Genetics and heterosis for short stature, earliness and high productivity in pumpkin for intensive cultivation

Abstract

The intensive cultivation of pumpkin demands genetic studies of bush growth, earliness and high yield that was carried out in half diallel including bush and butternut parents. In this study, P-1343 was the best general combiner for short vine, earliness and lower fruit weight; P-41212 was best general combiner for days to 50% male flowering (- 1.72) and number of fruits per plant (0.23) and P-10224, was the best general combiner for fruit yield per plant (0.89). Among 36 crosses, high specific combining ability (SCA) in P-41212 × P-6242, PS × P-364, PS× P-1343, P-10224× P-6242, P-41212 × P-2211, P-41212 × P-10224, P-3621 × P-2211 and PS × P-6242 for short vine growth and earliness and in P-6711 × P-10224, PS × P-2211, P-41212 × P-3621, P-41212 × P-1343, P- 364 × P-10224 for yield per vine represented the occurrence of both additive and non-additive gene effects with the predominance of non-additive effects (ó2SCA/ ó2GCA >1) for the inheritance of most of these traits in pumpkin and suggested further improvement through heterosis breeding and recurrent selection for high SCA. Among hybrids, PS × P-364 (27.96%), being bush type and early, represented significant and desirable economic heterosis for yield per hectare over PPH-2 and was at par with PPH-1. It could be fit into intensive cultivation after testing in multi-environments.