Abstract
Bitter gourd is a well-known and commercially grown cucurbit all over the world. The best general and specific combiners should be employed in various breeding techniques to improve distinct horticultural traits. The current experiment was carried out in the vegetable experimental farm of the department of vegetable science at Dr. YSR Horticulture University in West Godavari, A.P. The Experiment was composed up of seven different parents that were crossed in a half diallel method, resulting in the development of 21 hybrid combinations. The analysis of variance found that the variances for general and specific combining abilities are extremely significant for all of the characters under investigation. For the traits, days to male and female flower appearance and first picking, IC-44418, Kashi Mayuri and IC-68314 were found as good general combiners whereas the hybrids viz., IC-44418 x IC-469512, IC-433630 x Special Boldar, IC-433630 x IC-68314, IC-68314 x Special Boldar, Kashi Mayuri x IC-469512, IC-469512 x Special Boldar and IC-433630 x IC-469512, are considered as promising specific combiners. For the yield components, the parents viz., Preethi, IC-469512, Special Boldar and Kashi Mayuri were observed as good general combiners whereas the hybrids viz., IC-469512 x Special Boldar, Kashi Mayuri x IC-433630, Kashi Mayuri x IC-44418, IC-44418 x IC-433630, IC-433630 x IC-469512 and Kashi Mayuri x Special Boldar were identified as good specific combiners. Selected parents with ideal per se performance and combining ability effect in various component traits can be involved in multiple crossing techniques to recombine diverse yield components.