Arka Shreyas - Field Day: India's First Gummy Stem Blight-Resistant Bottle Gourd Variety Brings New Hope to Farmers

Bengaluru, 26th June 2026

India's horticulture sector has emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments of agriculture, contributing significantly to food and nutritional security, employment generation and farmers' income. Among vegetable crops, bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) occupies an important place because of its adaptability, year-round cultivation, high productivity and strong market demand. According to the Horticultural Statistics at a Glance 2024 published by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, vegetables occupy nearly 11 million hectares with a production exceeding 200 million tonnes annually, making India the second-largest vegetable producer in the world.

Bottle gourd is cultivated extensively across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and West Bengal with an area of 2.26 mHa, productivity 16.99 MT/Hectare (Indostat,2023-24), supplying major wholesale markets such as Azadpur (Delhi), Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Patna, Ahmedabad, Pune, Nashik and Chennai. The crop has become one of the most profitable vegetables for peri-urban and commercial farmers because of its continuous harvesting, high consumer preference and assured market demand.

The Challenge: Gummy Stem Blight

Despite its economic importance, bottle gourd cultivation has increasingly been threatened by Gummy Stem Blight (GSB), caused by Stagonosporopsis cucurbitacearum. The disease causes stem lesions, vine drying, fruit rot and severe yield losses upto 100% under warm and humid conditions. Farmers often resort to repeated fungicide sprays, increasing production costs, pesticide residues and environmental risks.

Other important production constraints include

Biotic:

• Fusarium wilt, Downy mildew, Powdery mildew, Mosaic viruses, Fruit fly, Red pumpkin beetle

• Abiotic stresses such as drought, water logging and high temperatures.

• These challenges have underscored the need for host-plant resistance as the most economical and sustainable disease management strategy.

ICAR-IIHR's Scientific Breakthrough:

To address this major challenge, scientists of the ICAR–Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (ICAR-IIHR), Bengaluru, led by Dr M.V Dhananjaya, Principal Scientist, Division of Vegetable Crops initiated a systematic breeding programme to identify durable resistance against Gummy Stem Blight from germplasm. Years of research, extensive field screening and multi-location evaluation culminated in the development of Arka Shreyas, India's first Gummy Stem Blight-resistant bottle gourd variety.

The variety Arka Shreyas has been:

• Released at the national level by the Central Variety Release Committee (CVRC) in the year 2025.

• Notified for commercial cultivation in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

• Protected under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Act during 2024–25.

• Commercialized to  Leadbeter Seeds Pvt. Ltd. and M/s. Aimkart Agripreneurs Academy Pvt. Ltd.,

Farmers Validate Technology:

To demonstrate the performance of Arka Shreyas under farmers' field conditions, ICAR-IIHR organized a Field Day on 23 June 2026 at B. Hosahalli Village, Sarjapura Hobli, Anekal Taluk, Bengaluru Urban District, in the field of progressive farmer Mr. Murugesh.

The programme witnessed the participation of around 70 farmers, scientists from ICAR-IIHR, officials from the Departments of Agriculture and Horticulture, the Farmers Training Institute (FTI), GKVK, Bengaluru, and extension personnel.

Eleven progressive farmers who had successfully cultivated Arka Shreyas were felicitated for their outstanding achievements.

• Outstanding Field Performance

• Based on farmers' experiences, Arka Shreyas demonstrated remarkable advantages:

• Excellent resistance to Gummy Stem Blight under natural field conditions.

• Recommended spacing of 20 × 20 feet under the pandal system.

• Crop duration of 7–10 months, enabling extended harvesting.

• Suitable for 2–3 consecutive crop cycles on the same land with minimal disease incidence.

• Performs exceptionally well under the pandal (bower) system.

• Low seed requirement of only 150 g per acre.

• Reduced fertilizer and plant protection requirements, lowering cultivation costs.

• Recurring cost of cultivation ranging from ₹1.0–1.5 lakh per acre.

• Fruit yield ranging from 23–35 tonnes per acre. With a productivity of 72.5 tonnes per Ha

• Fruits are harvested at the ideal marketable stage of 600–700 g, within 8–9 days after flowering and pollination.

• Excellent shelf life, remaining fresh for more than 10 days after harvest suitable for distant transportation.

• Net income ranges from ₹3.5 lakh to ₹6.0 lakh per acre, depending on crop management and market prices.

• Farmers unanimously appreciated the variety for its vigorous vine growth, prolonged harvesting period, excellent fruit quality, reduced fungicide requirement and higher profitability.

Integrated Disease Management:

Scientists emphasized that integrating host-plant resistance, grafting, balanced nutrition, soil health management, and Integrated Crop Management (ICM) provides a sustainable solution for managing both Gummy Stem Blight and Fusarium wilt.

ICAR-IIHR has also developed promising bottle gourd rootstocks with superior graft compatibility that can be used to manage soil-borne diseases and enhance crop vigour, further improving the sustainability of cucurbit cultivation.

Variety Spread and Seed availability

The success of Arka Shreyas highlights the importance of strengthening India's vegetable seed system. The ICAR-IIHR vegetable seed unit has sold a total of 591.71 kg Arka Shreyas seeds covering an area of 3,940 acres (150g/ac seed rate).

For Seed order: - WhatsApp No.: 7975395347, Online: https://seed.iihr.res.in

A Technology with National Impact:

Arka Shreyas represents a significant milestone in India's vegetable improvement programme. By reducing disease incidence, minimizing pesticide use, lowering production costs and enhancing farmers' profitability, the variety directly supports the objectives of the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA),National Horticulture Mission, and the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.

The overwhelming response received during the Field Day clearly demonstrates that Arka Shreyas has the potential to transform bottle gourd cultivation across India's major production belts. It stands as another landmark achievement of ICAR-IIHR, reaffirming its commitment to developing farmer-centric technologies that improve productivity, profitability and sustainability while contributing to national food and nutritional security.

References:

• Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India.

• Horticultural Statistics at a Glance 2024.

• Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India. Second Advance Estimates of Horticultural Crops, 2025–26.

• ICAR–Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru. Research and varietal release records on Arka Shreyas.

• ICAR–Indian Institute of Vegetable Research. Production technologies for cucurbit vegetables.

• Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU). Agritech Portal: Bottle gourd production technologies.

• Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority (PPV&FRA), Government of India.

• Indostat,2023-24 https://www.indiastat.com(link is external)