Evaluation of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) genotypes for growth, yield and quality under Bundelkhand agroclimatic conditions

The experiment was conducted to evaluate 30 bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria L.) genotypes for their morphological, yield, and quality character at RLBCAU, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, during kharif 2022. The genotypes were sown in a randomised block design with three replications, and observations were taken on 15 characters. There was a wide range of mean values among genotypes. Hybrid Green Gold (8.0, 6.60kg) and MAHY 8 (7.6, 6.40kg) were statistically superior for maximum number of fruits/plant as well as fruit yield/plant, respectively. The maximum vine length (800cm), total soluble solids (2.93 ^oBrix) and ascorbic acid content (16.97mg) were recorded in RBG 9 genotype. The minimum day to first flowering bud (26.0 days) and earliest node of first appearance of female flower (10.6) was observed on Pusa Samrudhi. Genotype MAHY 8 was earliest for days to first fruit set (37.3), followed by minimum days to fruit picking (46.0). However, maximum fruit length was recorded in Muskan (46.6 cm), followed by MAHY 8 (45.0cm). The highest fruit width was recorded in Narendra Shishir (12.6cm), and highest fruit weight in Pusa Santushti (0.867g).