Comparative study on the phenology, gender and yield components of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) varieties

Abstract

The intensity of sex expression is important in crops, including cucumber, since sex form and flowering have direct effects on date of harvesting and yield. Two groups of cucumber comprising a native variety (Odukpani) and elite varieties (Griffaton, Poinsett, Ashley, Marketmore and Monarch) were evaluated in 2015 and 2016 cropping seasons at the Teaching and Research Farm, College of Agriculture, Garkawa, Plateau State; to assess flowering, sex expression and some yield traits. The experimental design was randomized complete block design with the 6 cucumber varieties as the treatments, replicated five times. The two groups differed significantly (p < 0.05) in phonological, flowering and yield traits assessed. The elite varieties were superior with respect to flowering traits, as they flowered early. The intra-population hierarchical cluster analysis of quantitative traits grouped the elite varieties in one main cluster and the native variety (Odukpani) alienated as an outlier. The cluster plots showed that Odukpani was robust in vegetative growth, produced few but larger fruit size and flowering was delayed for over two weeks. Conversely, the elite varieties flowered early, produced more flowers and recorded superior number of fruits per plant. The profuse production of pistillate flowers by the elite varieties had pronounced yield advantage over the local variety. Hybridization between the two groups of cucumber would make a mark in the drive for sustainable cucumber fruit yield.

Assessments of Structural Yield Indicators of Cucumber Genotypes Using Cluster Analysis

“…Our findings are confirmed by other authors' conclusions that parents for hybridization are advisable to select from different clusters (Biliavska L.H. & Rybalchenko A.M, 2020;Manggoel W. et al, 2022;Sharma S. et al 2018). This is important for further selection of parents to ensure greater genetic diversity and development of new genotypes that will be adapted to changing environmental conditions, which Vegetable and Melon Growing Volume, 74, 2023Volume, 74, Овочівництво і баштанництво Випуск 74, 2023 makes them attractive both to breeders and, as final products, to commercial cucumber producers.…”

“…This is especially important when parameters are measured in different units, complicating application of traditional econometric tools. Cluster analysis can reveal a multilevel structure of variations in data and help distinguish inter-and intraspecimen variations using functional analysis of variance (Pascucci S. et al, 2018). Since yield is currently the most prioritized trait given food safety risks, our study was aimed specifically at the identification of hybrids' parents in heterosis breeding for increased yield.…”

Field evaluation of M4 plants obtained from induced mutation of tomato ‘Cobra’ variety with ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS)

“…The rainfall is bimodal with an annual total of about 1,500 mm. The relative humidity ranges from 70 to 80%, and the ambient temperature from 20 to 30℃ during the rainy season (Manggoel and Uguru, 2011). The tomato variety used was a popular market brand cobra, which is highly cherished by consumers but has poor performance in the field due to excessive precipitation.…”