Breeding for multiple disease resistance in cucurbits (water melon, musk melon, cucumber and squash)-a review

Abstract

Cucurbits are highly prone to several diseases. The indiscriminate use of chemicals to control these disease leads to severe health hazards, adds to the cost of production besides toxic residual effects. Thus, the development of multiple disease resistant varieties are only solution to overcome these hazards. So far a large number of multiple disease resistant genotypes have been identified but promising ones includes Poinsette of cucumber, Arka Manik of watermelon and Punjab Chappan Kaddu-l of summer squash. In this article the important sources of disease resistance, genetics of disease resistance and breeding methods followed have been reviewed.