• Hindi Name: Khira
• Botanical Name : Cucumis sativus
• Family: Cucurbitaceae
• Chromosome Number: 2n=14
• Origin: India

Important Points

• Cucumbers are cultivated in the second number after watermelon cultivation.
• Cucumber is thermophilic and sensitive to frost.
• GA₃ and AgNO₃ enhances male flowers in gynoecious varieties.
• Open pollinated varieties of cucumbers are monoecious.
• Anthesis is influenced by the intensity of light and the length of the day.
• The compound containing aroma in cucumbers is Nonadienal.

Area and Production

Year	Area (‘000 ha)	Production (‘000 MT)
2016-17	74	1142
2017-18	82	1260

Source: NHB Data base 2018

Table: State wise area and production in 2018

Sr. No.	States	2017-18
		Area	Production
1	Haryana	17.39	274.40
2	Madhya Pradesh	9.46	154.52
3	Karnataka	8.27	131.96
4	Andhra Pradesh	4.32	99.16
5	Uttar Pradesh	3.26	81.47
6	Punjab	3.61	80.02

Source: NHB data base 2018

Economic Importance

• Cucumber intake is good for people suffering from constipation, jaundice and indigestion.
• It is rich in minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, iron and potassium along with vitamins B and C. Fruits contain 4% protein, 1.5mg iron and 2 mg vitamin C per 100 g of fresh fruit.
• Immature fruits of cucumber are used as salads and to make pickles.
• Seed oil is also used as antipyretic.
• Cucumbers are found to be bitter substances called cucurbitacin which contain tetra cyclic triterpenes.

Varieties

1. Introduction:

Straight Eight	China Long	Japanese Long Green
Poinsett (multiplied by NSC)

2. Selection: Sheetal

3. Hybrids:

• Himangi: Poinsett X Kalyanpur Ageti, Resistant to Bronzing. Developed by MPKV, Rahuri (Maharastra)
• Phule Subhangi: Poinsett X Kalyanpur Ageti, Resistant to Bronzing. released by MPKV
• Pusa Sanyog: use of gynoecious female parents.
• Priya
• Solan Hybrid:  Released by YSPUH&F, Solan

4. Other varieties

Swarna Poorna

Swarna Sheeta

Sheetal: Released from Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth Dapoli

AAUC 2

K-90:  released by YSPUH&F, Solan

• Poinsett: Resistant to Powdery Mildew, Downy Mildew, Anthracnose, Angular Leaf Spot.
• Suitable for temperate region: Japanese Long Green, Straight Eight, Pusa Sanyog, K 90.
• Mosaic Resistant varieties: Table Green, Tokyo Green, Winscrimson, Chinese Long.

Climate

It is basically a hot weather crop, but is successfully grown in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions. It is very sensitive to cold/ frost. The temperature 26 -27⁰C is best for the its cultivation. If the temperature goes above 30⁰C, the production is significantly reduced. Cucumber seeds grow well if the day temperature is 20-30⁰C. When humidity is high, diseases such as powdery mildew, down mildew, anthracnose are to be more.

Soil

Cucumbers are well grown in sandy loam soil. Drainage arrangements should be proper. pH of soil should be 5.5 to 6.5. Light soil should be used to take the early crop of spring. The growth of the vine in the heavy soil is high and the fruits setting is late. Cucumber  is sensitive to acidic soils.

Season

• In south and central India, where winter is mild, cucumber is grown almost all round the year.
• Sowing in hilly areas is done from April to May.
• In summer cucumbers are sown in January to February and the rainy season crop is sown in June to July.

Preparation of farm preparation

The soil should be made brittle  and get fine tilth by ploughing the field 3 to 4 times with the cultivator.

Seed Rate

About 2.5 kg of seeds are needed for sowing one hector of cucumbers.

Sowing

Cucumbers can be grown in two methods:-

1 Furrow method:

Seeds are directly sown in the soil. In some cases where early crop is desired, seeds can be sown in Poly ethylene bags (10X15cm) of 100-200 gauges and germinated under cover to protect them from low temperature. In furrow general row distance is kept 1.5 -2.5 m.

2 Hill method: –

Hills are preparing at 60 to 90 cm. for by adding well rotten organic manure and a number of seeds are sown in each hill.

Manures and Fertilizers:-

Fertilizers should always be used as per soil testing.

Table. Recommended amount of NPK for certain areas of the country

State	N (kg/ha)	P (kg/ha)	K(kg/ha)
Punjab	100	50	50
Himachal Pradesh	100	50	50
Karnataka	60	0	50

The entire amount of phosphorus and potash and half of the nitrogen should be given at the time of final tillage of the field. And the remaining nitrogen should be top dressed in a standing crop after 30-40 days with irrigation.

Irrigation 

The spring and summer seasons should continue to irrigate lightly. But, during the rainy season, irrigation should be done as per the requirement. Because crop is damaged by the long-lasting water in the field.

Weed Control

In the initial stage of the cucumber crop, the field should be kept free from weeds. While top dressing the half the amount of nitrogen, the soil should climb with the roots of the plants (earthing up) with weeding. Herbicise flochloralin at 1.20 kg /ha (pre-plant), flochloralin 0.48 kg + nitrogen at 0.5 kg/ha (pre-emergence) could be applied to control the weeds in cucumber.

Use of Growth Regulators

• Ethrel’s spray of 150-200 ppm increases the number of flowers and yield.
• Spraying of 1500-2000ppm of GA₃ and 200-300 ppm of silver nitrate increases male flowers in gynocecious varieties.
• Drench the soil with 75 ppm paclobutrazol increases yield.
• All chemicals should be sprayed on the stage of 2 to 3 true leaves of the plant.

Pruning

Pruning of all the primary branches after 2 nodes gives highest yield compared to unpruned once.

Thinning:

When the crop is sown in a hill method, 2 to 3 plants should be left in each pit and other plants should be removed.

Harvesting

Picking of fruits at the right edible maturity stage is dependent upon the varieties. In salad or slicing cucumber, dark-green skin colour should not turn into brownish yellow and white spine color will also be a useful indication for edible maturity. Optimum length of the fruit will be around 20-25cm at edible maturing stage, depending upon the cultivar in case of slicing cucumber. In small fruited types, which have pale green skin colour, the length of fruit should be around 8-12 cm. Here also fruits turning yellow will be over mature. Once harvesting starts, the fruits are generally picked at 2-4days intervals, depending on the weather.

Yield

The yield of about 8-12t/ha from monoecious varieties comes from the open farm and gynoecious varieties yield about 200 tonnes/ hac  in the greenhouse/polyhouse conditions.

Plant protection measures of cucurbits 

 

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