which was about 28.90% more than the yield of other farmers of the same area.

How much Income? 

From the cultivation of bitter gourd, N. Vijayakumar got an income of about 7 lakh 62 thousand per hectare. Due to this, he got a profit of about 2 lakh 5 thousand per hectare. Seeing the success of Vijayakumar, other farmers of the area also started cultivating bitter gourd and thus self-employment opportunities opened up.

What is Pandal Technique? 

In the Pandal system, vines are spread on a wire net supported by concrete pillars. Creeper or vine vegetables are spread on the prepared structure above the ground with the help of a support. In this, the plants are spread on wooden, iron or cement poles on a structure made of wire or plastic net. There are many advantages of this pandal technique. Due to not coming in contact with the ground, the produce is tall and in shape. Due to this, the market price of the produce is more. In Scaffolding method, plants are less affected by pests and diseases due to being away from the ground.

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