Agricultural and Biological Research

Maximizing cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) productivity: A study on the influence of transplanting dates, planting density and training techniques in naturally ventilated polyhouses of Himachal Pradesh

Raveena*

Protected cultivation, sometimes referred to as polyhouse farming, is a common method for creating and preserving a controlled environment ideal for maximum crop productivity. Although protected farming produces crops with less resources than other methods, it still requires a lot of resources. This technology combines production system profitability with quality parameters that are driven by the market. Cucumis sativus or cucumbers, are a highly popular crop grown in naturally ventilated polyhouses in the mid-hills of Himachal Pradesh. This is because the cold temperatures in open fields and shed net houses result in low fruit yield and quality. Cucumbers are a very profitable crop in the early summer because of the high market price. The goal of the current study was to choose polyhouse cucumber hybrids that would be suited for early season harvest in Himachal's mid-hills. Therefore, an experiment was carried out in the off-season at the research farm of department of Agricultural Engineering, college of Agriculture, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya (CSKHPKV), Palampur to study the impact of transplanting date, planting geometry and training system on cucumber productivity under naturally ventilated polyhouse. The experiment was set up using a factorial randomized block design with three replications and it included eighteen treatments i.e., two planting geometries (60 cm × 30 cm and 75 cm × 30 cm), three training systems (two shoots, three shoots and four shoots) and three transplanting dates (1^st fortnight of March, 2^nd fortnight of March, 1^st fortnight of April). Among the date of transplanting, significantly higher vine length, number of fruits per plant, fruit length (18.21 cm), fruit weight (177.86 g), fruit breadth (6.40) and fruit yield per plant (3.23 kg) was recorded under, 1^st fortnight of March over 2^nd fortnight of March and 1^st fortnight of April. Highest fruit length (17.13 cm), fruit breadth (6.34 cm), fruit weight 175.52 g), number of fruits per plant (22.82) and fruit yield per plant (3.10 kg) was recorded under wider spacing (75 cm × 30 cm) than narrow spacing. With respect to the number of shoots per plant, plants with two shoots recorded significantly higher fruit length (17.61 cm), fruit breadth (6.39 cm), fruit weight (179.67 g). Whereas retaining three shoots per plant recorded significantly higher fruit yield per plant (3.48 kg).