Vol. 8, Issue 9, Part B (2024)

Genetic variability in families of the F₃ generation of Naga hybrid was studied for earliness, growth, quality and yield traits at the College of Horticulture, UHS, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India, during the late kharif season of 2022. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) design with two replications. For all the traits studied, the phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was substantially higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV). However, high GCV and PCV were noticed for mean fruit weight, fruit yield per vine, fruit yield per plot, fruit yield per hectare, seed count per fruit, seed test weight and seed yield per fruit. In addition to high heritability, high genetic advance as a percent of mean (GAM) were noticed for the number of primary branches per vine, the node number at which the first female and male flower appears, sex ratio, mean fruit weight, fruit diameter, number of fruits per vine, fruit yield per vine, fruit yield per plot, fruit yield per hectare, seed count per fruit, seed yield per fruit, flesh thickness and vitamin C suggesting these traits were controlled by additive gene action. Hence, direct selection may be followed for the improvement of ridge gourd for above mentioned traits.