MSc

The present investigation was conducted at the Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture,Vellayani from September 2019 to Decembe 2020 to evaluate the performance of long type bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.] genotypes for growth, yield and quality and to identify potential cultivar for Kerala.
The experimental material consisted of 31 long type bottle gourd genotypes. The experiment was laid out in RBD with two replications. Analysis of variance revealed that there was significant difference among the thirty-one genotypes for all the characters studied.
Tvpm Local produced the longest vine length which was at par with KS-1 and IC284895. Tvpm Local produced highest number of branches per vine followed by BG-8, Naveen and Samrat. Highest number of leaves per vine at 30 DAS was recorded in BG-6. IC 538142 recorded longer inter-nodal length which was at par with BG-3. The lowest node number to produce both male and female flower was observed in BG-6. BG-1 was early in male flower production while, BG-2 was early in female flower production. Accession Tvpm Local produced highest number of male flowers which was at par with BG-2 and KAR-1. Highest number of female flowers was noted in IC342077 which were at par with Tvpm Local. Lowest sex ratio was recorded in IC342077 which were at par with Tvpm Local.
The lowermost node to fruit initiation was recorded in BG-3 which was at par with IC 284895 and BG-13. BG-3 was noted for highest fruit set followed by Arka Bahar, IC 371745 and IC 334300. BG-2 was earliest to first fruit harvest followed by Naveen, BG-3. IC 371745 recorded highest fruit length which was at par with IC 538142. IC417704 recorded highest fruit diameter and flesh thickness which was at par with IC146312. IC 331101 recorded least rind thickness. Accession IC 536593 was recorded for highest fruit weight and Pant Lauki-1 was at par with it. KA-1 recorded highest of six fruits per vine which was at par with Pant Lauki-4.
Tvpm Local recorded highest fruit yield per plant and yield per plot (13.0 kg and 197.9 kg) with crop duration of 129.4 days. Maximum crop duration was observed in IC417704 and IC284891 and IC 536593 were on par with it. The Highest TSS and
ascorbic acid content was noted in the BG-3 and IC398545 respectively. BG-3 recorded highest dry matter content which was at par with KAR-1, IC 371745 and Samrat. IC417704 produced highest crude fiber, potassium and calcium content. High GCV and PCV were recorded for plant height, number of branches per vine, number of female flowers, fruit set, fruit length, flesh thickness, yield per plant, yield per plot, ascorbic acid content of the pulp and dry matter content. Yield had positive and significant correlation both at genotypic and phenotypic level for the yield contributing traits such as plant height, number of branches per vine, days to first harvest, fruit length, fruit weight, number of fruits per vine and duration of crop respectively. Path coefficient analysis revealed that average yield per plant showed the highest positive direct effect on number of fruits per vine, days to first male flower, fruit weight, sex ratio, days to first harvest, flesh thickness, rind thickness, number of node of appearance of first female flower, plant height, number of female flowers and fruit set. The genotypes were ranked based on selection index score considering the major characters viz., plant height, days to first female flower, number of node of appearance of first female flower, number of female flowers, sex ratio, fruit set, days to first harvest, rind thickness, flesh thickness, fruit weight, number of fruits per vine and yield plant-1. IC 536593 ranked first with a score of 2548.189 followed by Tvpm Local (2474.530), Pant Lauki-4 (2372.989) and Arka Bahar (1758.896).
Based on the mean yield performance of the genotypes and selection index score IC 536593, Tvpm Local and Pant lauki-4 were best performing accessions compared to others including Arka Bahar recommended variety for Kerala (KAU, 2016). So, those three accessions can be recommended for growing in Kerala condition after confirmation in extensive field trails.