Screening of cucumber breeding material for valuable economic traits in the conditions of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine

Abstract

Goal. To screen promising breeding material of cucumber for valuable economic traits in open ground conditions. Methods. Field — to evaluate the morpho-biological and valuable economic traits of breeding genotypes; laboratory — to evaluate stability and determine the content of biologically valuable components in fruits; analytical — to observe the development of plants; statistical — to determine the reliability of the results obtained, variability of traits. The research was conducted in the Institute of Vegetable and Melon Growing (IVMG) of NAAS under open-ground conditions. The object of research was 16 breeding genotypes, the standard was the Dzherelo variety, the Fen line (selection of IVMG). Results. Cucumber breeding material was screened in the conditions of the open soil of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. In comparison with the standard, the best promising selection samples were: F3 Oktopus, F7I6 Kuzia (o. p.), F15I11 Toma-18 (c. p.), F7I5 (F10I5 Marinda/F8I6 No. 11), CS No. 57 F3I1 Asteriks, CS No. 54 F3I1 Karaoke, CS No. 59 F3I1 Kibria, CS No. 56 F3I1 Amur, F7I2 Pavlyk, line No. 1720, F14I6 Kozyrna Karta with high indicators of total yield (26.0–39.4 t / ha), marketable (25.9–37.1), productivity during the first decade of fruiting (11.2–15.3 t/ha), the duration of the «seedlings — fruiting» period — 44–49 days, the «fruiting period» — 30–39 days, and a weak degree of downy mildew. Conclusions. It was proved that the researched selection samples were sources of valuable economic traits for heterosis selection. The analysis of variance showed that the cucumber samples differed significantly (p≤0.05) according to the investigated characteristics. As a result, sources were identified that were distinguished by early maturity (44–46 days), early appearance of female flowers (37–38 days after emergence), long fruiting, high total (37.1–39.4 t/ha), and marketable (27.7–37.1) productivity, and yield for the first decade of fruiting (13.0–15.3 t/ha), high (7 points) resistance to downy mildew. As a result of the conducted research, 11 selection genotypes were selected, which were involved in the selection process as a source of valuable selection traits for the creation of high-yielding F1 hybrids adapted to the conditions of the forest-steppe of Ukraine.