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Main Article Content
Prospects of Increased Production of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) through Heterosis
Abstract
Twelve varieties of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L) were evaluated for yield and yield components in a randomized complete block design replicated three times at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike in 2020 and 2021. Data were collected on the length of the main vine, the number of leaves plant-1, number of vines plant-1, number of fruits plant-1, fruit diameter, the weight of fruit plant-1, length of fruit and fruit yield-1. Analysis of variance showed that the varieties differed significantly (P<0.05) in all the attributes studied. Thai 986, Thai 999 and Cu 4315, recorded superior vegetative and reproductive characters performance, and also recorded higher fruit yield in both 2020 and 2021. Except for the length of fruit, all the vegetative and reproductive characters had positive and significant associations with fruit yield ha-1. The number and weight of fruit plant-1 were the major direct contributors to fruit yield. In 2020, a crossing block was also established and crosses made between the parents to raise F1 seeds. The F1 seeds were planted alongside the parents in a randomized complete block design. Heterosis was studied on fruit yield and yield components. The following crosses (Thai 999 x Thai 986, Thai 986 x Thai 999, Marketer x poitsett76, Pointsett76x Marketer, Marketmore76 x Marketmore and Marketmore x Marketmore76 recorded heteroses of 28.24, 46.56, 94.99, 97.17, 86.12 and 88.40% and 32.51, 51.45, 98.86, 101.07, 91.91and 93.07% over their better and mid parents respectively. These crosses could be exploited for an increase in fruit yield through the use of their F1 seeds.
