Genetic Variability for Morphological Traits in F3:4 Brassica Populations

Genetic variability is an indicator for a plant breeder to proceed further. Six F3:4 derived inter-specific Brassica populations along with three checks were evaluated for genetic variability for agronomic characters at NWFP Agricultural University, during 20052006. Highly significant (P < 0.05) genetic variations were recorded for plant height. Maximum number of pods main receme (94) was observed for population 19-2-2. The population 15-20-1 produced maximum primary branches (15). Genetic variance for most of the traits was generally 3 to 15 times greater than the environmental variance indicating significant genetic control for most of traits. Heritability estimates were high (> 0.70) for days to flowering, number of primary branches and pod length, while low to medium (0.50-0.70) for pods raceme. Populations 19-83-5, 19-2-2, 2-22-1 and 12-16-1 had outstanding performance for most of the traits.