Heterosis Studies and <i>Per se</i> Performance of Intra Hirsutum Hybrids (<i>G.hirsutum</i> x <i>G.hirsutum</i>) for Kapas Yield and Its Components in Cotton

Abstract

Fourty eight intra hirsutum hybrids from Line×Tester design along with three checks ((BUNNY Bt, RCH2 Bt, RAHH 95) (one repeated two times) was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two replications. Each entry was sown in 3 row plots of 6 m length spaced at 90 cm with recommended dose of fertilizer and treatment of seeds with imidochloprid were sown on 10-7-2008 at the Agricultural Research Station, Bavikere, UAS, Bangalore. The analysis of variance among 48 hybrids and checks tested in 2 replications indicated that mean sum of squares for hybrids was highly significant for all the characters except number of monopodia per plant, mean boll weight and seed index indicating presence of significant differences among the hybrids evaluated in respect of these traits. The mean sum of squares for hybrids vs checks was highly significant for plant height number of sympodia per plant, number of bolls per plant, kapas yield per plant and ginning outturn revealing superiority of hybrids over checks and presence of heterosis in respect of these traits. The performance of three top hybrids viz., RAH 97×SC 18, RAH 146×RGR 37 and RAH 146×RGR 58 in respect of kapas yield per plant needs to be verified for their performance on large scale basis. Two hybrids RAH 97×SC 18 and RAH 146×RGR 37 were superior over standard commercial check RAHH 95 for kapas yield per plant, number of sympodia per plant, number of monopodia per plant, number of bolls per plant and ginning outturn and the hybrid RAH 146×RGR 58 exceeded best Bt check hybrid (RCH2 Bt) for kapas yield per plant.