INHERITANCE OF SOME ECONOMIC TRAITS IN SQUASH (Cucurbieta pepo) AND EVALAUTION OF NEW HYBRID PRODUCED

Abstract

Inheritance studies on cross between two varieties in squash, local variety Eskandrani and Foreign variety Ambassador and evaluation of this hybrid. This studied was carried out in plastic house of Dokki research and farm of sides Experimental Station belonging to the Horticultural Research Institute.The objective of this work was to determine the mode of inheritance of early and total yield weight and number of fruit, plant habit, average fruit weight, length and diameter of fruit and fruit shape, as well as the evaluation of new hybrid produced compared with parental and some hybrid recommended. The results can be summarized as follows. Over dominance concerning early and total yield weight and number of fruits and plant habit, absence of dominance for average fruit weight, length of fruit and fruit shape, complete dominance of diameter of fruit.The number of genes controlling in these traits was one pair of genes for every trait. The estimates of heritability of these characters were low value mostly, may be due to the major effect to the environment on the inheritance of these characters, whereas, maximal value recording of broad and narrow sense heritability was 52.3 % and 36.2 % respectively for average fruit weight trait, while was less value of broad and narrow sense heritability 20.64 % and 10.22 % respectively for diameter of fruit.The expected genetic advance after one generation of selecting the best 5 % of the F2 would be 13.4 % and 10.8 % of weight and number of early yield and 15.0 % and 8.1 % of total yield respectively, while were 5.8 %, 14.0 %, 4.2 %, 2.7 % and 4.0 % for plant length, average fruit weight, fruit length fruit diameter and fruit shape index respectively.The evaluation results of this hybrid produced compared with parental and some hybrids recommended was summarize in the distinction of new hybrid on parental and hybrids recommended in early and total yield, whereas, the new hybrid gave 6.7 and 16.6 in season 1997 and 7.3 and 17.0 in season 1998 ton feddan for early and total yield respectively, while was maximal yield form hybrids recommended by Top Kapi hybrid, which gave 5.5 and 15.1 in season 1997, 6.4 and 15.9 in season 1998 ton feddan for early and total yield respectively. The results shown clearly, the good form of fruit for new hybrid compared with hybrids recommended, whence average fruit weight and fruit shape index.