Swarna Alaukik

Swarna Alaukik is a pointed gourd variety released by the ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region (RCER), Ranchi, one of three related Swarna-series releases (alongside Swarna Rekha and Swarna Suruchi) bred for the eastern Indian growing belt. Its fruit is light greenish in colour without stripes, elongated in shape, and notably soft-fleshed with soft seeds — a combination valued both for direct table use as a cooked vegetable and for sweet preparations, where a firmer-fleshed variety would be less suitable. Like all pointed gourd, it is a perennial vine propagated from vine or root cuttings rather than sown from true seed, and it is dioecious, so male cuttings must be planted alongside the female fruiting stock for pollination.

Plant typeVine/root cutting
MaturityFirst harvest ~3–4 months after planting
Yield potential20–25 t/ha
Disease resistanceNo special resistance widely documented
SoilLoam
SeasonAll seasons

• Seed rateVegetatively propagated — about 2,000–2,500 cuttings/ha, roughly 10% male cuttings interplanted for pollination
• SpacingPits 2–3 m apart on an overhead bower

Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.

• Jharkhand
• Bihar
• West Bengal
• Odisha

• Swarna Rekha

  Also from ICAR RCER, Ranchi. Elongated green fruit with distinct light stripes, soft seeds and good shelf life, widely grown across the eastern belt from Bihar and Jharkhand to West Bengal and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

  View variety details

• Swarna Suruchi

  A third ICAR RCER, Ranchi release alongside Swarna Alaukik and Swarna Rekha — light greenish, unstriped fruit with soft flesh and seeds, bred for heavy yield and good eating and processing quality.

  View variety details

• Rajendra Parwal-1

  A clonal selection from Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Bihar, developed for the state's eastern Gangetic plain conditions with light-green fruit and a heavy-bearing vine.

  View variety details

• Rajendra Parwal-2

  A later, high-yielding clonal release from the same Bihar university, distributed to farmers as part of state high-value horticulture programmes. Small, light-green fruit (about 25–30 g each) borne heavily — 150–175 fruit per vine.

  View variety details

• Faizabad Parwal-1

  Released by Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology (NDUAT), Faizabad, for Uttar Pradesh and adjoining Bihar. Attractive, round, green fruit on a well-established commercial variety across the region.

  View variety details

• Faizabad Parwal-4

  Also from NDUAT, Faizabad. Light-green, spindle-shaped fruit with tapering ends, specifically recommended for bower (pole) cultivation and noted for tolerating reclaimed sodic soils better than most named varieties.

  View variety details