ABSTRACT
The ivy or little gourd is indigenous to India, particularly the Eastern India where a rich gene pool is available in wild as well as in homestead gardens. Ivy gourd, little gourd, or scarlet-fruited popularly known as kundru, is so far a neglected and underutilized species of the Cucurbitaceae family. The immature fruits are rich source of carbohydrates, proteins, several macro- and micro-nutrients, vitamins A and vitamin C. The medicinal properties of scarlet gourd are attributed to it under most Asian indigenous systems of medicine, in which, the fruits are used to treat leprosy, fever, asthma, bronchitis, skin diseases and bronchitis. The fertilizer requirement of ivy gourd depends on soil type and soil fertility. The most serious insect of ivy gourd is fruit fly, the female of which lay four to ten eggs per fruit below the epidermis by introducing its stout and hard ovipositor in soft and tender fruits.
