Breeding of Bottlegourd & Bittergourd

2. Bitter gourd & bottle gourd
Submitted to: Speaker,
Dr. S.K. Maurya ASHISH KUMAR MAURYA
Assistant Professor Id. No – 45671
Department of Vegetable Science M.Sc. Vegetable science

3. BITTER GOURD
 Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L, 2n = 2x = 22) is one of
the most popular cucurbitaceous vegetable, commonly
cultivated in many countries.
 It is also known as bitter melon, balsam pear.
 It is extensively grown in China, Japan,
SE Asia, Tropical Africa and South America.
In India it is grown both as rainy season
and spring-summer season crop.
 Bitter gourd (M. charantia) is also
grown as an ornamental crop in the
USA, Japan and some other countries.
 The immature fruits are rich source of vitamin and minerals
and contain 0.61 mg iron, 20 mg calcium, 70 mg phosphorus
& 88 mg vitamin C.

4. ORIGIN, DOMESTICATION AND HISTORY:-
According to the Zeven and Zhukovsky (1975) the
origin of bitter gourd remains unidentified.
 However, now it is considered of Indo-Malayan
origin.
Its domestication was in eastern India and southern
China.
It has a long history of cultivation. It was introduced
from the OldWorld in Brazil, the newWorld.
It is widely distributed in India, China, Malaysia,
Thailand, and Tropical Africa.
 The wild species, M. charantia var. abbreviate Ser.
of Asia is perhaps progenitor of the cultivated bitter
gourd, M. charantia L.

5. BOTANY
Plants are monoecious annuals with medium size climbing vines with
thin stem and tendrils.
Leaves are palmately 5 to 9 lobed, 5 – 10 cm
in diameter.
Flowers are born singly in the leaf axils
 Staminate flowers are small, yellow and
borne on long slender pedicels appear
first and usually exceed the number
of female flower by about 20 :1.
Female flower
Male flower
 The pistilate flowers are solitary, have small pedicel and are easily
distinguished by oblong to long distinct green colour ovary. Flowers
are yellow.
 There are 5 calyx and 5 corolla. Filaments are three, two are bilocular
and one is unilocular.

6. BIOSYSTEMATICS:-
The bitter gourd, Momordica charantia L. belong to the
family Cucurbitaceae, subfamily Cucurbitoideae, tribe
Joliffieae Schard and subtribe Thladianthinae Pax.
 The genus Momordica has about 80 species, among
which M. charantia L. is the most widely cultivated
species.
The other species grown for their edible fruits are M.
dioica Roxb. ex Wild. (kakrol), M. cochinchinensis (Lour.)
Spreng. (kheksa or sweet gourd), M. tuberose Roxb.
(syn. M. cymbalaria Hooker) and M. balsamina L
(Balsam apple).
Six wild species of Momordica occure in India. These
includes M. balsamina, M. cochinchinensis, M.
cymbalaria, M. denudata, M. dioica, M. macrobhylla
and M. subangulata.

7. CYTOLOGY
The bitter gourd M. charantia L. is a diploid, 2n = 2x =
22.
The chromosome number of Momordica species ranges
between 2n = 22 (M. charantia, M. balsamina, M.
cymbalaria) and 2n = 44 (M. foetida) and the between
species are M. dioica and M. cochinchinensis (2n = 28).
 A natural triploid (2n = 33) has been reported in M.
charantia, and natural polyploids (triploid female, 2n =
42 and male and female tetraploid’s, 2n = 56) in M.
dioica.

8. INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDIZATION:-
 All attempts for interspecific crosses in Momordica
failed (Roy, 1985).
 Fluorescence microscopic studies undertaken to
investigate causes for failure for embryo formation in
cross M. charatia x M. dioica have showed heavy
deposition of callus at the tops of pollen tube which
obstructed the transfer of male gametes & fertilization.
 Similarly the species, M. charantia, M. dioica and M.
cymbalaria fail to cross among themselves (Vaheb,
1989).
 Intergeneric hybridization between bitter gourd,
Momordica charantia and snake gourd, Trichosanthes
angina was found to be successful and the F-1 hybrid
was fully fertile (Patrude and Krishnamurthy, 1934).

