Estimates of heterosis for yield and its attributing traits in pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch. ex Poir.)

Abstract

The investigations were carried out to evaluate the 28 F1 hybrids of pumpkin, which were grown in a randomized complete block design with three replications during Zaid 2021 at the main experiment station, Department of Vegetable Science, Kalyanpur, CSA University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur (U.P.). Observations were recorded on nineteen quantitative traits viz., days to first male flower appearance, days to first female flower appearance, node number to first male flower appearance, node number to first female flower appearance, vine length, internodal length, branches per plant, days to first harvest, average fruit weight, fruits/plant, equatorial circumference of fruit, polar circumference of fruit, flesh thickness, total soluble solids, dry matter content, moisture content, seeds per fruit, specific gravity and fruit yield per plant. The highest fruit yield per plant was recorded in hybrids viz. Azad Pumpkin-1 × P-40-16, Azad Pumpkin-1 × Punjab Samrat, P-40-16 × Punjab Samrat, Azad Pumpkin-1 × P-35-16, Narendra Agrim × Punjab Samrat and Azad Pumpkin-1 × DVRP-2-5 in F1, exhibited significant and desirable heterosis in respect to standard variety with days to first male flower appearance, days to first female flower appearance, node number to first female flower appearance and days to first fruit harvest