Correlation analysis of yield and yield-contributing traits in F3 and F4 generations of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.)

Introduction

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.), a significant member of the Cucurbitaceae family, possesses a diploid chromosome configuration of 2n=22. This species predominantly exhibits a cross-pollinated reproductive strategy, characterized by its monoecious and andromonoecious floral architecture. From a nutritional standpoint, bottle gourd offers a modest yet valuable array of essential vitamins and minerals. Its fruits known for their culinary versatility are employed in the preparation of a wide variety of dishes including sweets, pickles (particularly in mountainous regions), kofta, petha, halwa, kopoorkand, paratha, rayata, kheer, pedha and burfi. Nutritional analyses indicate that the fruits contain vitamin C (11 mg), thiamine (0.044 mg), riboflavin (0.023 mg), niacin (0.33 mg) along with mineral matter (0.5%), carbohydrates (2.9%), fats (0.5%), proteins (0.2%) and a moisture content of approximately 96.3%. Furthermore, various parts of the plant are imbued with a plethora of medicinal properties. The dried, hard shells of the fruit are ingeniously crafted into an array of functional items such as bowls, containers, floats for fishing nets, pipes and musical instruments. Additionally, both the seeds and the extracted seed oil are consumable. In the domain of plant breeding, a nuanced understanding of the inheritance patterns of heritable traits is pivotal for enhancing crop characteristics. Key determinants of crop improvement encompass genetic advancement, heritability and variability, which collectively inform breeders strategies to optimize yield and resilience in bottle gourd cultivation. This integrative approach not only fosters enhanced agricultural productivity but also ensures sustainability in the cultivation of this invaluable crop. F 4 generation of cross LTR-2 x LTR-4 were evaluated during summer 2023. The experimental plot size was 2 m x 10 m and seed sown at 2 m x 1 m spacing between rows and plants Randomized Block Besign (RBD) for each cross. The recommended dose of fertilizer for bottle gourd is 20 t FYM + 100:50:50 kg NPK per ha was applied. The dose of FYM 20 tons per hectare and the 50 per cent recommended dose of nitrogen (50 kg/ha), full dose of phosphorus (50 kg/ha) and potassium (50 kg/ha) were incorporated in the soil at the time of preparation of field. The remaining dose of 50 per cent of nitrogen (50 kg/ha) was applied one month after sowing. The plant protection measures were applied as per recommendation. The gap filling and thinning was done. The vines were trailed on bower to give support. Observations were made in F4 generation on ten randomly chosen plants from each genotype, and the mean value was used for statistical analysis for eleven characters length of vine (cm), number of branches per vine, number of nodes per plant, node at which first female flower occur, days required for occurrence of first female flower, number of female flowers per vine, days required for first harvest, number of fruits per vine, fruit yield per vine (kg), fruit yield per plot (kg) and fruit yield per hectare (q). The formula of (Panse and Sukhatme 1985) [7] will be used to calculate variation for all of the features under consideration. The mean squares from the variance table will be used to determine genotypic and phenotypic variances (Johnson et al. 1955) [3] . The significance of correlation coefficients were compared with statistical table value of correlation coefficient at 1 per cent and 5 per cent level of significance.

Estimation of correlation coefficient

In order to study the inter relationship between different characters, the genotypic and phenotypic correlation coefficients (r) were calculated by using the following formula Where, rg = Genotypic correlation coefficient between character X and Y rph = Phenotypic correlation coefficient between character X and Y X, Y = Two variables under consideration

Results and Discussion

The correlation between yield and yield-contributing traits in the F3 generation Fruit yield per vine shows positive and non-significant correlation with fruit yield per hectare at genotypic and phenotypic level. It shows positive and significant correlation with fruit yield per hectare at phenotypic level. The vine length shows positive and significant correlation with number of branches per vine and number of nodes per plant at both genotypic and phenotypic level and with number of fruits per vine at phenotypic level. Similar result was found by Kumari et al. (2021) [5] and Dubey et al.

