Variability and correlation studies in spine gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif, 2010 with 15 local germplasm of spine gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb.) at the Experimental Farm, Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat. The analyses of variance revealed significant differences among the genotypes for all the characters studied. High genotypic variance followed by high genotypic coefficient variation was observed for node at which first female flower appears, vine length, 100 seed weight and fruit yield per plant. In general the phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) estimates were higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) estimates for all the traits. Correlation study revealed highly significant and positive correlation of yield per plant with number of primary branches, internode length, fruits per plant, fruit diameter and single fruit weight. Days to 50 % flowering exhibited significant positive correlation with total soluble sugar (%). Simple selection for those component characters will make considerable improvement in yield.