Local Name: 
                   Upo (Tagalog)
                   Tabungaw (Ilocano)
                   Kalubay (Bisaya)
Scientific Name: 
                    Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) 
                    Standley

Brief Description

           Bottle gourd is an herbaceous, annual climbing plant with long, strong tendrils and simple leaves. Fruits are globular, bottle, or club-shape up to 1 m long, with hard, durable rind. The most common types are light green and dark green with light green spots.

Uses and Nutritional Value

           Young fruits are usually boiled or stewed and used as vegetables, while seeds are popular snack food. Syrup from the green fruit is good for chest pains. The hard shells of dried mature fruits are used as containers, hats, decorative handicrafts, floats, and musical instruments

Uses and Nutritional Value

          Young fruits are usually boiled or stewed and used as vegetables, while seeds are popular snack food. Syrup from the green fruit is good for chest pains. The hard shells of dried mature fruits are used as containers, hats, decorative handicrafts, floats, and musical instruments.

The edible portion of immature fruit is about 84%. Each 100 g edible portion contains:

                             Nutrient                                             Amount

                             Water                                                95.0 g
                             Protein                                                0.5 g
                             Fat                                                      0.1 g
                             Carbohydrates                                      3.5 g
                             Vitamin A                                          10.0 IU
                             Vitamin B1                                       0.04 mg
                             Niacin                                                0.4 mg
                             Vitamin C                                         11.0 mg
                             Calcium                                            16.0 mg
                             Iron                                                    0.4 mg
                             Phosphorus                                      14.0 mg
                             Energy Value                                     63.0 kJ
                             Oil                                                     45.0 %

Production Management

Varieties Tambuli
          1042-1

Planting

           One hectare requires 2 kg seeds. Soak seeds in water for 24 hours and wrap in moist cloth until the seed coat breaks. Sow seeds by drilling 2 seeds per hill. Cover with a thin layer of soil. A planting distance of 1 m between hills and 3-4 m between rows is recommended. The soil should be light with good aeration.

Fertilization

           Apply 20 g/hill of complete fertilizer (14-14-14) at planting. Side-dress 10 g/hill of urea (46-0-0) at early vining stage (30 DAP). After 15 days, mix two parts urea and one part muriate of potash (0-0-60) and apply as side-dress at 10 g/hill.

Trellising

           Use trellis to protect the fruits from rotting and malformation. Construct vertical and overhead trellis using ipil-ipil or bamboo poles, wires, abaca twines, or straw twines.

Pruning

          Train vines to climb a vertical pole or ladder until it reaches the overhead trellis. Remove lower lateral branches that appear on the climbing part of the main stem to promote branching and fruiting.

Water Management

            Provide adequate drainage to avoid water logging. Use mulch to minimize watering.

Pest and Disease Management

            Insect pests like leaf folder, fruit fly, and yellow beetle, as well as foliar disease like downy mildew, powdery mildew, anthracnose and Cercospora leaf spot attack bottle gourd. Monitoring for pests should be done regularly. Remove infected fruits and leaves to avoid build-up of pest population. Observe strict sanitation to control insect pests and diseases.

Harvesting

            Fruits develop fast & require much attention at harvest time. It usually takes 15 days for fruits to reach marketable stage from the day of fruit set. The fruits are better harvested using sharp knives to cut the peduncle approximately 5 cm long.

Cost and Return Analysis Per Hectare

           ITEMS                                                       AMOUNT (P)
 I. VARIABLE COSTS                                             P 74,165
    A. Labor (P150/MD) 
    Plowing                                                 1,500
    Harrowing (2x)                                        1,000
    Bedding                                                 1,500
    Manure application                                  1,000
    Planting (2 MD)                                         300
    Mulching w/ rice straw 
    (8 MD)                                                   1,200
    Fertilization; basal (2 MD) &                     2,100
    Side-dress (12 MD)
    Irrigation (40 MD)                                     6,000
    Spraying ( 30 MD)                                   4,500
    Weeding (20 MD)                                    3,000
    Trellising (60 MD)                                     9,000
    Vine training, pruning                               4,500 
    (30MD)
    Harvesting (50 MD)                                  7,500
    Miscellaneous (20 MD)                            3,000
                Sub-total                                  46,100

   B. Materials
       Seeds (2 kg)                                        1,450. 
       Animal manure (5 t)                              5,000
       Fertilizers 
          14-14-14 (5 bags)                              1,750
          46-0-0 ( 8 bags)                                3,040 
          0-0-60 (2 bags)                                 1,200
       Trellis
       Posts (1,200pcs) 2 uses                       1,750
       GI wire (300 kg); 4 uses                        2,625
       Plastic twine (50 rolls)                          1,250
       Fuel & Oil 5,000 
       Miscellaneous                                      5,000
               Sub-total                                    28,065

 II. FIXED COSTS                                               18,063
     Land rental 5,000
     Depreciation
             5 pcs. Scythe (2 yrs) 63
             5 pcs. Hoe ( 3 yrs) 125
             3 pcs. Shovel (3 yrs) 75
             2 knapsack sprayers (5 yrs) 800 
      Interest on Loans at 20% int. p.a. 12,000
TOTAL COSTS                                                   92,228
GROSS INCOME a                                             100,000
NET INCOME                                                      7,772

a With marketable yield of 20t/ha at P5/kg