ASSESMENT OF GENETIC DIVERSITY ON THE BASE OF MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS AMONG ELITE GENOTYPES OF WATERMELON (Citrullus SP.) IN PAKISTAN
MUDASSAR ABBAS *
Vegetable Research Station Karor Layyah, Pakistan.
SAJID ALI
Vegetable Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
JAVED ANWAR SHAH
Plant Pathology Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
ALI HASSAN
Vegetable Research Station Karor Layyah, Pakistan.
ABDUL LATIF MALGHANI
Agronomic Research Station, Karor, Pakistan.
MUHAMMAD AMIN
Vegetable Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
MUHAMMAD AQEEL
Pulses Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a lucrative vegetable crop with flesh enjoyed by millions of people worldwide. Total production of watermelon is 110 MT (million tonnes) worldwide, with China being the largest producer, accounting for 60% of total production, followed by Iran and Turkey. The genetic diversity in existed in watermelon enabled it to grow all over the world. The experiment conducted in Vegetable Research Station Sahiwal for two years 2021-2022 to assess the genetic diversity. Six different watermelon varieties tested for genetic variation. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The data were recorded include main vine length, branch number, fruit number, fruit weight (kg) rind thickness and seed number. The ANOVA confirmed significant variation between them. The cluster analysis identified genotypes with similarities and variations. The cluster analysis revealed a diversity (54-42%) to (8-27%) among watermelon cultivars. The PCs analysis revealed 68% and 29% of total variation in traits.
Keywords: Watermelon, Pakistan, morphological variation