Indu
A Kerala Agricultural University release with good flesh thickness, a yield potential of 24.5 t/ha and a mean fruit weight of 4.82 kg. KAU gives no crop duration. Researchers in Kerala use it as a check variety.
Quick facts
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- All seasons
- Maturity period
- Not published (KAU variety page gives no days)
- Seed rate
- 2–2.5 kg/ha for open-pollinated varieties
- Expected yield
- 24.5 t/ha potential; mean fruit weight 4.82 kg (KAU)
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No special resistance widely documented
- Release
- Released by Kerala Agricultural University (KAU)
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Indu is an ash gourd variety released by Kerala Agricultural University (KAU). KAU's variety page describes it as high yielding with good flesh thickness, with a yield potential of 24.5 t/ha and a mean fruit weight of 4.82 kg. Fruit is oblong. KAU gives no crop duration for it, so the old figure of 110 to 130 days has been removed. Researchers in Kerala use Indu as the check variety when they test new ash gourd accessions, which is a sign of how well known it is there. We found no trial of Indu outside Kerala. Another KAU variety, Thara from RARS Pattambi, has much smaller fruit, with a mean of 1.22 kg.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Indu in Kerala if you want the Kerala Agricultural University release, with a yield potential of 24.5 t/ha, a mean fruit weight of 4.82 kg and good flesh thickness (KAU variety page). Do not choose it if you need a crop-duration figure. We found none, and the 110 to 130 days that circulate in listings have no source. For very small fruit, KAU's Thara (RARS Pattambi) has a mean of 1.22 kg. For the biggest fruit, look at Kashi Dhawal. We found no trial of Indu outside Kerala.
Sowing & cultivation
- Seed rate2–2.5 kg/ha for open-pollinated varieties
- SpacingPits roughly 2 m between rows, 1–1.5 m within the row
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Well adapted to Kerala's warm, humid growing conditions specifically.
- Regionally recognised for high yield and good flesh thickness.
Things to consider
- KAU gives no crop duration, so plan the season from your own sowing and picking dates
- No trial outside Kerala was found
- No disease resistance is claimed for it
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Kerala
Use Indu as the yardstick when you try something new
Researchers in Kerala use Indu as the check variety when they test new ash gourd accessions. A check is a known plant grown beside the new ones, so you can see whether the new one is really better or the season was just good. You can do the same on your own land.
If a neighbour or a nursery offers you another ash gourd, plant 20 Indu pits and 20 pits of the new one in the same field, on the same day, with the same manure and water. Then compare three numbers: the weight of every fruit, the number of fruits a pit and the thickness of the flesh when you cut one open. KAU gives Indu a mean fruit of 4.82 kg and good flesh thickness, so you have a benchmark for the first two.
Keep it honest. KAU gives no days to harvest for Indu, so write down the sowing date and the picking dates yourself. After one season you will have a duration figure that no web page has, and it will be for your own field.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Ash Gourd (Petha/Kumbh) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CO 1 | Tamil Nadu farmers who want big, long-keeping fruit and can give the field 5 months | ~140–150 days to full maturity | 20–25 t/ha (TNAU) | Tamil Nadu |
| CO 2 | Tamil Nadu farmers who sell small fruit to households and want the higher-yielding TNAU variety | ~120–130 days | 34 t/ha (TNAU) | Tamil Nadu |
| Induthis page | Kerala farmers who want the KAU variety with good flesh thickness and medium-sized fruit | Not published (KAU variety page gives no days) | 24.5 t/ha potential; mean fruit weight 4.82 kg (KAU) | Kerala |
| Kashi Dhawal | North Indian farmers who sell to petha makers and can give the vine 5 m between rows | 110 days to first harvest; 110–115 days seed to seed (IIVR) | 575 q/ha average (57.5 t/ha); 800 q/ha potential (IIVR) | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi |
| Mahyco MAHY-1 (F1 hybrid) | Farmers who want to test a private F1 hybrid against a public variety before scaling up | 110–120 days | No independent figure found | Wide adaptability |
| Namdhari NS 4912 (F1 hybrid) | Farmers who want to test a short-duration private hybrid for the fresh market | 80–85 days | No independent figure found | Wide adaptability |
| Pusa Ujjwal | Farmers with a lot of land per plant who want many medium-heavy fruits on each vine | Not published (no release record found) | 31.14 kg a plant in one Odisha trial (no per-hectare figure found) | Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Ash Gourd (Petha/Kumbh) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Ash Gourd (Petha/Kumbh) plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Ash Gourd (Petha/Kumbh) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Ash Gourd (Petha/Kumbh) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Ash Gourd (Petha/Kumbh) in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Ash Gourd (Petha/Kumbh) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Ash Gourd (Petha/Kumbh) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
How long does Indu take to mature?
We could not find a duration for Indu. The KAU variety page gives yield, fruit weight and flesh thickness but no days. Note your own sowing, first-flower and first-harvest dates, so that next season you have a figure from your own field.
How many fruits does 24.5 t/ha mean?
With a mean fruit weight of 4.82 kg, 24.5 t/ha is about 5,100 fruits a hectare. This is our arithmetic, not a KAU figure. It helps you check your own crop: count the fruits on a plot of 100 square metres and multiply by 100.
What is Thara, and how is it different from Indu?
Thara was developed at RARS Pattambi and is recommended for homesteads and commercial farming. The KAU page gives its mean fruit weight as 1.22 kg, against 4.82 kg for Indu. It is a much smaller fruit. We have no separate page for Thara, and the yield figure on the KAU page has no unit, so we have not used it.
What spacing and fertiliser suit Indu?
We found no Indu-only package. A 2021 Odisha trial that followed the KAU package of practices (2007) used pits 60 cm wide and 35 to 45 cm deep at 1.2 x 1.2 m, with 28:10:10 g of NPK a pit and 2 plants a pit. TNAU's package is different (30 x 30 x 30 cm pits at 2 x 1.5 m). Ask your Krishi Bhavan or KVK which one they advise for your block.
Sourced from: Ash gourd varieties (Indu, Thara) — KAU Information Gateway on Agriculture (CELKAU), Varietal evaluation of ash gourd in Gajapathi district — J. Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 10(1), 2021 (trial that followed the KAU package). editorial policy.