Studies on Genetic Variability and Trait Inter-Relationship in Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl)

A field investigation was carried out at Horticulture Farm of Institute of Agriculture, Sriniketan to evaluate the twenty seven genotypes of bottle gourd in randomized block design with three replications. Sowing was done in late kharif season of 2013 at a spacing of 50 cm between hills. Observations were recorded for 8 quantitative characters viz., node number of first female flower, sex ratio, days to first harvest, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit girth and fruit yield per plant. The analysis of variance showed highly significant differences for all the characters studied indicating considerable variability among the genotypes. The highest GCV (34.84%) and PCV (35.14%) were observed for sex ratio. The differences between GCV and PCV were high for fruit number per plant indicating environmental influences. High heritability associates with high estimates of genetic advance in per cent of mean were noted for node number of first female flower, sex ratio, fruit length, fruit girth, number of fruits per plant and fruit yield per plant. It indicated the presence of additive gene effect and selection for these traits would be effective. Fruit yield/plant was positively and significantly correlated (at genotypic and phenotypic level) with fruit length and fruits number/plant. Negative associations of fruit yield/plant were noted with node number of first female flower, sex ratio and days to first harvest. Path analysis revealed that days to first harvest (2.783) and fruit girth (1.356) had very high positive direct effect on fruit yield/plant.