Genetic evaluation of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) genotypes for quality parameters under protected environment

Six cucumber genotypes of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) cultivars used for the present study in mid-hills of Himachal Pradesh under protected conditions. The experiment was carried out at Vegetable Research Farm, Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur in Randomized Block Design with four replications in spring-summer and rainy season during 2023. The outcomes of the present investigation revealed that the cultivar PN (Punjab Naveen) and PU (Pusa Uday) were the best performing cultivars among all the cultivars in relation of quality parameters of cucumber. The correlation coefficients among the different characters were worked out at both phenotypic and genotypic levels. The results indicated that yield per plant had significant positive association with shelf life, phosphorus content, calcium content during summer season while calcium content, shelf life and phosphorus content expressed significant positive correlation during the rainy season. The path coefficient analysis on phenotypic and genotypic level revealed that among these characters, phosphorus content exhibited highest positive direct effect on yield per plant followed by diameter of seed during summer season and number of seeds per fruit followed by shelf life, calcium content, disease incidence and test weight showed positive direct effect on yield per plant during the rainy season, thus indicating that direct selection for yield improvement in cucumber can be performed.