STUDY OF HETEROSIS FOR YIELD ATTRIBUTES IN RIDGE GOURD (LUFFA ACUTANGULA L.ROXB.) IN SEMI ARID REGION IN RAJASTHAN INDIA

Heterosis studies carried out through half-diallel method (excluding reciprocals) using eight parents in ridge gourd for yield and quality components.F1's and parents were evaluated under two seasons i.e. rainy and summer.This analysis revealed that crosses Pusa Nutan x Arka Sujat, Pusa Nasdar x Pusa Nutan, AHRG-29 X Pusa Nutan, Pusa Nasdar X Konkan Harita and Pusa Nutan X Konkan Harita showed desirable heterosis, heterobeltiosis and economic heterosis for total fruit yield per vine, fruit length, and fruit weight.For days to first fruit harvest, the crosses Arka Sumeet x Swarna Uphar, Pusa Nutan X Arka Sumeet and Swarna Manjari x Pusa Nutan showed desirable heterosis, heterobeltiosis and economic heterosis.Some other crosses viz; Pusa Nutan X Konkan Harita for number of fruit per vine, Pusa Nasdar X Arka Sujat for fruit length and Arka Sujat X Arka Sumeet for fruit girth showed significant economic heterosis.Hence, these crosses were found to be promising for their use for yield improvement and other beneficial characters.