Techniques of hybrid seed production in cucurbitaceous vegetables

The exploitation of hybrid vigor through the use of hybrid varieties is one of the major achievements of plant breeding. The introduction of hybrid crop varieties has enabled the farmers to increase productivity owing to hybrid vigor and increased uniformity. To produce hybrid seeds a pollination control system is needed to prevent unwanted self-pollination. The availability of quality seed is of utmost importance for increasing the vegetable production. Vegetable growers recognize quality seed of improved varieties as the most strategic resource for higher and better vegetable yield. Although India ranks second in vegetable production in the world after China, the quality vegetable seed production in the country has been insufficient. Over the decade new pollination control systems have been developed with the aid of genetic engineering mainly based on the generation of nuclear encoded male sterility. The successful application of these systems for large scale hybrid seed production depends on whether the male-sterile female parent line can be multiplied efficiently and economically. Further low inbreeding depression, high heterosis percentage, large number of seeds per fruit and low seed rate requirement per unit area give distinct advantage in commercial exploitation of heterosis in cucurbitaceous vegetables. The increase in vegetable production is limited due to continued decrease of landholdings. Hybrid vegetable technology is one of the better options to fulfill country's requirement of food and nutritional security and poverty alleviation. Tremendous efforts have been made by both public and private sectors for developing hybrid seeds in several vegetables including cucurbitaceous vegetable crops.