RECURRENT SELECTION FOR SPECIFIC COMBINING ABILITY FOR YIELD IN FOUR SLICING CUCUMBER POPULATIONS

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Plant breeders often measure selection progress for yield by measuring the hybrid performance (combining ability) of a breeding line. This information is used to develop breeding lines with higher combining ability. The objectives of this study were to measure the specific combining ability for yield traits over three selection cycles from four slicing cucumber populations with `Poinsett 76', a popular slicing cucumber cultivar; and to determine the change in specific combining ability for yield traits in four populations improved through recurrent selection. Four slicing cucumber populations, North Carolina wide base slicer (NCWBS), medium base slicer (NCMBS), elite slicer 1 (NCES 1), and Beit Alpha 1 (NCBA1), were developed and improved through modified half-sib selection from 1983 to 1992 to improve yield per se and fruit quality in each population. Eleven families were randomly selected from each of three selection cycles (early, intermediate, advanced) from each population and were hybridized to `Poinsett 76'. Twenty-three seeds from each cross were planted in 1.2-m plots in Spring and Summer 1995. When 10% of fruit were oversized (>50 mm in diameter), plants were sprayed with paraquat to defoliate them and to simulate once-over harvest. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with 22 replications per population arranged in a split plot with the four populations as whole plots and the three cycles as subplots. The combining ability for early and marketable yield of NCWBS and NCBA1 increased as the number of selection cycles increased. Conversely, selection for higher yield per se decreased the combining ability of the NCES 1 population for early and marketable yield. The NCBA1 population exhibited the largest gain (131.2%) from cycle 0 to 8 averaged over all traits. Early yield exhibited the largest gain (60.8%) averaged over all populations.