Heterosis in Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia L.)

Twenty F₁ hybrids of bitter gourd in a diallel set involving five parents including reciprocals were evaluated to assess the extent of hybrid vigour in the yield contributing traits. Appreciable amount of heterosis was observed for all the characters under this study except node number of first female flower. The F₁ hybrids P₅ × P₃ (Panruti local × VK-1 Priya), P₄ × P₂ (MC -13 × Arka Harit) and P₂ × P₁ (Arka Harit × CO-1) were observed best performing for yield and they showed 46.21, 29.31 and 14.30 per cent heterosis, respectively better parent Arka Harit (P₂).