Expression of Heterosis and Combining Ability Analysis in Intervarietal Crosses of Egg Plant (Solanum melongena)

Thirty six genotypes (twelve lines, two testers and twenty-four F1s) of eggplant were studied for heterosis and combining ability. The crosses PR x PS and BARI x PS revealed highest economic heterosis for most of the traits investigated including the yield and yield attributing characters. The crosses PR x PS, BARI x PS, PB 69 x PS and Punjab Sadabahar x PU demonstrated highly significant heterosis, over the standard cultivar, Pant Samrat. The parent PB 69 exhibited highest positive significant gca followed by PB 66 and PB 67, whereas crosses PB 69 x PU, PB 60 x PS, PB 68 x PU, PR x PS and KS 331 x PS showed significant sca effects for total yield.