9. Inheritance of qualitative characters in bitter gourd
Characters Inheritance
Fruit skin colour Green skin colour monogenically dominant over white
Bitterness Monogenic, dominant over mild bitterness
Fruit surface Single gene, spiny dominant to smooth surface
Seed size Small dominant over large seed size, monogenic(Is)
Epicarp White epicarp recessive to the green, single gene
Seed color Light brown (bs) single gene, recessive to dark brown seed
Source: Mini Raj et al., 1993; N.M. Nayar and T.A. More, 1998.

10. BREEDING METHODS & IMPROVED CULTIVARS:-
The breeding method practiced in Bitter gourd are
the same as in other cucurbits.
 Inbreeding, pureline selection in segregating
generations and heterosis breeding are particularly
applicable to bitter gourd.
Selection from a local cultivar has been most
commonly adopted breeding procedure in bitter
gourd. So far very few cultivar developed through
hybridization.
Through mutation also two cultivar have been
developed in bitter gourd.

11. Improved cultivar of bitter gourd
Cultivar Parentage Source Remarks
Pusa Do Mausami local variety IARI, New
Delhi
Suitable for spring summer
and rainy both season
Pusa Vishesh local variety of Hapur
(UP)
IARI, New
Delhi
Suitable for pickling and
dehydration
Co 1 Local type of Thudiyalur,
district Coimbatore (TN)
TNAU,
Coimbatore
Fruit dark green with medium
length
Arka Harit Local collection of
Rajasthan
IIHR,
Banglore
Suitable for both kharif &
summer season
Coimbatore Long
White
Local cultivar of
Coimbatore
TNAU,
Coimbatore
Extra long fruit(60 cm) with
dark green colour.
Coimbatore Long
White
Local type of Coimbatore TNAU,
Coimbatore
Extra long fruit(60 – 65 cm)
with white colour.
VK-1 (Priya) Selection from a local type KAU,
Vellanikkara
Extra long fruit with white
tinge at styler end.

12. Konkan Tara Selection Konkan,
Maharashtra
Long self life & Export
quality
Kalyanpur
Barahmasi
Local cultivar CSAUAT, Kanpur Tolerant to fruit fly and mosaic
Kalyanpur Sona Local Type CSAUAT, Kanpur Tolerant to mosaic and fruit fly
Punjab – 14 Local Type PAU, Ludhiana Bushy plant, fruit light green.
C – 96 Local Cultivar PAU, Ludhiana -
Hirkani Local Collection MPKV, Rahuri Dark green spindle shape fruit.
NDB – 1 Local Type NDUAT, Faizabad -
Pant Karela 1 Selection GBPUAT,
Pantnagar
Highly resistant to red pumpkin
beetle
Preethi(MC-84) Local type KAU -
Priyanka (Sel-
Local type from
KAU, SRS,
1010)
Thiruvalla
Thiruvalla
Medium size white fruit with
spines, less seeds.
Pant Karela – 1 Selection from
indigenous germplasm
GBPUAT,
Pantnagar
Suitable for planting in hills.
Pant Karela – 3 Developed from
germplasm line PBIG
– 4
GBPUAT,
Pantnagar
Suitable for planting in hills
and plains both.
Conti…

13. Cont…
Cultivar Parentage Source Remarks
Pusa Hybrid – 1
-
IARI, New Delhi 42 & 58% high yield than
Pusa Do Mausami &
Pusa Vishesh
Phule Green Gold Green Long x Delhi
Local
MPKV, Rahuri Tolerant to DM
RHR BGH – 1 MPKV, Rahuri Tolerant to DM
Pusa Hybrid 2 S-63 x Pusa Do
Mausami
IARI
BTH – 7 VRBT – 3A x VRBT–
82-1
- Field tolerant to PM &
DM
COBG H 1 MC 84 x MDU 1 TNAU Rich in momordicin (2.99
mg/100 gm), fruit wt. 450
g.
BTH – 165 KB-1 x VRBT – 36 - Tolerant to PM & DM
MDU 1 Induced mutant of
local cultivar
TNAU,
Coimbatore
Fruit weight 300 – 450 g,
greenish white fruit.
CBM – 12 Mutant of M.
charantia var. muricata Antidiabitic variety

14. Heterosis
Heterosis in bitter gourd for yield/vine ranges from 27.3 to
86 % over better parent.
Studies on heterosis in relation to yield & quality traits of
bitter gourd have been made at IARI.
A bitter gourd hybrid, Pusa Hybrid 1 is developed and
released for commercial cultivation under north Indian
plains, which gives 42 % heterosis over better parent & its
fruit are suitable for making pickle and dehydration (Sirohi,
2000).
An other variety Pusa Hybrid – 2 exhibited 75 % heterosis
for yield over Pusa Do Mausami.

