Genetic analysis of some morphological traits of Brassica napus (Canola)

A 4 x 4 diallel cross experiment on Brassica napus L. (Canola) was conducted to estimate the genetic control of some important agronomic and quality parameters. The data obtained from the experiment were subjected to analysis of variance. The analysis of variance indicated highly significant differences among the parents and their hybrids for all the characters studied in this experiment. The traits i.e. days taken to flowering, days taken to maturity, primary branches per plant, secondary branches per plant, number of siliqua per plant, number of seeds per siliqua, and seed yield per plant under study showed to be controlled by partial-dominance type of gene action but plant height and 100-seed weight reflected nearly complete dominance type of gene action as compared to other traits. From the estimation of genetic components of variation, it is clear that additive properties were more important in effecting the variation for all the traits.