Evaluation of cucumber genotypes for yield and quality traits

Thirty cucumber genotypes were collected from five different states of India and were evaluated for yield and quality characters at Solan, Himachal Pradesh during Kharif season of 2015. Among all the genotypes evaluated, LC-10 was the earliest with maximum number of primary branches per plant (8.24), seed length (12.66 mm), 100 seed weight (3.61 g), seed vigour index I (2768.38), yield per plant (2.98 kg) and recorded least severity to four economically important foliar diseases viz., angular leaf spot, anthracnose, downy mildew and powdery mildew. Besides this, LC-3 had maximum harvest duration (37.67 days) and LC-2 had maximum seed vigour index II (2012.63). LC-28 was found superior for average fruit weight (310.42 g), fruit length (21.22 cm) and seed cavity length (17.48). LC-9 had maximum (12.90) number of marketable fruits per plant. LC-22 had maximum TSS (5.38°B) among the genotypes studied, whereas, LC-21 had highest seed germination (89.00%). Therefore, these genotypes can be used as such after multi-location testing or can further be subjected to selection or heterosis breeding to obtain a variety/hybrid with desirable quality and higher yield.