Vol. 11, Issue 10 (2022)

Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) is an important and popular vegetable crop of the subtropics and tropics region and grown worldwide for its edible fruit that is botanically classified as a berry. It is a member of the Solanaceae family with diploid chromosome number 2n=2x=24 and belongs to the genus Solanum. The fruits of brinjal are widely consumed in various culinary preparations and are rich source of protective nutrients.

In the present investigation, information on the combining ability and its interactions with locations were obtained for fruit yield per plant and its related components following half diallel mating design involving nine parents of Brinjal. The nine parents and their 36 F1s with one standard check were tested for thirteen characters under three environments viz., Navsari (E₁), Vanarasi (E₂) and Waghai (E₃) in a randomized block design with three replications. Among the parents; Pusa Upkar, Swarna Mani, GAOB-2 and GOB-1 were good general combiners for fruit yield per plant and most of the yield components. The cross GAOB-2 x JBGR-1, GOB-1 x PU, SM x GRB-5 and NBL-117 x GJLB-4 showed higher SCA effects for fruit yield and the majority of yield components. Expression of heterosis for fruit yield and its components were related to GCA effect of parents viz., Pusa Upkar, Swarna Mani, GAOB-2 and GOB-1. Combining ability analysis revealed that both additive and non-additive variances were significant for fruit yield per plant and its related traits indicating their involvement in the expression of various traits.