The current exploration was carried out to determine the correlation among the yield and its attributing traits in ridge gourd and also the path analysis among four crosses of F2 population. The traits viz., number of fruits per vine, rind thickness, flesh thickness (cross 1, 2, 3 and 4), fruit set percentage, fruit length, fruit girth and fruit weight (cross 1, 2 and 3), number of male flowers per vine and number of seeds per fruit (cross 3 and 4) and days to male flowering, node of first male flower, node of first female flower and TSS (cross 4) had significant positive association with fruit yield per vine. A very high positive direct effect on fruit yield per vine was exerted by the traits viz., rind thickness and flesh thickness (cross 1, 3 and 4) and fruit girth (cross 2); high positive direct effect showed by average fruit weight (cross 1, 2, 3 and 4), per cent fruit set (cross 1, 2 and 4), number of female flowers per vine (cross 2) and number of fruits per vine (cross 3) in F2 generation of all the four crosses. Hence, direct selection of these traits would be rewarding.

Ridge gourd, Correlation, Path analysis and Population

The positive effects indicated the stable performance against the environmental fluctuations and more emphasis could be given to those characters in selection of genotypes for high yield. Hence, direct selection for the traits would be rewarding. The character association and path analysis prompted that selection for fruit weight, fruit girth, rind thickness, flesh thickness, fruit set percentage, number of female flowers per vine and number of fruits per vine could be beneficial for improvement in fruit yield of ridge gourd.

Y. Sravani, G. Kranthi Rekha, C. Venkata Ramana, L. Naram Naidu and D.R. Salomi Suneetha (2023). Character Association Studies, Direct and Indirect Effects on Fruit Yield in Segregating Generation of Ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb.). Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(8): 454-465.