Lakhasly

The first experiment revealed significant phenotypic and genotypic variability among genotypes for key vegetative, reproductive and physiological traits.Traits with high narrow-sense heritability and additive inheritance are ideal for direct selection, whereas those dominated by non-additive effects and high heterosis are best improved through hybridization.Genotypes such as Al-Ashraf, Farz on W4, Romy 1010 W3, 41 W 6, Bohoos W5 and Dar El-Salam 5 exhibited superior vegetative vigor, earliness and total yield potential, confirming the presence of substantial genetic diversity suitable for selection and breeding improvement.Conversely, traits such as early flowering, fruit length, fruit weight, total yield, relative chlorophyll content and total soluble solids (TSS) were mainly controlled by non-additive gene action, emphasizing the potential for heterosis exploitation in hybrid development.

The first experiment revealed significant phenotypic and genotypic variability among genotypes for key vegetative, reproductive and physiological traits. Genotypes such as Al-Ashraf, Farz on W4, Romy 1010 W3, 41 W 6, Bohoos W5 and Dar El-Salam 5 exhibited superior vegetative vigor, earliness and total yield potential, confirming the presence of substantial genetic diversity suitable for selection and breeding improvement.
In the second experiment, combining ability analysis demonstrated the contribution of both additive and non-additive gene actions in traits expressions. Additive effects predominated for traits including plant height, branch number, leaf area, fruit diameter, flesh thickness, No. of fruits per plant, early fruit yield and seed weight per fruit, suggesting their amenability to improvement through direct selection and early-generation breeding. Conversely, traits such as early flowering, fruit length, fruit weight, total yield, relative chlorophyll content and total soluble solids (TSS) were mainly controlled by non-additive gene action, emphasizing the potential for heterosis exploitation in hybrid development.
Several crosses, particularly P1 × P5 (Romy 1010 W3 × Bohoos W5), P2 × P3 (41 W6 × Al-Ashraf), and P3 × P5 (Al-Ashraf × Bohoos W5), exhibited outstanding performance for yield, fruit weight and seed productivity, coupled with strong specific combining ability and positive heterosis, marking them as promising candidates for commercial hybrid production.
The estimation of genetic parameters such as GCA/SCA ratios, heritability (broad- and narrow-sense) and genetic components supported the integration of both selection-based and hybrid breeding strategies. Traits with high narrow-sense heritability and additive inheritance are ideal for direct selection, whereas those dominated by non-additive effects and high heterosis are best improved through hybridization.