Genetic Variability in Melon (Cucumis melo L.) for Fruit and Yield Traits

Muskmelon is one of the important crops of Cucurbitaceae family and has very wide genetic variability with respect to morphological characters. The genetic variability of 24 muskmelon accessions was studied for yield and fruit traits at College of Horticulture, Bengaluru, during the year 2015 following RCBD design with two replications. Durgapur Madhu and Kashi Madhu were used as standard checks for comparison. The analysis of variance revealed wide range of variability among the genotypes for all the yield and fruit traits. Among the 24 melon genotypes, genotype IC321361 was found to be best for traits fruit length, fruit and yield per vine, while the genotypes IC321375 and IC321338 showed good flesh thickness than the other genotypes. The wide variability observed in this study could be utilized further for selecting the parents for developing hybrids and melon crop improvement.