Characterization of Gamma Ray Induced Clones in ‘Giant Cavendish’ Banana (AAA) for Morphological and Yield Contributing Traits

Abstract

ABSTRACTMultiple shoot cultures of ‘Giant Cavendish’ banana cultivar were gamma ray irradiated at 10 Gy and field evaluated for their performance. Among the clones obtained, a semi dwarf variant was selected and multiplied through tissue culture. These clones along with control were established at the Experimental Farm, Kaiga, Karnataka during 2013. Morphological and yield contributing traits showed a wide range of values as compared to the control. Two clones, TBM-2 and TBM-6, were dwarf as against control and late flowering but attained maturity much before the control plants. TBM-8 variant showed substantial increase in the fruit area as against the control. Plant height exhibited negative correlation with number of suckers and fruit circumference while bunch weight showed negative correlation with days to flowering and number of fingers. Cluster analysis based on the Euclidean distances formed three distinct groups. The clones identified in this study have shown the potential of gamma rays in bringing genetic changes in agronomically important traits of banana.