Breeding pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch. ex Poir.) for high yield and carotene content.

摘要

Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch. ex Poir.) has become a popular vegetable crop all over India owing to its high productivity, nutritive value, good storability, and long period of availability. Selection based on different flower, fruit characters, yield and carotene and sugar content of the pulp in four cycles of inbreeding was carried in 36 open pollinated materials from eastern India under autumn-winter season to determine the selection response. Inbreeding and selection markedly improved number of marketable fruits and fruit yield/plant and carotene content of the pulp while such gain for other important characters viz., days to first pistillate flower, fruit weight and sugar content of pulp was moderate. Selection gain was positive in all the cycles, irrespective of the initial progeny performance, suggesting predominantly additive gene action for the control of the characters. Fruit weight along with other fruit characters particularly equatorial, polar diameter and pericarp thickness emerged as the key fruit yield components. Simultaneous selection for both high yield and high carotene content of the pulp was justified because of their significant and positive phenotypic correlation. Both carotene and sugar contents of pulp did not exert negative direct effect on yield. Ideal plant characters for high yield and appreciably high quality of fruit were early blooming of both staminate and pistillate flowers, oval-shaped fruits of moderate weight with thick pericarp.