Assessment of genetic variability in F2 population of snap melon (Cucumis melo var. momordica Duth. and Full) for productivity and quality traits

The Present investigation was carried out at Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot Dist. Karnataka, India during Dec – march 2023-2024. The experimental material consists of 231 F2 seeds collected from the Dept. of Vegetable Science, COH, Bagalkot. The experimental design followed is Augmented Block Design with seven blocks and three checks. Analysis of variance exhibited considerable variability among all the F2 plants of cross (HUB-25 x HUB-3) for all the characters studied. High range of genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was recorded for Node at 1st staminate flowers appear (41.46 and 45.61), Node at 1st pistillate flowers appear (25.03 and 21.55), sex ratio (25.79 and 27.82), Internodal length at last harvest (21.16 and 22.42), no. of branches per vine at last harvest (28.69 and 31.61), average weight of fruit (25.63 and 28.90), number of fruit per vine (35.10 and 38.22), yield of fruit per vine (38.63 and 41.15), TSS (30.54 and 31.83), rind firmness (24.51 and 28.39) and shelf life (24.87 and 28.14). High heritability (h2 bs) coupled with the high Genetic advance over mean (GAM) was observed for all the traits except, Day to 1st male flower appear, day to 1st female flowers appear, days to primary harvest and days to final harvest.