Exploitation of Heterosis in Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) for Growth and Yield Traits
G Narayana Swamy *
Division of Vegetable Crops, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Lake Post, Bengaluru-560 089, India., Department of Horticulture, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural College, Pulivendula-516391, India. and Graduate School, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India.
Singh, T H a, G Santhosh
Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Lake Post, Bengaluru-560089, India.
Sulochana, K H
Division of Vegetable Crops, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Lake Post, Bengaluru-560 089, India and Graduate School, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India.
Naresh Ponnam
Division of Vegetable Crops, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Lake Post, Bengaluru-560 089, India.
Madhavi Reddy K
Division of Vegetable Crops, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Lake Post, Bengaluru-560 089, India.
G Ramesh
Department of Statistics, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural College, Rajahmundry-533 101, India.
K Ravi Kumar
Department of Horticulture, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural College, Naira-532 185, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Brinjal is a widely cultivated vegetable across the world, and the crop has made extensive use of heterosis for the development of high-yielding hybrids. The present study was conducted at ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, using six parental lines and nine hybrids, evaluated in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. The cross IIHR-824 × VI046101, exhibited highly significant positive heterosis for plant height, with 30.38% and 53.15% heterosis over the mid parent and better parent, respectively. Significant positive heterosis was also recorded for the number of primary branches per plant in IIHR-824 × IIHR-766 (25.91%) and VI046103 × IIHR-766 (26.60%) over both mid-parent and better parent values. A significant negative heterosis for days to 50% flowering, indicating early flowering, was observed in the crosses IIHR-824 × IIHR-766 (-27.16%) and VI046103 × IIHR-766 (-31.63%) over the better parent. For yield components, IIHR-824 × VI046101 showed significant positive heterosis for the number of fruits per plant (82.35%) over the mid parent and highly significant heterosis over mid parent for fruit yield per plant in the crosses viz., IIHR-824 xVI046101 (66.34 %) and IIHR-B-BR-54 xVI046101 (62.97 %). The heterosis observed in this study can be effectively utilized in future crop improvement programs for the development of superior hybrids.
Keywords: Brinjal, heterosis, parents, hybrids, growth, yield and yield attributes