Morpho-Biochemical Characterization of Chayote [Sechium edule (Jacq.)] Genotypes from Sikkim Himalayas

Twenty chayote genotypes with different accession numbers maintained at ICAR-NEH region, Gangtok were used in the study and observations were recorded for seventeen quantitative traits during the year 2018-19. All the genotypes genetically differed from each other based on their mean performance. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was higher than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the characters. High values for PCV, GCV, heritability and genetic advance as per cent of mean were observed for seed weight (61.2 %, 61.1 %, 99 % and 125.6 %) and non-reducing sugar (59.2 %, 58.1 %, 96 % and 117.4 %) respectively, which indicates a wide range of variation for crop improvement through selection. The correlation coefficient (genotypic and phenotypic) showed that fruit weight expressed significant positive correlation with seed length (0.93), seed breadth (0.92) and total sugar (0.65). Path coefficient analysis revealed that fruit breadth, fruit length, seed weight would be of selection criteria for further crop improvement. The genotypes were grouped into three clusters and the maximum intra-cluster distance was observed in cluster I (25.12) and maximum inter cluster distance was found between the cluster I and III (41.47). Seed weight exhibited the highest percentage contribution towards total genetic divergence.