High Yielding Bitter gourd –Prachi
By-Ashwani Kochhar

Mr.S.Nishan Singh, a Prachi grower from village Kalyan, district Sangrur, Punjab, cultivated Bitter gourd Prachi. In his area the most growers using the local varieties seeds for cultivation. From many years the growers are using the local OP varieties seeds. In local varieties they found very good tolerance to pest & diseases and secondly the fruit quality is very nice.But,from these OP varieties they get very less yield. East West Seeds introduced Prachi variety in this market with the ideal growers in competition with the Local OP Varieties. Finally the grower found that the yield of Prachi is three times more than that of local OP, tolerance level is also very good and it gives very good market rate. Farmer remarked as Prachi fruits having attractive green color, high yield and the consumers attract easily due to its shape & fruit quality. Prachi fruits are used for stuffing purpose….open the fruit to 75% fill up the masala (spices) in the fruits by cutting it vertically and boiled it in spicy curry. After cooking it is used for eating. In Punjab Prachi is mostly used for preparing a “Barva Karela” (Bitter gourd fruit filled with spices & cooked in spicy gravy) a vegetable dish. Now a day Prachi is a leading variety in this area and its seeds demand is now increased from neighbor states as Himachal Pradesh, UP & Rajasthan.