Morphological Characterization and Evaluation Of Snake Gourd Genotypes for Fruit Yield, Yield Attributes and Other Characters

The experiment was conducted at the research field of Horticulture Department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Raman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) during the period from March to June 2017 to characterize and evaluate the snake gourd genotypes morphologically. In the study, 55 snake gourd genotypes collected from Plant Genetic Resources Centre (PGRC) of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Genetics and Plant Breeding Department of BSMRAU, different seed companies and various parts of Bangladesh. The genotypes exhibited 67.3% cylindrical, 21.8% elliptical, 1.8% fusiform, 9.1% ovate shape fruit along with 56.4% green, 18.2% light green, 16.4% dark green and 9.0% white fruit. Seed colour with 38.2% was brown and 83.6% seed shape was elliptical. The fruit length varied from 12 to 54 cm while fruit diameter varied from 3.5 to 5.5 cm. Days to 1st female flower opening ranged between 44 and 62 days and nodes number on female flower initiation was between 12 and 26. Days to 1st fruit harvest varied from 54 to 72 days. The number of fruits/plants ranged from 8.33 to 27, whereas individual fruit weight varied from 90 to 325g. Fruit yield/plant ranged from 1.29 to 7.74 kg. Genotypes were TC01, TC03, TC04, TC05, TC07, TC08 and TC19 identified as early maturity. The genotypes differed significantly in most of the parameters and offer a good scope for selection of parent for crop improvement programme. Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 45(4): 349-370, December 2020