Vellarimathana quick-growing cucurbit
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Author:L. VENKATARATNAM
p-ISSN:0024-9602, e-ISSN:2582-5321, Vol:37, Issue:feb-feb
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29321/MAJ.10.A04467
Abstract
Baptala is situated in the central sandy belt in the east coast
iu the Guntur district. The water table in this coastal area is
very high. The soils are mostly sandy and are of, low fertility.
Several crops like brinjal, chillies, amaranthus etc., are successfully
raised with the aid of high doses of chemical and farmyard
manures. A large collection of vegetables was made by the Depart-
ment of Agriculture for the newly started College Botanic garden
with a view to select the best suited for this locality. Among these,
a vegetable collected from Malabar, locally known there as Vellari-
mathan was found to be the best in giving the highest yield in a very
short time. Its colour, bulk and cheapness created a keen demand
for this vegetable, in this locality. With a view to stimulate interest
in the public and popularise this vegetable, a brief note on the
morphology, culture, seasonal performance, response to ferttilizer
treatments, composition etc., is presented here. The term Vellari-
mathan implies that it is an intermediate form between 'Vellari'
or cucumber (Cucumis sativus, Linn) and Mathan or Pumpkin
(Cucurbitu maxima, Duch). Dosa gummidi is a synonym in recent
usage here. The external characters show a close resemblance
to Cucurbita maxima Duch., and this is considered as a variety of
pumpkin. But Krishnamurthy (1948) has reported that this has
36, as the 2n., chromosome number and this does not agree with
the count of 40, 2n., chromosome number recorded for Cucurbita
maxima by Bhaduri and Bose (1947), Whitaker (1933) and Mekay
(1930). He opines that this is likely to be a variant obtained by
selection. Its exact nomenclature, therefore, still needs confirmation.
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