Combining Ability and Heterosis among Bottle Gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.] Selections for Yield and Related Traits under Drought-Stressed and Non-Stressed Conditions

Bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.] is cultivated for multiple utilities, including as a leafy vegetable, for fresh and dried fruits and seeds. It is an under-researched and -utilized crop, and modern varieties are yet to be developed and deployed in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There is a dire need for pre-breeding and breeding of bottle gourds for commercialization in SSA. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the combining ability and heterosis among selected genotypes of bottle gourd for fruit yield and related traits under drought-stressed and non-stressed conditions to select the best parents and hybrids. Eight preliminarily selected and contrasting parents with drought tolerance were crossed using a half-diallel mating design. The 8 parents and 28 crosses were evaluated under non-stressed (NS) and drought-stressed (DS) conditions across two growing seasons (2020/21 and 2021/22) using a 6 x 6 alpha lattice design with three replicates. Data were collected on fruit yield and related traits and subjected to analysis of variance, combining ability and heterosis analyses. Significant (p < 0.05) specific combining ability (SCA) and general combining ability (GCA) effects were computed for fruit yield per plant (FYPP). The SCA x environment and GCA x environment interaction effects were highly significant (p < 0.001) for FYPP and SYPP. The results suggest that genetic effects were affected by the test environment. Parental genotypes BG-58 and GC recorded positive and significant GCA effects for FYPP under the DS condition, whereas GC recorded positive and significant GCA effects for FYPP under the NS condition. The two genotypes are ideal breeding parents for population development to select genotypes with high fruit and seed yields. Crosses BG-27 x BG-79, BG-79 x BG-52, BG-79 x BG-70, BG-80 x BG-70, BG-80 x GC, and BG-70 x GC recorded high and positive SCA effects for FYPP and SYPP under DS condition. Crosses BG-81 x BG-52, BG-81 x GC, BG-27 x BG-79, BG-27 x GC, BG-79 x GC, BG-80 x BG-70, BG-81 x BG-58, BG-27 x BG-80, BG-27 x BG-58, BG-79 x BG-52, BG-52 x BG-58, BG-80 x BG-58, and BG-58 x BG-70 recorded high and positive SCA effects for FYPP and SYPP under NS condition. Crosses BG-80 x BG-58, BG-27 x BG-79, BG-79 x BG-52, BG-27 x BG-52, and BG-52 x BG-80 showed high and positive mid- and better-parent heterosis under DS condition for FYPP and SYPP. Crosses BG-27 x GC, BG-79 x GC, BG-27 x BG-58, and BG-27 x BG-79 showed high and positive mid- and better parent heterosis under NS condition for FYPP and SYPP. The newly selected families are recommended for multi-environment evaluation forrelease and commercialization in South Africa or similar agroecologies.