Line x tester analysis in brinjal for yield and shoot and fruit borer tolerance

A line x tester analysis in brinjal was carried out with eight lines and three testers to estimate the combining ability effects, heterosis and nature of gene action for eight characters. The combining ability variances indicated the preponderance of additive gene action for earliness, number of fruits and fruit yield per plant, while it showed non-additive gene action for plant height, number of branches per plant, fruit weight, fruit length and fruit girth indicating the scope for heterosis breeding in crop improvement of brinjal. Lines EP 378, White brinjal, Pusa Sadabahar and Hisar Pragath adjudged for the superior performance in fruit yield per plant. Based on general combining ability effects, Kunnam, White brinjal, EP 378 and Pusa Sadabahar among lines and tester Hisar Pragath were found to be the good general combiners for fruit yield per plant. Among the hybrids, the crosses White brinjal x Annamalai, EP 378 x PLR 1 and Kunnam x Annamalai exhibited high per se performance for fruit yield per plant, and shoot and fruit borer tolerance with high standard heterosis for fruit yield per plant. The above three cross combinations also exhibited positive significant sca effects for fruit yield per plant. Their parents also showed high positive significant gca effects. Standard heterosis upto the tune of 222.77 per cent was recorded by the cross White brinjal x Annamalai for fruit yield per plant.