Heterosis and combining ability in indian bean {Lablab purpureus (L.) sweet}

Heterosis and combining ability for 12 characters including pod yield per plant in Indian bean were studied in diallel crosses involving eight diverse genotype, excluding reciprocals. The hybrid JIB (P) 4 x Danitiwala Local found highly heterotic foe pod yield per plant (105.16%), plant height (25.82%) and for pod girth (28.25%). The components of variances due to gca and sca revealed the predominance of additive gene action for all the characters under study. The entry JIB (P) 4 was found to be good general combiner for pod yield per plant and number of pods per plant. The crosses JIB (P) 4 x Dantiwada Local and JIB (V) 7 x JIB (V) 15 were identified as the best combinations which could be exploited for improving pod yield in Indian bean.