Character Association and Path Coefficient Studies in Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.): Experimental Investigation

Thirty two cucumber genotypes were collected from different states of India and were evaluated for yield and quality characters at Bhubaneswar, Odisha during Rabi season of 2019. The relationships between fruit yield and yield components in cucumber genotypes were investigated and correlation  studies  revealed  that  yield  per  plant had  positive  and  significant  association  with vine length, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit diameter and average fruit weight, while significant negative  correlations were  observed with  node at which first female flower appears, number of days to first female flower production, days to  first harvest and severity of downy mildew percentage both at phenotypic and genotypic levels.  Path  coefficient  analysis  revealed  that  fruit diameter had  maximum positive  direct  effect  on  yield per plant followed  by fruit length, number of fruits per plant, days to first harvest, average fruit weight while, negative direct effect of number of days to first female flower production and severity of downy mildew percentage was observed on yield per plant. Future breeding should focus on selecting the characters having direct effects to improve yield per plant

Effect of Different Physical and Chemical Treatments on Germination and Seedling Establishment in Spine gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb.)

The experiment was conducted at Department of Vegetable Science, OUAT, Bhubaneswar from 2019-2021. Stored spine gourd seeds of six months old were used in this experiment. The seeds were first given various physical treatments (T1: control, T2: 48 hours soaking in  water, T3: hot water treatment for 20 minutes + 48 hours soaking in water, T4: scarification by sand paper + 48 hours soaking in water, T5: removal of seed coat + 48 hours soaking in water) followed by chemical treatments (C1: GA3 100 ppm, C2: GA3 200 ppm, C3: KNO3 1%, C4: KNO3 2%, C5: Thiourea 1%,  C6: Thiourea 2% & C7: control). The experiment was laid out in factorial CRD design with 35 treatment combinations replicated twice. The seeds were sown in plastic trays containing coco peat media. The effect of these treatments on number of days taken for initial germination, length of shoot, root, number of roots per seedling and percentage of seedling establishment in main field were recorded. From the data recorded, it was observed that among the physical treatments, T5 (removal of seed coat + 48 hours soaking in water), among the chemical treatments, C1 (GA3 100 ppm) and between the interactions, T5C1 (removal of seed coat + 48 hours soaking in water + GA3 100 ppm) took minimum number of days for initial germination with highest shoot and root length, maximum number of roots per seedling and highest establishment percentage in field. The lowest values were recorded in case of control. So, it can be concluded that removal of seed coat followed by 48 hour soaking in water and GA3 100 ppm treatment resulted early germination with desirable seedling traits and highest establishment percent in main field

Abstracts of National Conference on Biological, Biochemical, Biomedical, Bioenergy, and Environmental Biotechnology

This book contains the abstracts of the papers presented at the National Conference on Biological, Biochemical, Biomedical, Bioenergy, and Environmental Biotechnology (NCB4EBT-2021) Organized by the Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology Warangal, India held on 29–30 January 2021. This conference is the first of its kind organized by NIT-W which covered an array of interesting topics in biotechnology. This makes it a bit special as it brings together researchers from different disciplines of biotechnology, which in turn will also open new research and cooperation fields for them. Conference Title: National Conference on Biological, Biochemical, Biomedical, Bioenergy, and Environmental BiotechnologyConference Acronym: NCB4EBT-2021Conference Date: 29–30 January 2021Conference Location: Online (Virtual Mode)Conference Organizer: Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Indi