Bitter Gourd Case Study

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1 Introduction
Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia in the family of Cucurbitaceae) is a widely popular vegetable grown extensively in several parts of India and in countries like Africa, China, Caribean and Southeast asian regions (Cefalu et al, 2008 and Cousens, 2008). Bitter gourd is a herbaceous climbing annual with ridged stems that grows up to 5 metre long. The plant usually grows on trellis 180 cm in height and has a hairy stem with numerous branches and dense foliage. The main varieties of bitter gourd grown in India are Arka Harit,
Priyanka, Pusa Do Mausmi, VK-1-Priya, Phule Green Gold, Priya, Preethi,
Coimbatore Long, Phule Ujawala, Phule Priyanka and Pride of Gujarat.
Priyanka is the widely cultivated variety in south Kerala (Balachandran,
Leaves are used for herbal tea. Flowers are processed and marketed in cubes, flakes, strips, granules and powder form
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1.2 Types of diseases
Diseases in plants are caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses
(Priyanka.L et al, 2016 and Conrad.C et al, 2014). Primarily fungi are identified from their morphology emphasising on their reproductive structures.
Bacteria general have simpler life cycles and are considered more primitive than fungi. Bacteria exist as single cell with few exceptions and increase in numbers by dividing into two cells during binary fission. Viruses are quite tiny particles consisting of protein and genetic material with no associated protein.
The stem and leaves of bitter gourd plants are affected by various types of diseases. Collar rot and fusarium wilt affect the stem of the plant. Powdery mildew, downey mildew, anthracnose, mosaic and alternaria blight are affecting the leaves of the plant (Balachandran, 2011). Alternaria blight is the most common diseases found in southern part of India.
Dark brown water soaked lesions and girdling at the base of stems in collar rot disease are shown in fig 1.1(a). Cottony white mycelium in
Soak the seeds in water 24 hours before sowing. Two or three bitter gourd seeds can be sown together in a pit 2cms deep. Usually the seeds will germinate in 3-7 days. The germinated seeds can be replanted 45 cm to 50 cm apart on raised beds. In germination stage there are leaves with lobes and without lobes.
1.4.2 Branching stage: Removal of lateral branches in the first 10 nodes has a positive effect on total yield. Without pruning, most of the female flowers occur between the 10th and 40th nodes, or at a height of 0.5 - 2.0 m. Bitter gourd leaves exhibit alternate type of branching 4cm to 12cm across and develops many side branches that are not productive. There are new leaves growing in branches. The size of the leaves increases lengthwise and breadthwise. Leaves are oval in shape, deeply and palmately 4-7 lobed, serrated margins, cordate at base, leaf tip acute or obtuse.
1.4.3 Flowering stage: In flowering stage yellow dioecious flowers usually appear in 5 to 6 weeks. The male and female flowers are borne separately on the same plant and male flowers normally exceed the females by about 25:1.
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