Factors Causing Yield Reduction in Snake Cucumber (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) During Summer and Winter Seasons in Central Sudan

Two trials were conducted at Geneid sugar cane farm, the first in the summer season of 2007 and 2010. The snake melon variety Silca was planted in a randomized complete block design with four replications and four treatments. The objective was to study the effect of the plant growth regulator ethrel and manual pollination on sex expression, vegetative growth and yield in the summer months. The second trial was executed in the winter season of the year 2007 and 2010 to test the new Powdery Mildew Resistant (PMR) line of snake cucumber compared with the local variety (Silca), for powdery mildew resistance, earliness of flowering, yield, number of fruits, number of primary & secondary branches and the number of unmarketable fruits per plant. The results showed that spraying ethrel at a concentration of 250 ppm at the 2nd leaf stage significantly reduced the male to female flower ratio and enhanced the yield. The study confirmed the role of ethrel in flower sex modification and lowering the sex ratio by suppressing the production of male flowers. The treated plants recorded a sex ratio of 42:1 compared to the control (93:1), and increased the branches after the first node. No significant difference in fruits, aborted flowers and aborted fruits per plant were observed.

In the second trial, significant differences were found in favour of the PMR line over Silca in earliness of flowering, yield, number of secondary branches and powdery mildew resistance but no significant differences were shown in the number of fruits, primary branches or unmarketable fruits per plant

Author(s): Abdalla A Elshokri1, Abdemoneim M Salama2 and Elamin A Ahmed3*

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