Genetic Variability and Correlation Studies in Intergeneric Hybrid Progenies of Papaya

Papaya (Carica papaya L) belongs to the family Caricaceae is one of the most economically important fruit crops of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is a dicotyledonous, polygamous and diploid species, with geographical origin being Southern Mexico and Costa Rica (Candolle, 1884). India stands first in the production of papaya in the world followed by Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Mexico, Ethiopia and others. The area under papaya in India is estimated at 133.4 (IN '000 HA) and production at 5639.3 (IN '000 MT) (NHB, 2014).Since papaya is a highly cross pollinated and sexually propagated crop, its flowering and fruiting habit varies as a result variation exists in shape, size, quality, taste, colour and flavour of fruit. The contribution of each individual component to yield and their interrelationship must be clearly studied (Lombard et al., 1988). The genetic variability along with heritability gives reliable information of the genetic advance to be expected for selection (Burton, 1952). Heritability coupled with genetic advance aid in predicting valuable conclusion for effective phenotypic selection (Johnson et al., 1955). The present study was conducted to estimate the variability such as phenotypic variance, genotypic variance, phenotypic co-efficient of International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 10 (2017) pp. 1459-1464 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com