Genetic Effcts Assessment through Line × Tester Combining Ability for Development of Promising Hybrids Based on Quantitative Traits in Gossypium hirsutum L.

Abstract

Line × Tester combining ability analysis involving fie lines (cultivars i.e., CIM-446, CIM-473, CIM-506, CIM-554 andSLH-284) and three testers (cultivars viz., CIM-496, CIM-499 and CIM-707) was carried out during 2015 and 2016 todetermine the inheritance for earliness, yield and lint traits in upland cotton. Genotypes revealed signifiant (P≤0.01)variations for all the traits. On average, F1 hybrids showed the signifiant increase over parental means for yield traits. Meansquares due to general (GCA) and specifi combining ability (SCA) were highly signifiant, which suggested that additiveand non-additive gene actions were involved in controlling all the characters. However, the preponderance of non-additivetype of gene action observed for majority of the traits. Lines (SLH-284, CIM-473) and pollinators (CIM-707, CIM-496)were leading general combiners for majority of the traits. F1 hybrids (CIM-473 × CIM-496, SLH-284 × CIM-707 and CIM-446 × CIM-496) which involve best general combiners, showed the leading performance for yield and lint traits. Heritabilitywas moderate to high with appreciable genetic gain for majority of the traits. Except for lint %, the correlation of seed cottonyield was positive with other traits. The signifiance of additive and non-additive components suggested integrated breedingstrategies with delayed selection for development of cotton hybrids with improvement in earliness and seed cotton yield.