Abstract

Cucumber ( Cucumis sativus L.) is a very popular and remunerative vegetable crop among the farmers of Nepal
and its area in cultivation is increasing year after year. Demand of hybrid variety of cucumber is increasing and
78% of hybrid seed of cucumber seeds used in the production system are imported from abroad. Realizing this
fact National Horticulture Research Centre (NHRC), under the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC),
has taken an initiative in developing hybrid varieties of various vegetable crops including cucumber.This paper
mostly covers theoretical concepts of cucumber hybridization. It also guides through practical approaches,
experience and evidence of hybridization activities conducted at the NHRC, Khumaltar. It is partly a literature
review and partly based on the experience of the NHRC. Among the various systems of hybridization the
Gynoecious × Monoecious and Gynoecious × Gynoecious are most common practices and the Gynoecious ×
Monoecious system for hybrid seed production has been used in the NHRC,Khumaltar. In Cucumber, gynoecious
lines are used as female parents for hybrid seed production, which does not require modification. However, in
gynoecious lines, male flowers need to be developed to maintain these lines. In some cases, to increase seed yield
or if used as female parents, may need hormones to induce more female flowers in monoecious line. Among the
several growth regulators available for sex modification, application of Ethrel (200 ppm) at 2nd and 5th true leaf
stage for the promotion of female flowers (pistillate) and for the promotion of male flower(staminate), Maleic
Hydrazide (25-100ppm) at 2-4 true leaf stage are being used. The NHRC successfully has registered Madhu-F1
(HRDCUC004 × Bhaktapur local) and Krishna-F1 (HRDCUC009 × Dhankuta local) under the National Seed
Board in 2078.
Key words: Gynoecious, Hybridization, Monoecious, Registered