Measuring Wood Quality of Paulownia Tomentosa Harvested in West Delta of Egypt for Effective Utilization and Potentiality for Afforestation

Cucumber breeders are dedicated to understanding the complexities of diversity to devise effective breeding strategies.The study was conducted in a greenhouse in Vegetable Research Department (VRD), Horticulture Research Institute (HRI), Agricultural Research Center, Egypt, during 2021and 2022.A half-diallel cross among five cucumber genotypes and ten hybrids was investigated to estimate several genetic parameters.Results revealed substantial variation between the investigated genotypes for all characteristics.F 1 hybrids P 3 XP 4 , P 3 XP 5 and P 4 XP 5 recorded the highest heterosis effect for yield and its constituent traits compared to mid and better parent values.Mean squares for both general and specific combining ability were extremely significant for whole characters.The magnitudes of GCA were greater than those corresponding magnitudes of SCA indicating predominance of non-additive type of gene effects with regard to plant height, number of leaves/plant, early yield/plant, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit shape index, average fruit weight, number of fruits/plant and total yield/plant traits.The findings suggested that P 4 and P 5 were the greatest combiners for all characters and considered to be promising parents.The good cross combinations for the majority of traits were recorded in the following F 1 hybrids: P 3 XP 4 , P 3 XP 5 , and P 4 XP 5 .Genetic analysis revealed that dominance variance (σ²D) exceeded additive variance (σ²A), and dominance degree was >1 for most traits except fruit length, fruit number, and total yield per plant, suggesting the importance of nonadditive gene effects for such traits.Broad sense-heritability was greater than narrow senseheritability for whole traits.These findings supported the use these genotypes to local seed production programs in Egypt.