Author(s):

Saheb Pal, Hem Raj Sharma, Ashok Kumar Thakur and Rajesh Kumar Dogra

Abstract: The present experiment was carried out to determine the variability source structure for 24 morpho-agronomic traits of cucumber in the Experimental Farm of the Department of Vegetable Science, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan during Kharif, 2015. The results revealed that first four component axes had eigen values ≥1.0, representing a cumulative variability of 81.53%. PC1 explained the traits like days to first harvest, number of marketable fruits per plant, harvest duration, vine length, number of primary branches per plant, germination percentage, seed vigour index I and II, severity of anthracnose, downy mildew and powdery mildew. The traits viz., average fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, flesh thickness and seed cavity length were explained by PC2 and the remaining traits were explained by PC3 and PC4. Loading of different variables based on the first two principal components indicated that average fruit weight, fruit length and diameter, seed length, seed cavity length and breadth, harvest duration, hundred seed weight, seed vigour index I and II contributed greater proportion of the total variability. Therefore, while conducting selection or choosing parents for hybridization, breeders have to give special emphasis on these traits.

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