Studies on heterobeltiosis in bittergourd (Momordica charantia L.) under mid hill condition of Uttrakhand

In a study conducted at VCSG College of Horticulture, GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Bharsar, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand during 2005 and 2006. Heterobeltiosis were estimated for eight quantitative traits in 15 hybrids involving 6 diverse parents (BBIG-1, BBIG-2, BBIG-3, BBIG-4, BBIG-5 and Kalyanpur Sona) of bittergourd. The hybrids and their parents were evaluated under RBD with thee replications. The results exhibited highly significant differences among genotypes comprising parents and their crosses for all traits studied. Cross BBIG-3 x BBIG-5 exhibited highly significant and maximum heterobeltiosis for fruit weight, number of fruits per plant and fruit yield per plant. The highest better parent heterosis for earliness in terms of days to anthesis first male flower, days to anthesis first female flower and days to first harvest showed by BBIG1 x Kalyanpur Sona, while BBIG-2 x Kalyanpur Sona depicted highest significant and positive heterobeltiosis for fruit length. Thus, the cross combination BBIG-3 x BBIG-5 and BBIG-1xKalyanpur Sona emerged as best for high yield and early harvest, respectively and may be considered to develop the short duration high yielding genotype/hybrid for high hilly areas.