Cucumber
Crop Information
Environmental Sustainability
- by Todd C. Wehner
- Department of Horticultural Science
- North Carolina State University
- Raleigh, NC 27695-7609
The NC State cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) breeding
program has provided environmental sustainability for growers
as follows. We have incorporated new germplasm sources
into populations and breeding lines, and made those available
to plant breeders and growers. The new germplasm expands
the base of diversity for the crop, and decreases the vulnerability
to diseases, insects, and environmental stresses such as
chilling. In addition, we have screened hundreds of accessions
for resistance to important diseases. The
most resistant accessions have been selected and distributed
to plant breeders for use in developing new cultivars. Those
improved cultivars will reduce our reliance on chemicals
for disease control.
We have obtained germplasm from other public and private
breeding programs, from the USDA germplasm system, and from
primary and secondary centers of diversity. The primary
center of diversity for cucumber is India, and the secondary
center is China. There are about 1000 accessions in the
cucumber germplasm collection at NC State, including more
than 800 plant introduction accessions and more than 200
available cultivars and breeding lines.
Some of the traits evaluated so far include
resistance to anthracnose, gummy stem blight, downy mildew,
belly rot, and root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne hapla,
M. javanica, and M. arenaria races 1 and 2).
We have also evaluated the collection for chilling resistance,
keeping ability, early flowering, root size, and high yield.
In order to improve environmental sustainability,
it is necessary to have renewable inputs for fertilizer
and pest control, and superior cultivars with high yielding
ability and resistance to pests. Our research has provided
answers to the part of the puzzle involving superior cultivars
of cucumber.
