GENETIC VARIABILITY AND CHARACTER ASSOCIATIONS IN ASHGOURD [BENINCASA HISPIDA (THUNB.) COGN.]

Twenty five genotypes of ashgourd [Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn.] were evaluated to estimate variability, heritability, genetic advance and correlation coefficients. Higher phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation were observed for fruit length, fruit girth, fruits per plant, average fruit weight, yield per plant, seeds per fruit and 1000 seed weight. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for average fruit weight, yield per plant, fruits per plant, fruit girth and fruit length indicating scope for improvement of these characters through selection. A significant positive correlation was observed for fruit length, fruit girth, average fruit weight, seeds per fruit, 1000 seed weight with yield suggesting that selection for these characters would lead to improvement in yield. From the morphological characterization of 25 landraces of ashgourd, BH 15, BH 23 and BH 5 were found to be promising based on their superiority in yield, fruit quality, earliness in male and female flowering, narrow sex ratio and mosaic resistance and hence they may be utilized for further improvement.