15. Hybrid seed production
Isolation distance for breeder/foundation & certified seed is 800
m and 400 m respectively.
For hybrid seed production in India, 150g female parent seed &
40g male parent seed are planted in separate blocks with in 1
units of land (1000 square meter).
Since bitter gourd is a monoecious plant, its seed is produced by
hand pollination & without emasculation.
Female flower bud are identified of the female parent & covered
using with butter paper bag size (7.5 cm x 12 cm)in the evening
before pollination take place.
Mature male flower bud from male parent plant, which will open
the next morning are identified and covered with paper bag or
non – absorbent cotton.
Next morning open male flower from male parent are collected
and used in pollination of already covered female flower which
have opened by now.
Pollinated flower are again covered.

16. Maintenance of inbred lines
For achieving uniformity in the hybrids it is essential to
inbred the parents.
The degree of inbreeding required in the parents will be
determined by the extent of uniformity desired.
In bitter gourd the parents/inbreeds are maintained in pure
form by selfing without loss of vigour.
The first one or two female flower on the plants must be
selfed, otherwise selfing in later stage often fails to set fruits.

17. Tissue culture
Holder & Godgil (1982) attempts tissue culturing of bitter
gourd.
Two year old callus derived from cotyledons were subject to
NAA (0.1 mg/litre) + adenine (13.5 – 67.5 mg/litre) & IBA +
BA(both 0.25 – 10.0 mg/litre) treatments.
NAA (1.0 mg/litre) + adenine (33.75 mg/litre) induced buds
in bitter gourd.
Fresh hypocotyl callus did not induces in the buds and
plantlets formation, but 23 – month old callus could be
induced to buds and plantlets by addition of NAA (1.0
mg/litre) and adenine (33.75 mg/litre).

18. Breeding objectives
Yield – high yearly & total yield.
Earliness – First pistilate flower to appear at lower node.
High femaleness – High female to male ratio of flowers, resulting in
high number of fruit per plant.
Fruit quality traits – fruit quality should be as per consumer
preferance.
i. Size – generally the preference for medium – sized fruits, 10 – 15
cm long.
ii. Shape – fruit with uniformly medium – thickness are preferred.
iii. Surface – smooth surface and continuous smooth ribs or ridges are
preferred in many places.
- tough spines for long distance transportation.

19. IV. colour– preference varies in different regions-
White fruits – Tamilnadu, Karnataka & Maharashtra.
Green/Light green – Bihar, Eastern U.P., West Bengal
and some other areas.
Dark green fruit – most of the northern, southern and
western regions.
V. Less mature seeds.
VI. Bitterness – moderately bitter.
VII.Disease resistance - resistance to important diseases like -
Powdery mildew
Downey mildew
Mosaic
VIII.Insect resistance : - resistance to important insect-pests
like- Red pumpkin beetle and Fruit fly.

20. BOTTLE GOURD
 The bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria, 2n = 2x=22
(Molina) Standle]; synonymously called white flower
gourd or calabash gourd, is an important vegetable crop
of Africa and Asia.
 In India it is cultivated is cultivated in almost all the part,
both as rainy season and summer season vegetable.
 The name bottle gourd is due to bottle like
shape of fruit & its use as container in the past.
 It is a cultivated annual monoecious species.
 Fruit at tender stage are used as cooked
vegetable and for preparation of sweets.

21. Origin, Domestication & History
According to the De Candolle (1882), bottle gourd has been
found in wild form in South Africa and India.
 However, Cutler and Whitaker (1961) are of the view that
probably it is indigenous to Tropical Africa (south of
Equator) on the basis of variability in seeds and fruits.
 The species appear to be domesticated to be independently
in Asia, Africa, and The NewWorld (Heiser, 1973).
It has diffused to the new world by trans-oceanic drift or
human transport.
Its progenitor is unknown. It has a prehistoric existence in
India. It was cultivated during ancient times.
Its utilization by man is about 16,000 years old in the Old
World and 12,000 years old in NewWorld.

