Genetic effects and heterosis of flowering and fruit characteristics of tropical pumpkin

Abstract

Tropical pumpkin is an important vegetable in many lowland tropics. Estimation of genetic effects for a fixed set of genotypes may yield information on the presence of different types of gene action for important traits. Six landraces and one diallel set of their progeny were evaluated for time from planting to female anthesis and fruit characteristics. Variety effects and heterosis mean squares were significant for the days to female anthesis, the weight of the first mature fruit, the mean fruit weight and soluble solids, indicating the presence of both additive and non-additive gene actions. Only variety effects were significant for the days to the first mature fruit. These characters could be improved by recurrent selection. Selection for heterosis would be effective except for the days to the first fruit to mature.