Summer Squash: Adding savour to salad platter

Abstract

Summer squash or Zucchini has recently gained popularity as a vegetable crop in India and is being grown nearby metropolitan cities mostly for culinary purposes. It has observed that tender fruits of zucchini (9-12 days after anthesis, 200-275 g) can potentially be used as good salad vegetable. Its tender fresh fruits are crispy with soft pulp texture similar to the parthenocarpic green cucumber. It can be grown through seeds or seedlings between September to March. With good variety and standard agronomic practices, fruit yield up to 70 t/ha can be achieved. It is easy to grow and manage the crop with less inputs. It can fetch better market price as salad crop, particularly when cucumbers have less availability in market i.e. during December to February.