by Vengai Defu
This article talks about the Avanos hybrid cucumber called Moanalisa which is very much viable in the Zimbabwean horticultural markets.
Though commonly thought to be a vegetable, cucumber is actually a fruit.
Moanalisa is a short green hybrid cucumber with excellent plant vigour, early fruit set and high fruit yields. It provides more fruits than other types and makes it a more profitable variety to farmers. It weighs between 250grams to 300grams per fruit.
Moanalisa has a good and high level of resistance to most of the cucurbit diseases and viruses including downy mildew, powdery mildew, angular leaf spot and cucumber mosaic viruses.
It reacts very well to organic fertilizers such as cattle and chicken manure or well decomposed compost. The farmer may use 1-10 tonnes organic manure per hectare in combination with granular fertilizers.
Compound C fertiliser can be applied at 600-800 kg per hectare before planting and ammonium nitrate at 400kg per hectare at seven days interval starting at day 15 day after planting until early fruiting stage.
All these granular fertilizers are available in all Farm and City Centre branches nation-wide and other farming hardwares at affordable prices.
For a farmer to get maximum yields, the plant should be kept free from pests and blights. During early stages, chemicals such as copper oxychloride, dithane M45 and mancozeb should be applied to avoid fungal and blights infection.
At flowering stage, lybaycide, kontakill or malathion 50ec should be applied to do away with disease caused by fruit flies. During this period trellicing is very essential to avoid the fruits getting in contact with the ground.
Moreover, the field should be kept free of weeds as they consume nutrients that should be consumed by the plants.
Most importantly, adequate supply of water is a pre-requisite for good yields and quality fruit which the super markets need. In irrigated areas, farmers are advised to use drip irrigation than overhead.
For more information on farming, contact Mr Vengai Defu at 039-2264246 or 0772 137 202 or visit him at Masvingo Farm and City Centre in.
Vengai Defu is Masvingo Farm and City Centre branch manager
