ASSESSMENT OF HETEROSIS FOR YIELD AND YIELD CONTRIBUTING TRAITS IN OKRA [ABELMOSCHUS ESCULENTUS (L.) MOENCH]

Abstract

Okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench] is an economically important vegetable crop valued for its high nutritional and medicinal properties. Enhancing its productivity is essential to meet growing global demand. This study evaluated standard heterosis for yield and yield-contributing traits in okra to identify superior hybrid combinations suitable for commercial exploitation. Eight genetically diverse parental lines were crossed in a half-diallel design (excluding reciprocals) to generate twenty-eight F1 hybrids. The parents, hybrids, and a standard check variety (‘Parbhani Kranti’) were evaluated across three distinct environments during the kharif season using a randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. Observations were recorded for eleven morpho-physiological characters, encompassing flowering, maturity, vegetative growth parameters, yield components, and seed traits. Significant variations in standard heterosis were observed across environments for most traits, indicating a pronounced genotype x environment (G × E) interaction. Desirable negative standard heterosis for earliness was recorded for days to 50% flowering and days to edible maturity, whereas positive heterosis was observed for primary yield components. The hybrid ‘Phule Utkarsh × GJO-3’ exhibited the highest and most stable positive standard heterosis for fruit yield per plant across all environments, paired with significant fruit weight. Similarly, ‘AKOV-107 × GJO-3’ demonstrated stable, highly desirable heterosis for total yield and fruit weight. In contrast, seed-related traits generally exhibited negative heterosis, confirming the competitive superiority of the check variety for those specific traits. The promising hybrids identified in this study hold substantial potential for commercial cultivation and integration into future okra improvement programmes.