Heterosis studies in bottlegourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.].

Abstract: Heterosis studies on 9 bottlegurd (Lagenaria siceraria) cultivars (Banswara Local-1 (BL-1), Long White Prolific, Pusa Naveen, Raichur Local-1, Udaipur Local-1, IC 92352A, IC 92374, IC 42361 and PSPL), including their 36 F1 hybrids and cv. Varad as the control cultivar, were carried out under 4 environments created by sowing on two dates and at two locations in a field experiment conducted in Rajasthan, India. The analysis of variance indicated the presence of significant genetic variability among the experimental materials. The hybrids BL-1 x IC 92374, BL-1 x Pusa Naveen, and IC 92374 x PSPL were superior and exhibited significant economic heterosis for fruit yield per plant and yield components such as number of fruits and female flowers per plant. Most of the heterotic crosses were also heterobeltiotic.