Studies on genetic variability and scope of improvement in round melon under hot arid conditions

Genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance and correlation coefficients components in round melon using eighteen land races/genotypes under hot arid environment were studied in order to identify desirable genotypes for crop improvement programme. On the basis of fruit quality characters along with more number of fruits and early yield per plant, the genotype AHRM-1 (1.91 kg), KPT-3, Arka Tinda and KCM/BKP 01 were observed to be most potential. The estimates of GCV were high for fruit yield and number of fruits/plant and moderate for node to female flower appearance, fruit weight, number of seeds/fruit, plant height and number of branches/plant indicated better scope of improvement through selection. The genetic advance as percentage of mean ranged from 10.62 to 91.17. High estimates of heritability values accompanied with high genetic gain were observed for fruit yield/plant, number of fruits/plant, node to first female flower appearance, and number of seeds per fruit. A very strong positive and significant correlation was recorded between fruit yield per plant with number of fruits per plant (0.921) and vine length (0.808) indicating that effective improvement through these characters could be achieved in round melon. Negative and significant association of days to appearance of female flower and days to first harvest with number of fruits per plant which indicated that early genotypes bear more number of fruits per plant.