EVALUATION OF GENETIC VARIABILITY, HERITABILITY AND GENETIC ADVANCE FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF SUPERIOR GENOTYPES IN CUCUMBER (CUCUMIS SATIVUS L.)

The present investigation was conducted at the Vegetable Research Farm, Department of Vegetable Science, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, to assess genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) by using the Line × Tester design. Ten parental lines and three testers were crossed and the resulting F₁ hybrids along with their parents were evaluated in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications during two consecutive seasons (2023-2024). Observations were recorded for the yield and quality traits and the data were analyzed for genetic parameters. The significant variability was observed among the genotypes for all the traits studied. Broad-sense heritability estimates ranged from 65.20% (vine length) to 98.34% (days to appearance of first male flower). High heritability coupled with high genetic advance and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) was recorded for number of fruits per plant, fruit yield per plant, internodal length, and number of nodes per vine, indicating the predominance of additive gene action and suggesting that direct selection would be effective for improvement. The traits such as total sugar, ascorbic acid content and shelf life exhibited high heritability but low genetic advance, implying non-additive gene effects. Overall, the study revealed considerable genetic variability and high heritable variation among cucumber genotypes, highlighting the potential for effective selection and genetic improvement for higher yield and quality