22. Botany
Bottle gourd is a monoecious, annual vine pubescent herb
with five angled stem, stem is profusely branched.
 The flowers are large, unisexual, white, solitary, showy. The
flower has five petals.
The staminate flower are on long pedicels than
female and hermaphrodite flower & exceeding
the foliage.
The pistilate flowers are single with short
peduncle and hairy ovary. Ovary may be
round, ovate long or cylindrical.
There are three stamens, two as compound and one as single.
The ratio of male & female flower may vary from 5 : 1 to 15 :
1 in common type.
The fruits are essentially a berry, it is called because of its
hard and tough rind at maturity.

23. Biosystematics
The bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standle,
belong to the genus Lagenaria Ser., family Cucurbitaceae,
subfamily Cucurbitoideae, tribe Benincaseae Ser., and
subtribe Benincasinae (Ser.) C. Jeffr.
The genus Lagenaria include six species that are distributed
in Africa, Madagascar, Indo-Malaysia and the neotropics.
There is only one cultivated species, L. siceraria, which is
an annual and monoecious.
 The five other species are wild, perennial and dioecious,
occurring in east Africa and Madagascar.
The cultivated sp. L. siceraria have two subspecies, one
domesticated in India i.e. ssp. asiatica (Kab.) Heiser and the
other in Africa & New world ssp. siceraria.

24. Qualitative genetics
The fruit colour, patchy vs. white has monogenic inheritance (Kallo
1993).
The bitterness in fruits is governed by a single dominant gene (Bi).
Two major genes were reported for fruit shape (Pathak and Singh
1950). Long-fruited cultivars had AA genotype and round-fruited, aa
genotype, with partial dominance.
Andromonoecious sex form, reported recently, is a monogenic
recessive character.
The polygenic character include length of main shoot, number of
branches per plant, time of maturity (earliness), number of seed per
fruit, 100-seed weight, seed size, days to opening of first female
flower and yield. The yield is controlled mainly by dominant alleles.
 The characters like days to opening of first female and first male
flowers, fruit length, girth and weight and number of fruits per plant
had high heritability.
Most of the economic trait showed equal importance of additive and
non-additive gene effects.

25. Breeding goals
• Higher yield
• Earliness: First pistilate flower at an early node number.
• Sex-ratio: A low male : female sex ratio.
• Plant growth habit: Pants vigorous and well branched.
• Greater fruit number
• Fruit Quality
a) Shape: The consumer preference for fruit shape varies
in different regions. Generally the preference is for long ,
uniformity cylindrical, without neck and medium - sized
fruit or spherical fruit.
b) Surface: Glossy green surface, pubescent with sparse
hairs in immature fruits at marketable stage.
c) Non bitter fruit.

26. d) Flesh texture: It should not become fibrous quickly
at edible stage.
e) Seeds: The fruit at edible stage should have less
number of immature soft seeds.
f) Attractive green fruit with long colour retention.
• Resistance to Diseases:-
- Powdery mildew
- Fusarium wilt
- Downy mildew and
- Viral diseases
• Resistance to Insect-Pests:-
- Red pumpkin beetle
- Fruit fly.
Cont…

27. Breeding Methods
Individual plant selection or pureline selection has been
effective in developing improved cultivars from
heterogeneous local types.
Similarly two parental cultivars can be crossed and the
typical pedigree/bulk/back cross method can be used.
Heterosis breeding has also been fallowed.
Recurrent selection and reciprocal recurrent selection have
been advocated for improvement of bottle gourd.
 Male sterility was reported in the bottle gourd but it has not
been used for hybrid seed production.
Monoecious female parent with removal of male flowers and
monoecious male parent are utilized for hybrid seed
production.

28. Disease resistance
Attempts have not been made in bottle gourd to develop
disease resistant cultivars.
Genetic sources of resistance to some diseases have been
reported in the crop, such as-
1) PI 271353 - Resistant to the Cucumber mosaic virus
(CMV), squash mosaic virus, Tobacco ring spot virus
(TRSV), Tomato ring spot virus (TmRSV), and
Watermelon mosaic virus 1 (WMV1).
2) Doodhi Long Green and Three Feet Long Green -
Moderately resistant to the powdery mildew
(Sphaerotheca fuliginea).
3) Taiwan variety Renshi - Highly resistant to the
Fusarium wilt and tolerant to the abiotic stresses of very
dry and wet soils.
4) Punjab Komal - Tolerant to the cucumber mosaic virus
(CMV).

