Author(s):

Rathod VB, Mehta DR and Solanki HV

Abstract:
A trial was conducted to assess genetic variability and genetic divergence for oil content and seed yield attributes with a set of 50 genotypes of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.). The characters studied were days to 50 per cent flowering, days to maturity, plant height, number of primary branches per plant, number of secondary branches per plant, number of siliquae per plant, number of seeds per siliqua, length of siliqua, 1000-seed weight, seed yield per plant, biological yield per plant, harvest index and oil content. The analysis of variance revealed that mean square due to genotypes was highly significant for all thirteen characters studied. A wide range of variation was observed for important yield components. The genetic divergence assessed by Mahalanobis D²- statistic, grouped 50 genotypes into nine clusters. The maximum inter-cluster distance (D) was observed between cluster II and VI (33.15). The attributes, viz., days to maturity, days to 50% flowering and 1000-seed weight would be useful for heterosis breeding as these three traits contributed maximum towards total genetic divergence. On the basis of cluster means, cluster VIII was superior for seed yield per plant, number of primary branches per plant, 1000-seed weight and biological yield per plant along with delayed days to 50% flowering and days to maturity, whereas cluster II was good for number of secondary branches per plant, number of siliquae per plant and oil content. On the basis of all the above studies, it can be concluded that due weightage should be given to seed yield per plant, biological yield per plant, harvest index, number of secondary branches per plant and number of siliquae per plant while imposing selection for genetic improvement in mustard.

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