Hybrid Performance of Bottle Gourd [Lagenaria Siceraria] Under Drought Stress and Non-Stress Conditions

Abstract

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.) genetic resources cultivated in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are relatively tolerant to heat and drought stress, presenting opportunities for developing climate-smart and drought-resilient cultivars adapted to dry environments. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine drought tolerance among newly-developed single cross bottle gourd hybrids to recommend best-performers for production and commercialization in South Africa. Fifty-three F1 families were developed and field evaluated with 12 parental landrace accessions under non-stressed (NS) and drought-stressed (DS) conditions in two growing seasons using a 5 × 13 α-lattice design with three replicates. Data were collected on fruit yield per plant (FYPP), seed yield per plant (SYPP), and drought tolerance indices computed. Significant interactions were detected among test genotypes and water regimes for FYPP only. The mean FYPP were 0.3 and 1.0 kg, and 0.3 and 0.5 kg for SYPP under DS and NS conditions, in that order. Based on tolerance indices, the following single cross hybrids were identified as drought tolerant: BG-31 × BG-67, BG-27 × BG-31, BG-58 × BG-78, BG-31 × BG-70, BG-31 × BG-78, BG-58 × BG-67, BG-31 × BG-52, BG-52 × BG-78, BG-27 × BG-80, BG-58 × BG-81, BG-31 × BG-48, BG-67 × BG-70, BG-58 × BG-79 and BG-58 × BG-80. The newly-developed bottle gourd hybris are recommended for cultivation in drought-prone agro-ecologies in South Africa and similar environments in SSA after multi-environment testing.

Keywords: Abiotic stress, Bottle gourd, Drought tolerance indices, Yield-based selection