Blossoming Heterosis: Unveiling the Potential of Hybridization in Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess 24 crosses created through the Line × Tester mating design. These crosses were obtained from seeds collected during the kharif season of 2022 at the Post Graduate Research Farm, School of Agriculture, Lovely Professional University (LPU), Punjab. Alongside the hybrids, 10 parent lines and 1 check were cultivated for evaluation. The entire experiment followed a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications during the kharif season of 2023. The mean squares of the 10 traits revealed significant differences among the entries. The hybrid JBR-20-02 x JBR-20-05 demonstrated the highest standard heterosis among all the crosses, with JBR-20-03 x JBR-21-06 ranking second in terms of total fruit yield per plant. Notably, all these crosses exhibited significant and desirable standard heterosis not only for fruit yield per plant but also for other traits, indicating their potential for improved overall performance. The application of heterosis in brinjal will aid in the production of superior cross combinations, which will help meet the expanding demand for brinjal due to its bioactive properties.