ISHS Acta Horticulturae 579: II Balkan Symposium on Vegetables and Potatoes
BREEDING THE LANDRACES OF WINTER MELONS "THRAKI" AND "AMYNTEO" |
| Authors: | E. Traka-Mavrona, M. Koutsika-Sotiriou |
| Keywords: | pedigree honeycomb selection, melon, selection criteria |
| Abstract:
The objective of this study was to achieve uniformity and stability in yield and quality of the landraces of winter melons (Cucumis melo L., group Inodorus) “Thraki” (casaba type) and “Amynteo” (honeydew type), aiming to register them as Greek cultivars in the national catalogues of vegetable species. Similar experimental and selection procedure was followed for the two landraces. Firstly, we examined the existing phenotypic variability of source materials in 10 agronomic and qualitative traits. The results showed that they are highly stable in fruit descriptive and qualitative traits, while single-plant frequency distributions for yield were found non-normal, indicating that favourable genetic variance could be exploited by selection. Secondly, a combined honeycomb pedigree selection was applied, based on single-plant performance. The evaluation of the second cycle families of “Thraki” showed high quality, high yield and stability of performance. The results of “Amynteo” were similar. The improved landraces can be registered as Greek cultivars in the national catalogues of vegetable species. | |
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