EFFECT OF X-RAY IRRADIATION ON CUCUMBER (CUCUMIS SATIVUS L.)

ABSTRACT Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a very important fruit which makes its demand and consumption continually on the increase all over the world. X-ray is a physical mutagen that has been underutilized in plant mutagenegis, hence the need to determine the effect of x-ray irradiation on the germination and agro-morphological traits of cucumber. Cucumber seeds were obtained from an agro-allied shop at Jimeta market, Yola and exposed to x-ray from a source 70 KVA at a distance of 90 cm and doses 10 mAs, 20 mAs, 30 mAs and 40 mAs at the Apical medical center. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used, irradiated and control seeds were sown directly on a total of ten prepared beds measuring 2.44 m by 1.50 m. The result of this studies showed a positive shift at the higher doses (30 mAs and 40 mAs) especially in number of days to first fruit maturity and number of fruits per plant. A strong positive correlation was observed among some traits studied. Zonata, a chlorophyll mutant was observed at 30 mAs and it performed best among the various treatments in days to first matured fruit and number of fruit per plant. It is recommended that the study is taken to the next generation, molecular and cytogenetic studies should be carried out and 30mAs should be tried on other crops.