Heterosis studies in interspecific cotton hybrids (Gossypium hirsutum L. × Gossypium barbadense L.) under irrigated condition

The present study was undertaken to assess the extent of heterosis for seed cotton yield and its attributing traits in 24 interspecific hybrids of cotton developed by crossing 8 lines with 3 testers in line × tester mating design during kharif, 2017- 18 at Agricultural Research Station Dharwad Farm. Significant heterosis was observed for the characters under study indicating the presence of genetic diversity among the parental lines. Except for number of sympodia per plant and boll weight, the mean sum of squares of parents vs crosses was significant for all the characters indicating presence of heterosis for these traits. None of the crosses was superior for all the traits studied. However, the cross CPD-462 x SBYF-425 was the best as it had the highest mean performance for economically important characters. Majority of the crosses exhibited significantly positive mid parent, better parent heterosis for all important yield contributing characters except ginning outturn. Most of the hybrids expressed significant standard heterosis for all the characters except boll weight and ginning outturn over the checks.