(2022) [1] . The Number of branches per vine shows positive and significant correlation with number of nodes per plant and number of fruits per vine at both genotypic and phenotypic level. Similar result was found by Kumari et al. (2021) [5] in bottle gourd. Number of nodes per plant shows positive and significant correlation with number of fruits per vine at both genotypic and phenotypic level. It shows positive and significant correlation with days required for occurrence of first female flower and days required for first harvest at phenotypic level. Similar result was found by Dubey et al. (2022) [1] in bottle gourd. The node at which first female flower occur shows negative and non-significant correlation with days required for occurrence of first female flower, number of female flowers per vine, days required for first harvest, number of fruits per vine and fruit yield per hectare at genotypic and phenotypic level. The result is in confirmation with finding of Singh et al. (2015) [9] in bitter gourd. The days required for occurrence of first female flower shows positive and significant correlation with days required for first harvest at genotypic and phenotypic level. The result is in confirmation with finding of Rani et al. (2014) [8] , Khan et al. (2015) [4] , Mahesh et al. (2014) [6] in bitter gourd and Dubey et al. (2022) [1] in bottle gourd. The number of female flowers per vine shows positive and significant correlation with number of fruits per vine at both genotypic and phenotypic level. The result is in confirmation with finding of Khan et al. (2015) [4] , Rani et al. (2014) [8] in bitter gourd and Thakur et al. (2017) [10] . Days required for first harvest shows negative and nonsignificant correlation with fruit yield per hectare at both genotypic and phenotypic level. The above results were in arrangement with those of Gupta et al. (2015) [2] in bitter gourd and Kumari et al. (2021) [5] in bottle gourd. The number of fruits per vine shows positive and significant correlation for number of branches per vine, number of nodes per vine and number of female flowers per vine in F 3 generation at both the level. The above results were in arrangement with those of Gupta et al. (2015) [2] in bitter gourd. Data presented in Table 1 andTable 2. Fifteen F 3 progenies were studied for association of relationship between yield and yield contributing characters in F 3 generations and are presented in Table 1 andTable 2.

The correlation between yield and yield-contributing traits in the F4 generation

The length of vine shows positive and significant correlation with number of branches per vine, number of nodes per plant and number of fruits per vine at both genotypic and phenotypic level. It shows positive and significant correlation with number of female flowers per vine at phenotypic level. Similar result finding by Yadagiri et al. (2017) [11] in bitter gourd. The number of branches per vine shows positive and significant correlation with number of nodes per plant and number of fruits per vine at both genotypic and phenotypic level. It shows positive and significant correlation with number of female flowers per vine at phenotypic level. The result is in confirmation with finding Kumari et al. (2021) [5] and Dubey et al. (2022) [1] in bottle gourd. Number of nodes per plant shows positive and significant correlation with number of fruits per vine at both genotypic and phenotypic level. It shows positive and significant correlation for number of female flowers per vine at phenotypic level. The node at which first female flower occur shows negative and non-significant correlation with days required for occurrence of first female flower, days required for first harvest, number of fruits per vine, fruit yield per vine and fruit yield per hectare at genotypic and phenotypic level. The result is in confirmation with finding of Yadav and Kumar (2012) [12] in bottle gourd. The days required for occurrence of first female flower shows positive and significant correlation with days required for first harvest at genotypic and phenotypic level. It shows positive and significant correlation for fruit yield per vine and fruit yield per hectare at phenotypic level. The result is in confirmation with finding of Rani et al. (2014) [8] and Mahesh et al. (2014) [6] in bitter gourd and Dubey et al. (2022) [1] in bottle gourd. The number of female flowers per vine shows positive and significant correlation with number of fruits per vine and fruit yield per plot at phenotypic level. The result is in confirmation with finding of Rani et al. (2014) [8] in bitter gourd and Thakur et al. (2017) [10] in bottle gourd. Days required for first harvest shows positive and non-significant correlation with number of fruits per vine, fruit yield per vine and fruit yield per hectare at both genotypic and phenotypic level. The above results were in agreement with those of Gupta et al. (2015) [2] in bitter gourd. The number of fruits per vine shows positive and significant correlation for number of branches per vine, number of nodes per vine and number of female flowers per vine in F 4 generation at both the level. The above results were in arrangement with those of Gupta et al. (2015) [2] in bitter gourd. Fruit yield per vine shows positive and non-significant correlation with fruit yield per hectare at genotypic and phenotypic level. Fifteen F 4 progenies were studied for association of relationship between yield and yield contributing characters F 4 generations and are presented in Table 3 and Table 4.

Conclusion

The analysis of the correlation coefficient indicates that there is a significant positive relationship between fruit yield in quintals per hectare and the number of fruits per vine in both the F 3 and F 4 generations. This suggests that as the number of fruits per vine increases, the overall fruit yield also tends to increase both at the phenotypic and genotypic levels. Therefore, selecting for higher fruit count per vine could effectively enhance fruit yield in future breeding programs. This finding underscores the importance of these traits in improving crop productivity.

References

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