Vol. 10, Issue 10 (2021)

Author(s):
Vinitha S, Rajasree V, Swarna Priya R and Manikanda Boopathi N

Abstract:
Higher yield with required fruit size and quality are important traits defining the commercial importance of ridge gourd. Hermaphroditism is a crucial trait which serves as a source for developing gynoecious lines through breeding programmes. Thirty recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were selected for study which was derived from a cross between Arka Sujeet (monoecious) x Kasi Kushi (hermaphrodite).The objective of this study was to characterize the selected RILs for genetic diversity and to explore the association among the traits investigated. Characters under study includes node at which first female flower appear, days to first harvest, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit girth, vine length and yield per plant. Analysis of variance was found significant among the population for all the characters. Results revealed that populations show higher heritability and genetic advance as percentage of mean in all the traits except number of fruits per plant. Correlation analysis showed that highest significant and positive correlation with yield trait was observed in number of fruits per plant (0.4010** and 0.2277**) followed by vine length (0.2599** and 0.2279**) and fruit weight (0.2297** and 0.2016**). From the Path analysis high direct and positive effect for yield was observed in number of fruits per plant (0.4858) followed by fruit girth (0.0692), vine length (0.0688) and fruit weight (0.0682). Hence such characters can be given more importance for enhancing the yield.