Exploitation of combining ability and heterosis potential for improvement in okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) genotypes

The present investigation was undertaken with the objective to carry out combining ability and heterosis for 13 fruit yield and its attributing traits in 14 parents and their 24 crosses in okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) at vegetable research farm, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana during spring-summer season 2019–20 and rainy (kharif) season 2020–21. Four crosses, viz. HB-20-3-4 × Hisar Naveen (HN), Hisar Mutant (HM)-1 × Hisar Unnat (HU), HBMS-1 × Hisar Unnat (HU) and HB-76-2-4 × Hisar Naveen (HN) showed highly significant positive economic heterosis for yield and its contributing traits.Parents HB-20-3-4 and HM-1 were found to be the best general combiner for most of the economic traits. While, cross HB-60-1 × HN followed by HBMS-1 × HU, HB-20-3-4 × HN, HM-1 × HU and HB-96-2 × HU demonstrated strong SCA effects for yield and its attributes. The ratio of general combining ability (σ2GCA) and specific combining ability variances (σ2SCA) was less than one for all the quantitative traits indicating the non-additive gene effects predominated in determining the expression of all these characters and demonstrates variability in genotypes, which provide ample scope for improvement of yield and its contributing traits in okra. Line HB-60-1 when crossed with Hisar Naveen, and HBMS-1 with Hisar Unnat gave superior hybrids as compared to other crosses. Hence, these parents can be exploited for further genetic improvement programmes and isolation of desirable segregants in okra.