Character associations and path analysis for horticultural traits and fruitfly infestation in oriental pickling melon (Cucumis melo var. conomon Mak.)

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to study characterassociations and path analysis in 53 accessions of orientalpickling melon at the Department of Vegetable Science,College of Horticulture, Kerala Agriculture University,Thrissur during March to May 2016 in Randomized CompleteBlock Design (RBD) with two replications. Observationswere recorded on 20 quantitative characters to assess theextent of character associations. Fruit yield per plant showedsignificant direct positive correlations to number of branchesper plant (0.84), number of fruits per plant (0.81), seed cavitylength (0.63), fruit length (0.57) and seed cavity breadth(0.33). Fruit fly infestation showed significant direct positivecorrelations to fruit weight (1.06), days taken for fruit maturity(0.99) and fruit girth (0.85). Significant direct negativecorrelations to fruit fly infestation were exhibited by fruitrind thickness and flesh thickness (-0.98) respectively.