Abstract

Heterosis has been amply exploited in developing hybrids in brinjal. In India, only 17.8% area of brinjal cultivation is under hybrid seed due to lack of appropriate hybrids for specific area and purpose. In the present investigation, 14 parents were selected on the basis of divergence and mated in line (L) × tester (T) design hybrids and parents were raised to measure heterosis for different yield attributes. 40 hybrids resulting from a L × T mating design comprised of 10 lines (female) and 4 testers (males) were studied to determine the magnitude of heterosis and genotypic correlation between yield and yield characters. Expression of superiority over the commercial check occurred in 7 crosses, which ranged from -56.36 (L₃ × T₄) to 34.07% (L₇ × T₂). The hybrid (L₇ × T₂) had good heterosis values for growth and yield and is recommended as the most promising combination for developing high yielding hybrid eggplant varieties. Most crosses involving T₂ as tester parent had significant positive heterosis over the mid-parent and standard variety. There were strong correlations between fruit yield and numbers of branches per plant, average fruit weight and number of fruit per plant. Path analysis indicated that plant height, number of branches per plant, fruit length, fruit pedicel length, number of fruit per plant, average fruit weight and little leaf incidence had direct and positive effects on yield per plant, but negative and direct effects occurred for days to first flowering, fruit circumference, calyx length, shoot borer infestation, fruit borer infestation, ascorbic acid content and total phenol content. Simple selection would be effective for improvement of fruit yield.

Key words: Solanum melongena, association analysis, hybrid vigour.