Genetic Variability for Morphological and Qualitative Traits in Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.)

An experiment was conducted during the winter season of 2006–2008 to investigate the genetic variability for morphology and quality traits in 30 diverse cabbage genotypes. Wide range of variation was observed for all most all morphological and qualitative traits. The study showed high rang for yield, days to maturity and leaf length. The highest estimates of PCV and GCV were for stalk length and low for leaf width. High estimates of heritability were noticed for yield while gross weight showed low heritability. Positive and significant association of yield was observed with all the characters except days to maturity ant stalk length at both genotypic and phenotypic level. C-10 recorded the maximum amount of sulphur, carotenoids, ascorbic acid, iron, potassium, zinc, calcium and dry matter. Estimate of phenotypic coefficient of variation were higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation indicating that the apparent variation was not only due to genotypes but also due to environment. The genotypic correlation coefficient is higher than the corresponding phenotypic correlation coefficient for all the parameters. The dry matter had significant and positive correlation with all quality traits. Positive direct effect on the dry matter was the highest for sulphur followed by iron. Total carotenoids and potassium exhibited a negative direct effect on dry matter content but this negative direct effect was neutralized due high positive indirect effect through sulphur content on dry matter. Thus, these traits may be effectively be used as a selection criterion for screening potential genotypes in a breeding programme.