Heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis for seed yield and important traits in Brassica juncea

Abstract

Genetic study was carried out to estimate heterobeltiosis (better parent heterosis) and standard heterosis for
isolation of superior cross combinations of Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. & Coss.]. Thirty six
F1 crosses along with thirteen B. juncea parental genotypes planted at the Directorate of Rapeseed-Mustard
Research (DRMR), Bharatpur, experimental farm during 2011-12 were evaluated for twelve characters,
including seed yield / plant (g), plant height (cm), point to first branch (cm), number of primary branches, main
shoot length (cm), point to first siliqua (cm), number of siliquae on main shoot, siliqua length (cm), number of
seeds per siliqua, 1000-seed weight (g), days to maturity and percent oil content. Analysis of variance
revealed considerable genetic variability among parents and F1 crosses for all the traits. Five crosses viz.,
DRMR 2486 × Ashirwad, DRMR 2243 × NRCHB 101, DRMR 2269 × NRCHB 101, DRMR 2341 ×
NRCDR 2, and DRMR 2613 × NRCDR 2 possessed high heterosis and higher per se performance over
better parent and standard check. In many crosses, highly significant heterosis was observed for point to first
branch, number of primary branches, main shoot length, point to first siliqua and number of seeds / siliqua.
The high yielding cross combinations from this study can be utilized in future breeding programmes for
development of high yielding genotypes.