Study about the Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance for Yield and Yield Attributing Traits of Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.)

Abstract

Brinjal is an important vegetable crop grown in India, Asia, and many parts of the world. The primary objective of brinjal breeding is to develop varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases, have higher yields, and better fruit quality. In this study, 10 brinjal varieties were crossed to obtain F1’s hybrids. The F1’s were evaluated for yield and yield-related characters. The results showed a wide range of variation for all characters. The estimates of heritability in F1 varied from 45.43% (number of primary branches per plant) to 97.69% (Average Fruit weight). The genetic advance percent over mean for F1 varied from 6.25 % (Number of primary branches per plant) to 62.16 % (Average Fruit weight). Seven characters showed high performance viz. Average Fruit weight (62.16%) , Number of Fruit per Plant (50.37%), Fruit yield per plant (49.37), Fruit circumference (35.18), Plant height (32.77), Number of Secondary branches per plant (29.14%) and Fruit length (27.11%); three medium  performance viz. Days of 50% Flowering after transplanting (18.09), Days of First Fruit harvest after transplanting (15.35) and Fruit T.S.S (11.92%); one low performance i.e., Number of primary Branches per plant (6.25%). The PCV was higher than GCV indicate the role of environment in performance of characters while value of both have narrow difference indicate the mainly genetic factors is responsible for the performance of the characters of genotypes.High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was found for yield and yield attributing characters, which indicates that selection for these traits will be effective.