Forty five bottle gourd genotypes comprising 36 hybrids and 9 parents were evaluated in four different environments for combining ability analysis for days to opening first female flower, days to opening first male flower, number of node bearing first female flower, number of node bearing first male flower, vine length (cm), days to first picking, fruit length (cm), fruit equatorial diameter (cm), number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight per plant (kg), days to last picking and fruit yield per plant (kg). The data were analyzed as per Method-II, Model-I of Griffing (1956). The results revealed that, both additive and non-additive gene effects played an important role in the genetic control of the traits studied. The σ2GCA / σ2SCA ratio was more than unity for days to first opening female flower, days to first opening male flower, vine length, fruit equatorial diameter and number of fruits per plant indicates the preponderance of additive gene action for these traits, while fo

Bottle gourd, Combining ability, Gene action.

From the results, it can be concluded that use of parents ABG 1, NDBG 132, Arka Bahar and Pusa Naveen in future breeding programme would be more useful in augmenting genes for high yield in bottle gourd. It was further noted that involvement of these parents in hybridization resulted into hybrids expressing useful heterosis for different traits. Hybrids ABG 1 × Arka Bahar and Punjab Long × NDBG 132 had high per se performance possessed desired sca effects as well significant and desirable standard heterosis for fruit yield per plant and some of its important component traits can be exploited in practical plant breeding.

Balat, J. R., Patel, J. B., Delvadiya, I. R. and Ginoya, A. V. (2021). Combining Ability Studies for Fruit Yield and its Components in Bottle Gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.]. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 13(2): 396-403.