Impact of Trellis System on Disease, Pest Incidence and Economics of Bitter Gourd

Bitter gourd is a highly valued vegetable crop, but its production is often challenged by severe pest and disease pressures. To address this a field experiment was conducted at instructional farm of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jajpur, Odisha during 2020-21 and 2021-2022 in Rabi season to study the impact of different trellis system on pest population, disease incidence and economics of bitter gourd cultivation. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with five replications and four treatments. Treatments involved were T1 (Farmers' practice-cultivation on raised bed), T2 (cultivation in bower system trellis), T3 (cultivation in single trellis), T4 (cultivation in lean to type trellis) with RDF (110:50:80 NPK kg/ha). Variety was Kantei Kalara (local type). From the two years trials, it was observed that cultivation of bitter gourd in lean to type trellis system has significant effect on disease incidence and pest population. The findings clearly indicated that the incidence of downy mildew was minimum in lean to type trellis system (14.32% and 12.49%) followed by single trellis system (17.53% and 16.46 %) followed by raised bed (21.66% and 18.24%) and bower system (25.32% and 26.7%). Similar trend was also observed for powdery mildew, leaf curl and mosaic disease incidence. Fruit fly infested fruits were minimum in lean to type trellis system (10.42% and 9.63%) followed by single trellis system (13.25% and 12.6%), raised bed system (15.43% and 16.4%) and bower system (18.24% and 19.16%). The maximum yield (143.09 q/ha) and highest cost: benefit ratio (3.31) was observed in lean to type trellis system. Cultivation of bitter gourd in lean to type trellis system recorded highest net income of (Rs 1,99,680/) per hectare. Adopting a lean-to trellis system for bitter gourd cultivation significantly minimizes pest and disease incidence while maximizing crop yield and overall economic profitability for farmers. Different trellis system also showed positive response against natural enemies like coccinellids, spiders and grubs of chrysoprela. Ultimately, adopting these systems can significantly enhance bitter gourd cultivation, providing an optimal, eco-friendly environment that naturally promotes sustainable and highly profitable agricultural practices.