GENETIC NATURE OF TWO INDEXES OF COMPATIBILITY IN ALFALFA

Seven clones selected for their high seed and forage yielding ability were crossed in a diallel manner to obtain the estimates of GCA, SCA and reciprocal effects of the parental clones in various hybrid combinations. The analysis of the diallel crosses revealed that the variances for GCA, SCA and reciprocal effects were significant (0.01 level) for percentage of pod set during the crossing program. Number of seeds per pod set were significant for the general combining ability. The general combining ability appeared to be of greater importance for both the characters studied, and the additive genetic variance seems to constitute approximately 63% of the total variance for percentage of pod set and 71% of the total variance for number of seeds per pod set. However, wide differences were found among the clones in the relative magnitude of GCA, SCA and reciprocal effects for both traits.