Characterization of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) genotypes for fruit firmness, other horticultural traits and heritability studies

Abstract

Genetic variability among the genotypes and their characterization are important for improving efficiency of breeding program (s). Genetic variation among 24 okra genotypes was analyzed for various horticultural traits including yield and fruit quality parameters. Heritability parameters including GV, PV, GCV, PCV, broad sense heritability (H2), genetic advance (GA) and GA as percent of mean were also calculated. Results envisaged significant variation among genotypes for all the studied traits. 'Rama Krishna', 'Line Brand', 'Ikra-02', 'Ikra-04','Durga' and 'Patel' performed better on the basis of measured morphological and yield related traits including plant height, number of leaves plant-1, leaf area, days to flowering, internodal length, fruit length, girth and weight as well as fruit weight plant-1. Moreover, fruit tenderness measured at 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th day after flower opening revealed 'Rama Krishna', 'Line Brand', 'Ikra-02', 'Ikra-04', 'Durga' and 'Patel' were promising genotypes as their fruits remained soft for longer time (12th day) as compared to other genotypes. It is noteworthy that values for PV and PCV were not very high than GV and GCV for all the parameters. Interestingly, GCV values were high for number of leaves plant-1, number of fruits plant-1, fruit weight plant-1 and fruit tendernesson 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th day after flowering among the studied traits. High heritability was noticed for all traits except fruit girth and protein contents. Furthermore, high values for GA as percent of mean were noticed for number of leaves plant-1, days to flowering, stem diameter, fruit length, number of fruits plant-1, fruit weight plant1and fruit tenderness at all picking intervals. This study revealed 'Ikra-02'and'Ikra-04'as potential local genotypes having good horticultural traits, especially the fruit tenderness and can be used in developing open pollinated and hybrid varieties of okra.