Selection of parental lines among round fruited brinjal for hybridization aiming at export promotion

Abstract

Selection of parental lines for considering export trade in hybridization programme is a new approach in brinjal breeding. Eight quantitative characters were taken to estimate genetic variation and relationships among twenty seven genotypes of round fruited brinjal, and to identify potential donors for the development of recombinants suitable for export. Analysis of variation revealed considerable level of variability among the genotypes. High broad sense heritability (˃80 %) and genetic advance as per cent of mean (˃20 %) were observed for the maximum number of traits under study. Among the yield components, only number of marketable fruits per plant showed positive and significant correlation (r = 0.771 and 0.725 at genotypic and phenotypic level, respectively) with marketable fruit yield per plant. However, number of marketable fruits per plant (1.24) followed by average fruit weight (0.834) ex-hibited maximum positive direct effects on marketable fruit yield per plant suggesting to give emphasis on these traits while imposing selection for amenability in fruit yield of round fruited brinjal. Principal component analysis showed the amount of variation by principal components 1 to 4 viz., 26.75, 49.98, 69.81 and 84.28 %, respectively. Divergence analysis based on various yield component traits grouped 27 brinjal genotypes into nine main clusters. Dendrogram based on hierarchal clustering grouped genotypes based on their yield component traits rather than their geographic origin. Based on averages and principal component analysis, six genotypes (BCB-30, Deshi Makra, Gujrat Brinjal Round, 09/BRBWRes-3, BCB-10, 10/BRRVar-2) appeared to be promising donors for use in export oriented breeding programme.