Heterobeltiosis and combining ability in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) under mid hilly area of Uttrakhand

Seven parental lines of cucumber were evaluated in a diallel cross along with their twenty one F1’s (excluding reciprocals) during 2006 in a randomized block design to obtain information about heterosis and combining ability. The hybrids BC-11 x BC-12 manifested highest significant heterobeltiosis for nodal position of first female flower while BC-16 x Poinsette for fruit length, BC-14 x BC-16 for fruit diameter, BC-15 x BC-16 for fruit weight and BC-11 x BC-16 for number of fruits per vine and fruit yield per vine. It was observed that both GCA and SCA variances were significant for all the characters studied. In general, the mean squares for GCA were greater than SCA for all the characters except yield per vine. In most of the cases heterobeltiosis observed was due to high SCA effects. The most promising hybrids were BC-11 x BC-16, BC-15 x Poinsette and BC-13 x BC-14 and these hybrids showed highest SCA effects for yield per vine. These crosses may be considered to develop the high yielding hybrid for mid hilly areas of Uttrakhand.