Management: Standard  Regional Crop  Staple Crop: Protein-oil

Fluted pumpkin is a plant of the lowland, humid tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 1,000 metres[303 , 418 ]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 21 - 30°c, but can tolerate 19 - 38°c[418 ]. The plant can survive temperatures down to about 5°c[418 ]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,900 - 2,200mm, but tolerates 1,500 - 2,700mm[418 ]. Succeeds in shade or full sun[300 ]. Tolerant of a wide range of soils[298 , 300 ], though a humus-rich, moist, fertile soil gives best yields[300 ]. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 6, tolerating 4.5 - 7[418 ]. Established plants are drought resistant, though yields are greatly reduced in times of drought[298 , 300 ]. Fluted pumpkin grows fast in the warm, humid tropics, producing edible leaves in the rainy season and at the beginning of the dry season, for a period of 6 - 10 months[299 ]. The plant can be managed as a short-term perennial when grown on well-drained soils, slightly shaded and well mulched. On soggy soils and in sunlit spots it can only be grown as an annual. Female plants are usually grown for their edible young shoots since males do not produce many of these[300 ]. The first harvest of these shoots occurs about 2 - 3 months after sowing the seed[300 ]. Up to 15 harvests may be obtained during the following 120 - 160 days[418 ]. Male plants start to flower about 3 months after planting, a month earlier than females plants[299 ]. Hand pollination seems to be advantageous for fruit set as it resulted in 35% fruit set compared to 15% fruit set in open pollination[299 ]. Female plants produce about 18 single flowers which set fruit, but only 1 - 4 develop into mature fruits. Out of the female plants of a population, only 35% bear fruits. A large variation occurs between and within plants in the number of seeds per fruit, from 6 seeds per fruit up to 196, with an average of 62 seeds. The seeds are also unequal in size, varying in weight from 1 - 68g[299 ]. Fruits are ready about 5 - 6 months after sowing[299 , 300 ]. The fresh shoot yield can be as low as 500 - 1,000 kilos per hecttare, but it can also reach 3 - 10 tonnes. In home gardens in Benin, one plant occupying 3 metres of fence produced 2 kilos of young leaves per metre in the rainy season and 500g in the dry season without irrigation[299 ]. The seed yield can reach 1.9 tonnes per hctare, derived from 3,000 fruits[299 ]. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[299 ]. Identifying the female plants from either seeds or young seedlings has not been successful, but vine size 64 days after planting could be used as a sex indicator, because female plants are more vigorous than the male ones[299 ].

Carbon Farming

• Management: Standard  Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.
• Regional Crop  These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.
• Staple Crop: Protein-oil  (16+ percent protein, 16+ percent oil). Annuals include soybeans, peanuts, sunflower seeds. Perennials include seeds, beans, nuts, and fruits such as almond, Brazil nut, pistachio, walnut, hazel, and safou.