Exploitation of hybrid vigour through diallel analysis in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

A study to estimate heterosis of 45 F₁ hybrids obtained by crossing 10 diverse lines of cucumber was carried out at MVRS, AAU, Anand during 2015–16. Observations on characters viz., fruit yield per plant, fruit length, fruit girth, fruit weight, number of primary branches per plant and number of fruits per plant were taken. Analysis of data revealed that all hybrids differed significantly within themselves for all the characters under study. The hybrid ACUS 13–60 x ACUS 9–51 exhibiting the highest heterotic effect over standard parent (GCU 1) for the characters, fruit yield per plant and number of fruits per plant can be exploited for commercial cultivation. For fruit length and number of primary branches per plant, none of the hybrids showed positive significant standard heterosis. The hybrid ACUS 9–50 x ACUS 9–51 and ACUS 13–58 x ACUS 13–60 exhibited the highest standard heterosis for fruit girth and fruit weight respectively.