Vol. 8, Issue 4 (2019)

Author(s):
JR Patel, KP Prajapati, PJ Patel, BK Patel, AM Patel, AL Jat and AG Desai

Abstract:
Sixty diverse genotypes of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) were evaluated for seed yield and its attributes to determine the genetic variability and association of yield and its components. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among the genotypes for all the traits which indicated the presence of wide genetic variability in the genetic material under study. Phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than genotypic coefficient of variation for all the observed characters. The moderate genotypic coefficient of variation was observed for seed yield per plant, whereas all other characters showed lower magnitude of genotypic coefficient of variation. Characters such as seed yield per plant and total number of branches per plant were exhibited moderate phenotypic coefficient of variation. A high heritability value was recorded for 1000 seed weight, oil content, days to flowering and seed yield per plant. The highest value of genetic advance (per cent mean) was observed for seed yield per plant. The seed yield per plant showed significant and positive correlation with days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, length of main branch, number of siliquae per plant, 1000 seed weight at phenotypic levels. The path coefficient analysis revealed that days to flowering had the highest direct effect on seed yield per plant followed by number of siliquae on main branch, length of siliqua, 1000 seed weight, plant height and oil content. The direct effect of plant height and oil content on seed yield were positive but low, therefore, direct selection for these traits may not help in yield improvement. Hence, it was suggested that greater emphasis should be laid on selection for number of siliquae on main branch, number of siliquae per plant, length of siliqua and 1000 seed weight to achieve further improvement in seed yield of Indian mustard.