Breeding of Sweet Gourd (Cucurbita moschata Duch. ex Poir.)

Sweet gourd (Cucurbita moschata Duch. ex Poir) is an annual crop with an open-pollinated sexual reproductive system via cross-pollination and can easily be grown year-round. The reproductive system, mode of pollination and large monoecious flowers are extensively used for conventional breeding in sweet gourd and involves pedigree selection and hybrid breeding. Distant crossing between domesticated and wild species gives some success to overcome hybrid sterility and transfer of resistance genes by using different breeding tools. The advanced lines from distant hybridization may be useful in diverse cucurbit breeding programs. Backcrossing using non elite and wild germplasm donors is an effective strategy for a single trait transfer such as specific disease resistance or bush growth habit into a cultivar. It can also be bred into commercial lines via transgenesis. Application of biotechnological tools and molecular breeding may help sweet gourd breeders to improve yield, disease and pest resistance as well as nutritional quality. This chapter provides an overview of the importance of sweet gourd and its breeding strategies for the development of high yielding and nutritionally rich varieties using conventional and frontier breeding tools.