ABSTRACT

Twelve varieties of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) were used in three field experiments to evaluate their performance under Umudike (South eastern Nigeria) conditions in 2019 and 2021 cropping seasons, and to make crosses (hybridization) so as to study heteroses and heritability (broad sense), to enable one make selections for superior traits for hybrid seed production and fresh pod yield improvement program. Randomized complete block design with three (3) replicates was used for experiments 1 and 3. Crossing blocks was used in experiment 2. With respect to yield, Thai 986, Thai 999, and CU 4315 performed significantly (p < 0.05) better than must of the other varieties. Hence, Thai 986, Thai 999 and CU 4315 varieties could lead to increase in cucumber fruit production if adopted by farmers in Umudike. The straight and reciprocal crosses between Thai 999 and Thai 986, Marketer and Poinsett 76 produced F₁ hybrids which recorded higher positive heteroses of 32.51, 51.45, 98.86 and 101.07% respectively over their better parents. The fruit yield of these F­₁­ hybrids were also significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the yield of other hybrids. Straight and reciprocal crosses between Thai 999 and Thai 986, Marketer and Poinsett 76 could be used to produce hybrid seeds for increased fruits production. Variability studies showed that genetic factors exerted great influence on the quantitative characters studied. However, further genetic studies (heritability and genetic advance) showed that selection based on length of main vine, number of leaves and length of fruit could lead to improvement in fruit yield of cucumber through breeding program.