Genetic Divergence Studies in Cucumber

Cucumber is an important vegetable crop belonging to family Cucurbitaceae which is the most widely cultivated in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. Immature cucumber fruits can be either consumed as raw or in the form of pickle. In addition to its cooling properties, immature fruits are considered useful for people suffering from constipation, jaundice, and indigestion. In Himachal Pradesh, cucumber is commercially grown from March-May which makes the fruits available to the consumers from June-October, when there is non-availability of fruits in plains. Thirty two diverse genotypes of cucumber were evaluated in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications including standard check cultivar i.e Solan Srijan at Horticultural Research and Training Station and Krishi Vigyan Kendra Kandaghat It is concluded from the present investigation that for the improvement of various horticultural traits in cucumber, it would be better to carry out hybridization between genotypes from cluster IV (S-30, Sel-3A, Grani Collection, Kothi Deora Collection and Solan Srijan) and cluster II (FAM-2, Ujawala Summer Long-45, Bajrol Collection and Kothon Collection) in order to obtain better recombinants.