Assessment of Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance for Yield and Related Traits in Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch ex Poir)

Abstract

A study on pumpkin genotypes was conducted at Vegetable Research Farm of Banda University of Agriculture and Technology during the 2022 Kharif season. This study aimed to assess genetic variability, genotype performance, variation coefficients, heritability, and percentage genetic advance for pumpkin genotypes. Genetic variability, heritability, and genetic advance are critical parameters in plant breeding, as they help identify traits with potential for improvement through selection. This experiment was conducted in a Randomized Block Design with three replications to evaluate 18 pumpkin genotypes.  The mean sum of squares attributed to genotypes exhibited significant differences (p < 0.01) across all characters, indicating pronounced genetic variability. Furthermore, phenotypic (PCV) and genotypic (GCV) coefficients of variation were remarkably high for most quantitative traits male/female bud ratio (PCV=37.90% and GCV=37.65%) followed by pericarp/seed ball ratio (PCV=31.39% and GCV= 31.07%) fruit yield (PCV=27.48% and GCV= 26.22%), vine length (PCV=22.14% and GCV=21.85%) and leaf area (PCV=20.73% and GCV=20.31%). The investigation demonstrated high heritability (h²) and genetic advance (GA) for the majority of assessed traits namely male/female bud ratio (98.65%) followed by pericarp/seed ball ratio (98.02%), vine length (97.35%), leaf area (95.95%). The genotypes VRPK-22-04, Kashi Harit and Arka Chandan exhibited superior yield performance. Notably, VRPK-2201 and VRPK-02-07 exhibited early maturity and reasonable yields, rendering them suitable cultivars for the Bundelkhand region.