29. Insect resistance breeding
Nath (1971) has reviewed insect resistance
breeding in cucurbits.
The three major insects of bottle gourds are red
pumpkin beetle (Aulacophora spp.), fruit fly
(Daucus spp.) and aphid (Aphis spp.).
Red pumpkin beetle
Fruit fly
Red pumpkin beetle cause damage on seedling and continuous
further. For effective screening the adult beetles at the rate of
one beetle per seedling at the cotyledonous stage are released
inside the cage.
 In gourds a final observation with regard to the damage by
adult beetle on cotyledonous leaves is made 10 days after seed
germination.
The degree of fruit damage by fruit fly is recorded in terms of
damaged fruit showing puncture on each vine twice a week and
after record such fruits are harvested.

30. Cont….
 The fruit with no damage are left on the vine till maturity to
confirm their resistance against the fly at every stage of fruit
development.
 The % of total fruit damaged throughout the season is calculated
for each line. The rating system is as fallow:-
Immune - no damage
Highly resistant - 1 – 10 % damage
Resistant - 11 – 25% damage
Medium resistant - 26 – 50% damage
Susceptible - 51 – 75% damage
Highly susceptible - 76 – 100% damage
 For screening against aphids, artificial infestation
in the seedling stage is required.
 The resistance to the red pumpkin beetle (Aulacophora foveicollis)
is governed by a single dominant gene, Af.
Fruit Fiy

31. Improved cultivar of bottle gourd
Cultivar Parentage Source Remarks
Pusa Summer Prolific
long
Selection from a local
type
IARI, New Delhi Suitable for both summer
and kharif season
Pusa Summer Prolific
Round
Selection from a local
cultivar
IARI, New Delhi Suitable for both summer
and kharif season
Pusa Meghdoot
(F1 hybrid)
Pusa Summer Prolific
Long x Sel. 2
IARI, New Delhi
(1971)
Suitable for both spring
and summer season
Pusa Manjari
(F1 hybrid)
, Pusa Summer
Prolific Long x Sel.
11
IARI, New Delhi
(1971)
Both season, 106% high
yielder than PSPR.
Pusa Naveen Selection from a local
germplasm
IARI, New Delhi Suitable for packing &
long distance
transportation
Pusa Sandesh Selection (fruits
green, round)
IARI, New Delhi -
Pusa Hybrid – 3 F1 hybrid, Pusa
Naveen x Sel P – 8
IARI, New Delhi For long distance
transportation, 45% high
yield than Pusa Naveen,
both season

32. Cont…
Cultivar Parentage Source Remarks
Pusa Santusthi - IARI, New Delhi Pear shaped fruit, hot
and cold set variety.
Pusa Samridhi - IARI, New Delhi Non-crook neck variety
Kashi Ganga IC – 92465 x DVBG
– 15
- Early variety
Rajendra Chamatkar Selection BAU,Sabour (Bihar) -
Punjab Long Selection from a
local type
PAU, Ludhiana -
Punjab Round Selection from a
local cultivar
PAU, Ludhiana -
Punjab Komal Selection from a
local type
PAU, Ludhiana Tolerant to CMV
NDBG – 1 Selection from a
local variety
NDUAT, Faizabad -
NDBG – 4 A Hybrid NDUAT, Faizabad -

33. Cont…
Arka Bahar Selection from a
local cultivar of KN.
IIHR, Banglore Non-crook neck,
suitable for export
CO – 1 Selection from a local
type
TNAU, Coimbatore -
Kalyanpur Long
Green
Selection from a local
type
CSAUAT, Kanpur -
KBG – 13 Selection from a local
cultivar
CSAUAT, Kanpur -
Samrat Selection from a local
germplasm of
Maharashtra
MPKV, Rahuri Good for box packing
Pant Sankar Lauki –
1
A hybrid, PBOG 22 x
PBOG 40
GBPUAT, Pantnagar Resistant to powdery
mildew
Pant Sankar Lauki –
2
A hybrid, PBOG 22 x
PBOG 61
GBPUAT, Pantnagar Suitable for plains
and hills both
Pant Lauki – 4 Pureline selection
from PBOG 61
GBPUAT, Pantnagar Suitable for plains
and hills both

