Pusa Vishwas
An IARI open-pollinated variety with vigorous vines and dark green leaves with white spots along the veins. The fruit is brown and spherical, 4–5 kg, with thick golden-yellow flesh, and the national checklist gives 400–425 q/ha in 120 days.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Pumpkin (Kaddu)
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Zaid / summer
- Maturity period
- About 120 days
- Expected yield
- 400–425 q/ha
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No special resistance claimed
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Pusa Vishwas is an open-pollinated pumpkin from ICAR-IARI, New Delhi. The national checklist of commercial vegetable varieties describes vigorous vegetative growth and dark green leaves with white spots, including along the veins. The fruits are brown and spherical, each weighing 4–5 kg, with thick, golden-yellow flesh. It gives an average 400–425 q/ha in a crop duration of 120 days, and the checklist recommends it for Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Because it is open-pollinated, you can save seed from a good fruit.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Pusa Vishwas if tonnage is your goal and you can wait about 120 days. The national checklist lists vigorous vines and brown, spherical fruit of 4–5 kg with thick golden-yellow flesh, an average of 400–425 q/ha, and a long list of states: Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. It is open-pollinated, so seed can be saved. Choose Kashi Harit (about 65 days) for early green fruit, Arka Chandan for a small plot, Arka Suryamukhi where fruit fly hits hard.
Sowing & cultivation
- SpacingAbout 2 m × 2 m in pits of 30 × 30 × 30 cm; thin to two seedlings per pit after 15 days (TNAU, general pumpkin guide)
- HarvestingAbout 120 days of crop duration (national checklist); pick when the fruit turns from green to yellow-brown and the stalk comes off easily
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- A published yield of 400–425 q/ha in about 120 days
- Open-pollinated, so seed can be saved from season to season
- Brown, spherical 4–5 kg fruit with thick golden-yellow flesh
Things to consider
- The checklist lists no disease resistance for it, so watch for mildews and the red pumpkin beetle
- At about 120 days it is the slowest pumpkin here, against about 65 days for Kashi Harit
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Himachal Pradesh
- Uttarakhand
- Punjab
- Uttar Pradesh
- Bihar
- Chhattisgarh
- Odisha
- Andhra Pradesh
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
Count back from the 120-day finish
Pusa Vishwas needs about 120 days. A sowing on 1 July is ready about 29 October. One on 1 February is ready about 1 June, in the heat.
Pick the date your buyer or your store room needs the fruit, and count back 120 days. A big crop picked late into wet weather is harder to cure and keep, so do not sow later than that count allows.
Give each vine room. TNAU's general pumpkin layout of 2 m × 2 m in pits is 2,500 pits per hectare, with two seedlings kept in each. Crowd it and the leaves stay wet, which helps mildew. In the morning, check seedlings for the red pumpkin beetle.
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 Pumpkin (Kaddu) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambili | Sweet, soft-fleshed curry pumpkin for Kerala | 95–110 days | 200–250 q/ha | Kerala |
| Arka Chandan | Compact bush pumpkin for small plots | 115–120 days | ~330 q/ha | Karnataka, southern plains |
| Arka Suryamukhi | Fruit-fly-tolerant pumpkin for the south | 100–110 days | ~340 q/ha | Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh |
| CO 2 | TNAU standard pumpkin for Tamil Nadu | 135 days | 23–25 t/ha | Tamil Nadu |
| Kashi Harit | Early short-vine pumpkin for green-fruit sale | About 65 days of crop duration | 300–350 q/ha | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand |
| Pumpkin F1 Hybrid (private companies, e.g. "Amol") | Early private F1 hybrid, claims not independently verified | 85–90 days | Claimed by the seller; not independently verified | sold pan-India through seed dealers |
| Pusa Vishwasthis page | Heavy-yield golden-fleshed pumpkin, about 120 days, many states | About 120 days | 400–425 q/ha | Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra |
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 Pumpkin (Kaddu) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Pumpkin (Kaddu) 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 Pumpkin (Kaddu) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Pumpkin (Kaddu) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Pumpkin (Kaddu) in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Pumpkin (Kaddu) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Pumpkin (Kaddu) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Is 400–425 q/ha realistic?
It is the national checklist's average for a 120-day crop. Another source lists 20–25 t/ha, about half, so plan your cost and sale price on the lower figure and treat the higher one as a good season.
What do the fruit look like?
The checklist describes brown, spherical fruit of 4–5 kg with thick, golden-yellow flesh, on vines with dark green leaves with white spots along the veins. Other sites call the fruit oblong or orange, so check a fruit from the mother plant before you pay.
What spacing and seed rate should I use?
No Pusa Vishwas-only figure is published. TNAU's general pumpkin guide gives about 1 kg of seed per hectare, pits of 30 × 30 × 30 cm at 2 m × 2 m, and two seedlings per pit after 15 days. That is 2,500 pits per hectare.
Can I save Pusa Vishwas seed?
Yes, it is open-pollinated, which keeps seed cost down against F1 hybrids. Take seed from the best, fully ripe, disease-free fruit, and keep other pumpkin varieties away from the seed plot.
Pusa Vishwas or Kashi Harit for my farm?
Pusa Vishwas takes about 120 days for 400–425 q/ha of 4–5 kg ripe fruit. Kashi Harit takes about 65 days for 300–350 q/ha of green 2.5–3.0 kg fruit on a short vine. A fast green sale and a second crop, Kashi Harit. One big crop and a store room, Pusa Vishwas.
Sourced from: National Checklist of Commercial Varieties of Vegetables (TNAU Agritech hosting) — pumpkin, TNAU Agritech Portal — Pumpkin. editorial policy.