A citizen of Yogipukur located in Uttar Dinajpur district, West Bengal named Niranjan Barman has been cultivating Chichinda vegetable (snake gourd) for many years now. Niranjan has been able to earn sufficient money with this livelihood and does not require any additional job for his expenses.
He grows snake gourd in a small area around his house. For those who don’t know, Chichinda is one of the most popular vegetables in rural West Bengal. Chichinda can be prepared at home during Summer in many forms including fried manner, with coconut, or with shrimp fish.
Niranjan shared about the conditions required for the cultivation of the snake gourd. According to him, this green vegetable can be grown even if there is little space at home. Soil for the Chichinda vegetable can be prepared by mixing an equal amount of dung manure with garden soil. Then, Niranjan described that Chichinda vegetable seeds should be purchased from a nursery and soaked in water for 24 hours before planting in the soil. Thereafter, one should make a few holes in the soil and then bury the seeds in them. According to the West Bengal native, January and February are the best time for the cultivation of the Chichinda vegetable.
Niranjan has also cautioned the people to keep the soil well-moistened at regular time intervals. Also, people should be careful that the rainwater does not accumulate and eventually clog the plant base. Failing to do this will eventually end up killing the plant. He further said that the people should go ahead with a bamboo loft system only if the seedlings are a little bigger.
The bamboo loft system will eventually help the seedlings to develop into fine trees. Also, as described by Niranjan, if the Chichinda vegetable is attacked by insects, crush 4-5 cloves of garlic in water. These should then be mixed well with a spoonful of chilli powder and kept overnight. He said that this solution should then be sprayed on the plant.
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