Performance of twenty eight bottle gourd genotypes

Abstract

Abstract : The present study was conducted to characterize and evaluate the performance of 28 bottle gourd genotypes. Several physio-morphological characters of bottle gourd such as days to first flowering, sex ratio, number of fruits / plant, fruit size, single fruit weight and yield / plant were studied. Genotypes were categorized into four groups viz. higher, medium, lower and very lower depending on yield per plant. Among the genotypes, LS024 and LS026 took the minimum days for male and female flowering respectively, which could be used for further breeding program. Nine genotypes were found to produce male flower earlier viz.LS024, LS026, LS005, LS009, LS008, LS012, LS007, LS011 and LS018, 2 genotypes were found to produce female flower earlier viz. LS026 and LS022.Five genotypes viz. LS026, LS022, LS001, LS003 and LS018 required minimum days for first harvest. Considering all the parameters the genotypes LS014, LS010, LS008, LS011, LS012, LS026, LS022, LS003 and LS018 were found superior that might be selected for producing inbred lines for further use in breeding program.