Influence of heat and moisture supply on the manifestation of breeding- valuable quantitative traits of courgette lines

Abstract

Introduction. One of the priorities of modern courgette breeding is the creation of F1 varieties and hybrids that combine high productivity and resistance to abiotic growing factors. Purpose. The goal is to investigate the correlation between the level of manifestation of quantitative traits and the hydrothermal coefficient (HTC) in selectively valuable courgette lines and to identify promising forms with a low dependence on climatic growing conditions. Methods. Breeding work was carried out with 20 lines of courgette of foreign origin. The correlation relationship was determined between the HTC and traits that are structural components of yield and determine the phenological phases of plant development. Results. 3 perspective lines were obtained (LK 17-11, RVL-19, VL-91), in which there was an average correlation between the HTC and the duration of the fruiting period (rp = 0.37…0.45). A group of lines (LK 17-42, LK 17-44, LK 17-47) was identified, in which, in terms of yield and productivity of plants, an average and moderate correlation with the HTC was observed (rp = 0.3…0.70). One line stood out, LK-17-11, which had weak correlations with the HTC for three important quantitative traits - “Total yield”, “Fruiting yield”, “Total productivity of one plant” (rp = 0.12…0.14).