Vol. 11, Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
Jadav Komal, Jethva AS, Zinzala SN, Sapovadiya MH and Vachhani JH

Abstract:
The experiment was conducted to estimate the genetic variability in 75 okra genotypes. The variability parameters like range, coefficient of range, mean, genotypic coefficient of variation, phenotypic coefficient of variation, heritability in broad sense, genetic advance and genetic advance as percentage of mean were estimated for 12 different characters. The values of phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were higher than the corresponding genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the 12 characters indicating the influence of environmental factors. The magnitude of heritability was observed to be high for all the characters except days to first picking under study indicated that the larger portion for total variation would be under genetic control therefore selection based on phenotypic levels would be useful for the improvement of these characters. High estimates of heritability coupled with high genetic advance expressed as percentage of mean were observed for plant height, number of branches per plant, number of nodes on main stem per plant, internodal length (cm), number of fruits per plant, fruit length (cm), fruit girth (cm), fruit weight (g), total number of pickings and fruit yield per plant (g). Which may be attributed to the preponderance of additive gene action and possess high selective value and thus, selection pressure could profitably be applied on this character for their improvement. The analysis of variance for experimental design indicated highly significant differences among all the genotypes for all the twelve traits studied suggesting the presence of considerable amount of variability in the experimental material, which can be exploited for improvement of fruit yield and yield attributes in okra. In a true agreement with the GCV and PCV values in the present investigation for most of the characters was noticed, indicating additive genetic variance governing the high heritability (>60%) with high genetic advance as per cent of mean was high (>20%) for plant height, number of branches per plant, number of nodes on main stem per plant internodal length (cm), number of fruits per plant, fruit length (cm), fruit girth (cm), fruit weight (g), total number of pickings and fruit yield per plant (g). Hence there could be exercised for improvement through selection.