Inheritance of Fruit Yield and its Components in Muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.)

Six generation (P₁, P₂, F₁, F₂, B₁ and B₂) means of five crosses obtained by crossing five inbreeds of muskmelon were used to study the inheritance of fruit length, fruit diameter, pulp thickness and fruit weight. In most of the crosses, the relative contribution of dominance gene action was higher than additive gene action. Epistasis interactions also played a prominent role in majority of interacting crosses for all studied characters. Heterosis breeding is suggested for the improvement of fruit traits in muskmelon.