34. Heterosis in bottle gourd
A good number of F1 hybrids, Pusa Meghdoot, Pusa Manjari,
Pusa Hybrid – 3 and Pant Sankar Lauki – 1 has been developed in
the bottlegourd in public sector.
F1 hybrid Varad (MGH-4) developed by Mahyco, Jalna yields 60
– 65 t/ha.
Rajendran (1961) recorded 266.5 % heterosis in the yield of the
best hybrid combination of bottle gourd over better parent.
Choudhary and Singh (1971) developed two high yielding bottle
gourd hybrid viz. Pusa Meghdoot and Pusa Manjari which gave
75% and 106% higher yield over the better respective parent.
Janakiram and Sirohi (1989) studied heterosis for 9 yield
component in 45 F1 hybrids and they found the cross S – 46 x S -
54 gave 148.97% higher yield than commercial cultivar PSPR.

35. Cont…
Kumar et al. (2001) conducted experiment at NDUAT,
Faizabad to study the environmental effect on the standerd
heterosis of bottle gourd and Pusa Naveen an elite cultivar
was used as the standard check.
Degree of standard heterosis were high during winter
season(up to 61.65%) and early summer season (up to
71.93%) as compared to main summer season crop (only up
to 18.14%).

36. Pollination control mechanism
Dehiscence of anther in bottle gourd take place between 11 a.m.
to 2.00 p.m., whereas anthesis of both staminate and pistilate
flowers take place between 5.0 p.m. and 8.0 p.m. (Nandapuri and
Singh 1967).
Stigma remained receptive 6 hours before and 30 hours after the
flower opened.
Fruit formation could be recognised only after 24 hours of
pollination.
Bottlegourd being monoecious in nature, controlled pollination is
necessary for pureline breeding & maintenance of germplasm.
Male and female flower which are likely to open in the offing
evening must be completely wrapped in morning before 10
a.m.with strips of bandage cotton.
Controlled pollination are made in afternoon when the
dehiscence begins, after pollination female flower are wrapped
with cotton strips to avoid undesirable pollen transfer.

37. Development of F1 hybrids
In bottle gourd hybrid seed production has been
simplified by manipulation of the sex mechanism and
sex expressions.
In bottle gourd special attention is given to standardize
techniques for the suppression of male flowers.
There are the following techniques which involved for
hybrid seed production of bottle gourd-a)
Pinching of male flower
b) Chemical sex expression
c) Use of male sterile line

38. Pinching of male flower
One row of male parent are sown after every three rows of
female parent.
Pinching all the male flower before opening from the female
parent.
Allow the male parent for natural cross pollination.
All the fruit set in female parent would be necessary
through cross pollination by insect.
F1 seed is extracted after harvest the fruit from female parent
line.
Choudhury and Singh, 1971

39. Chemical sex expression
Application of ethrel (2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid) at
the rate of 200 – 300 ppm at 2 & 4 true leaf stage.
Ethrel help in supressing the staminate flower and
initiating pistilate flower successfully in first few flowering
node of female parent(Verma, Singh and Choudhury, 1985)
Row of male parent is grown by side of female parent and
allow natural cross pollination.
Four to five fruit set at initial nodes containing hybrid seeds
would be sufficient.

40. Use of Male Sterile Line
Dutta (1983) reported that in bottle gourd, genic male sterile
is controlled by ms-1.
This can be used for the production of hybrid seeds.
Till date none has developed hybrids using male sterile line
in bottle gourd.

41. Refferences
• Swarup, V. 2006. Vegetable Science & Technology in India. Kalyani
Publishers, Ludhiana – 141008.
• Ram, H. H., 2012. Vegetable Breeding – Principle and Practices.
Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana – 141008.
• Kalloo, G. 1988. Vegetable Breeding. CRC Press, Florida, USA.
• Rai, N. & Rai, M. 2006. Heterosis Breeding in Vegetable Crops. New
India Publishing Agency, New Delhi – 110088.
• Singh, P. K., Dasgupta, S.K. & Tripathi, S.K., 2006. Hybrid Vegetable
Development. International Book Distributing Company,
Lucknow (U.P.) – 226004.

42. THANKS