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Mechanism of hybrid seed production in cucurbitaceous vegetables

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Abstract

Cucurbits constitute the largest group of fruit vegetables, are widely distributed, and are consumed for dessert as well as vegetable purposes in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. In major cucurbitaceous vegetables, hybrid technology is exploited to increase productivity and to ward off various stresses. Furthermore, an increase in the cultivation of hybrid seeds in these vegetables has occurred in recent decades, which shows the acceptance of hybrid seeds for their improved traits. Although superior-quality hybrids are available, open-pollinated varieties and farm-saved seeds are still popular sources of seeds for cultivation among farmers due to their low cost. The critical component in hybrid seed production is the involvement of labour for emasculation and pollination which consumes the major part of the labour making the hybrid seeds much costlier. Man-days of 77.58 out of total 149.82 man-days per acre are reported to be required for pollen collection and pollination in watermelon seed production, this illustrates the involvement of labour for hybridization in seed production. However, expensive hybrid seeds can be made available to resource-poor farmers by reducing the cost of hybrid seed production. Exploitation of natural pollination control mechanisms such as utilization of gynoecy, male sterility or growth regulators, reduce the labour requirement and lessen the financial burden in such programmes. Therefore, a cost-effective hybrid seed production strategy in cucurbitaceous vegetables is imperative and is possible since cucurbitaceous vegetables are amenable to sex expression control by various mechanisms. Genic emasculation through exploitation of male sterility, gynoecy, application of chemical hybridizing agents combined with natural pollinators have been utilized in cucurbitaceous vegetables to economize hybrid seed production. The male sterile mechanism employing CGMS is the most preferred one for hybrid seed production in cucurbits. The stability of gynoecious sex expression and efficiency of chemical hybridizing agents are very much depended on the genetics and environment. This paper pertains to the different approaches and its mechanism in brief that can be used in hybrid seed production of cucurbitaceous vegetables to minimize hybrid seed costs and make hybrid seed production profitable.

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Pradeepkumar, T., Lekshmanan, D.K. Mechanism of hybrid seed production in cucurbitaceous vegetables. Euphytica 220, 17 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-023-03278-y

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