Identification of crosses and good combiners for developing new genotypes in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.).

A line x tester analysis involving five female and four male parents was carried out to synthesize F1 hybrids in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.). Present study revealed the preponderance of non-additive gene action for all the traits studied as evident from the higher sca for the traits studied. The parents such as CO(Gn)5, VRI 2, BSR 1, BS 9702, Bulundi and Spanish have exhibited good combining ability for the one or the other economic traits and they were considered for the utilization in the breeding programmes. The hybrid combinations viz., BSR 1 x Spanish and CO(Gn)5 x Bulundi have recorded superior per se for pod yield/plant and oil content respectively. These crosses were derived from high x high and high x low gca parents. Hence, these crosses would be used for further selection to obtain high yielding segregants in the segregating generations.