Pumpkin have short shelf life if not well stored how ever its life can be prolonged up to 6 – 12 months which encourages continuous supply.
Pumpkins are nutritious and have a long storage period if well stored. Harvest, mature, hard skin, damage and insect free pumpkins as this does not allow them to quickly spoil then remove stalks and dirt to avoid damaging others during storage. Sun dry them for 7 days and cover them with plastic sheets at night to prevent night moistures and dirt.
Stored inside
Prepare the store this should be dry, cool and well ventilated with shelves as storing on ground encourages moisture which destroys them. Store big pumpkins at bottom of small ones in shelves to avoid bigger ones from damaging smaller ones and keep store clean and rodent free. Sun dry pumpkins few hours every 1 – 2 weeks during storage. Remove damaged pumpkins from store and apply lime paste on cracks as it stops damage from becoming worse. Deliver pumpkins to market in bulk, this reduces on transport costs.
