Combining ability analysis in sponge gourd for earliness and yield

The present investigations were carried out in two years with aims to determine heterosis, combining ability, gene action, heritability in narrow sense, genetic advance in per cent of mean and genetic divergence involving 9 parental lines viz., NDSG-1, NDSG-20, NDSG-22, NDSG-24, NDSG-26, NDSG-28, NDSG-30, NDSG-32 and Pusa chikni of sponge gourd and their 36 F1 hybrids at MES, Vegetable Science, N.D.U.A.&T., Kumarganj, Faizabad during crop seasons of summer (Zaid) 2014 and 2015. The experiments were laid out in RBD with three replications having each experimental unit of single row with spacing of 3m x 0.5m.Analysis of variance for combining ability due to GCS and SCA were found significant for all the characters during both the years accept for fruit diameter in Y2. Which, suggested that both additive and non-additive gene action imported in the repression of all the characters. NDSG-1 and Pusa Chikni were found top good general combiner for marketable fruit yield/plant, number of fruits/plant, primary branches per vine at last harvest, internodal length, days to first fruit harvest, days taken for anthesis of first staminate flower, node number to first pistillate flower anthesis and node number to first staminate flower anthesis. For earliness characters parents namely NDSG-22, NDSG-24, NDSG-1 and Pusa Chikni were found good general combiners. Among 36 crosses the best five crosses were significant SCA effect for average fruit yield/plant, NDSG-1 x NDSG-20, NDSG-1 x NDSG-24, NDSG-22 x NDSG-30, NDSG-28 x NDSG-30 and NDSG-30 x NDSG-32 found common over both the year.