Impact of Fruit Order on Cucurbits Yield Components: A Case of Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl
Any Olivier KOMENAN *
Jean Lorougnon Guédé University, UFR Agroforesterie, Daloa, Côte d’Ivoire.
Adjoua Dorcas KOUAKOU
Peleforo Gon Coulibaly University, UFR of Biological Sciences, Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire.
Tchimonbié Messikely ANOMAN
Jean Lorougnon Guédé University, UFR Agroforesterie, Daloa, Côte d’Ivoire.
Jean-Clément TOFANGUY
Nangui Abrogoua University, UFR Natural Sciences, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Kouamé Kévin KOFFI
Nangui Abrogoua University, UFR Natural Sciences, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Lagenaria siceraria is a trendy plant in Ivory Coast for its seeds. However, production of this plant remains relatively low. One of the underlying reasons for poor yields is poor control of crop techniques. This study is part of the improvement of L. siceraria production. It was conducted on the experimental farm of Nangui Abrogoua University in Abidjan. The study focused on the effect of fruit order on agronomic parameters related to fruits and seeds. To this end, a series of experiments was conducted. Fruits formed on the same plant were classified into three groups: J0 for the first generation, J8 for the second and J15 for the third generation. The results obtained indicate that for all agronomic parameters, the weight of the fruit (PoFr), the volume of the fruit (VoFr), the volume of the seed lodge (VLGr), the number of seeds per fruit (NoGr), the weight of 100 seeds (P100), the highest values are obtained for fruits of the first generation of fruit (J0). Thus, the fruits that appear first have a better agronomic quality. Farmers should use seeds from first-generation fruits for planting.
Keywords: Order of appearance, improvement, production