Vol. 9, Issue 4, Part K (2025)

The selection of parents is critical to the success of any breeding operation. Breeders choose parents with high mean values as an added benefit for hybridization initiatives. The current study aimed to assess the performance of muskmelon genotypes in terms of growth and earliness. Muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) is one of the most well-known desert vegetables, belong to the Cucurbitaceae family. To evaluate 40 genotypes and 1 check of muskmelon the field experiment was conducted at AICRP on vegetable crops, Department of Horticulture, MPKV, Rahuri during viz., 2 February 2022, 8 November 2022, 10 February 2023 and 27 October 2023 in a Randomized Block Design with three replications. The findings indicate that the genotypes RHRMM-4, RHRMM-34, RHRMM-3, RHRMM-8 and RHRMM-133 as elite genotypes were exhibited higher values for different traits like vine length (cm), days to first male flower appearance, days to first female flower appearance, node at which first female flower and days to first fruit harvest. As a result, the above mentioned five genotypes can be used in the hybridization programme, could be exploited to develop elite cultivars with maximum growth and earlier in flowering and harvest.