Comparing effects of different trellis systems for organically grown ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula)

Small and marginal farmers of West Bengal, India, rely primarily on traditional knowledge of farming and lack diversity in their agricultural practices. Although traditional practices have undoubtedly provided good yields, there is scope for improvement in terms of the benefit-to-cost ratio of different production techniques. This study was conducted to evaluate plant growth, yield, and profitability comparing six different trellis systems for two locally popular varieties of ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula); Baro Pata Local (open-pollinated) and NRGH-370 (F1 hybrid). The experiment was conducted following organic cultivation practices. The yields were shown to be significantly affected by the interaction between variety x trellis system, with NRGH-370 trailed over the T-trellis resulting in the highest marketable yield (24.8 t ha(-1)), which was significantly higher than for plants grown with staking, inverted V or trailed over ground. Although the pandal trellis system, which is ordinarily used by the farmers, resulted in somewhat better vegetative growth of the vines, the yields were slightly higher in the T-trellis system, though the differences in the growth and yield parameters between these two trellis systems were not statistically significant. However, with slightly higher yields and reduced costs of production the benefit-to-cost ratio was highest for the T-trellis system for both Baro Pata Local (1.78) and NRGH-370 (2.59). These improvements also coincided with improved quality characteristics of the fruit. The results show that there is scope for exploring new trellising systems to achieve improved yields and cost-effectiveness for organic ridge gourd cultivation.