T. Arumugam

Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis for Some Yield-Related Traits in F2 Segregating Population of Eggplant

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important crop due to its nutritional value and production potential. Ten hybrids of eggplant procured from the Department of Horticulture, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, were planted at the College Orchard in May 2011 and evaluated for association between characters, direct and indirect effects of component traits on yield, and component characters and to identify desirable genotypes. Analysis of variance for each trait showed significant differences among the genotypes. Significant positive genotypic and phenotypic correlation was observed by number of fruit per plant and average fruit weight. An overall observation of path coefficient studies revealed that the direct contribution of number of branches per plant, average fruit weight, and number of fruit per plant was of higher magnitude on fruit yield. Direct selection may be executed considering these traits as the main selection criteria to reduce indirect effects of the other characters during the development of high-yielding eggplant varieties/hybrids.

Heterosis expression, interrelationship, direct and indirect effects of component characters on yield in intervarietal crosses of eggplant

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 (L

Phenotypic evaluation of indigenous Brinjal types suitable for rainfed conditions of South India (Tamil Nadu)

Research work was undertaken in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) local types to identify suitable varieties for cultivation with high yield and quality traits under Madurai (Southern India) condition. The study reveals that highly significant differences were observed for most of the traits. Mean performance showed that EP 27 (1.93 kg) registered the highest fruit yield per plant followed by EP 3 (1.83 kg). From the nutrient point of view, the genotype Keerikai recorded highest ascorbic acid content of 13.87 mg/100 g, followed by Kallampatty. Earliness was one of the important criteria under rainfed conditions which ranged from 75.00 (Keerikai Local) to 85.00 (EP 28). Hence, these genotypes could be better utilized for further breeding programme for the improvement of fruit yield. Keywords : Mean performance, yield attributes, selection, eggplant African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(27), pp. 4338-4342,