BREEDING SOME MELON TRAITS BY HONEYCOMB SELECTION 2- YIELD, QUALITY AND HERITABILITY

Rasool, E.J.Abdul; Elsahookie, M.M.; M. AI-Abdaly, M.

	BREEDING SOME MELON TRAITS BY HONEYCOMB SELECTION 2- YIELD, QUALITY AND HERITABILITY
The Iraqi Journal of Agricultural Science
Article 1, Volume 38, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 27-35
Authors
E.J.Abdul Rasool; M.M. Elsahookie; M. M. AI-Abdaly
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted in three seasons on the farm of the Dep. ofHort., Coll., of Agric. University of Baghdad during spring and fall 2005 and spring 2006. 3 melon cultivars (Hafed nafsa, Ismaily and Ananas) were grown according to honeycomb selection design. Four selection criteria were used; number of day from planting to blooming, number of nodes on the main stem before flowering, number of main branches/plant and sex ratio after 60 clays from planting. The results showed that the number of days from planting to first female flower was reduced by 17% after 2 cycles of selection, it was reduced from 52.9 day at C0 to 43.9 day at C2, reducting number of nodes per plant before female flower (at range 1.7 node) from 4.2 to 2.5 nodes after 2 cycles of selection. Main branches per plant were increased from 3.2 branches /plant at C0 to 4.2 branches /plant at C2. Sex ratio was increased from 11.7% to 15.6% after 2 cycles of selection. Number of fruits/plant was also increased from 2.9 fruit at C0 to 4.5 fruit/plant at C2. Fruit weight was not increased due to selection but the yield was increased by 37.2% due to increased yield per plant from 3.8 , 9.8 and 4.0 kg/plant for Hafed nafsa, Ismaily and Ananas, to 5.8,12.7 and 6.0 kg/plant respectively. Fruit TSS content was increased from 10.6% to 13.3% (Hafed nafsa), 10.2 % to 12.8% (Ismaily) and 12.8% to 13.2% (Ananas). This was reflected on fruit total sugar content to be increased from 10.2% to 12% and from 9.8% to 12.2% and from 12.2% to 12.7% for Hafed nafsa, Ismaily and Ananas, respectively. Heritability (at C2) of criteria used was 69.6% for number of days to blooming, 79.3 for number of nodes before flowering, 66.9% for no. branches /plant and 58.9% for sex ratio, and 65.8% for no. fruits/plant. This was higher than the heritability for yield (40.7%). Conclusively, four selection criteria were effective to improve traits. This allows breeder to select early especially with high heritability and positive correlation with yield and quality.

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