ABSTRACT
This study was conducted at Kaha Vegetable Research Farm
(K.V.R.F), Qalubia governorate, Egypt and private farm in Wady El-
Nitroun during the period from 2015 to 2017 to determine the variability,
heritability and correlation among some watermelon inbred lines. The
treatments consist of forty two watermelon inbred lines, laid out in
randomized complete block design (RCBD) and replicated three times.
Inbred lines were evaluated for ten characters to determine variability,
estimate heritability and correlation. Analysis of variance revealed highly
significant (P<0.05) for all characters. The results indicated the presence of
substantial variability among the genotypes. Genotypic coefficient of
variation (GCV), phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and broad Sense
heritability (h2) estimates ranges from 14.05-72.98, 14.86-73.84 and 89.36-
99.94% respectively. The high estimates of GCV and PCV in this study
indicated the existence of variability and selection can be done. Whereas
high estimate of h2 for the tested traits indicated that these characters were
highly heritable and selection can be imposed. Significant phenotypic
correlation for fruit diameter, fruit length, fruit weight and number of fruits
per plant with total yield per plant revealed that, these characters were
primarily influenced by their direct contribution to higher yield. Four inbred
lines had best marketable yield and fruit quality as red and yellow
watermelon inbred lines. Therefore, it is recommended for an effective
selection of those characters which could be adopted for cultivar
improvement and hybridization program and more research is needed to
validate the findings.