Heterosis studies in CMS based upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) hybrids

A study of heterosis over checks was carried out with 24 Gosypium hirsutum entries comprising of 14 F1s produced by CMS method, 7 females and 2 males and 1 check were evaluated at three locations viz., Surat, Bharuch and Hansot. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block design (RBD) with three replications. CMS based crosses heterosis over standard check ranged from -39.17 to 9.36 per cent. Three crosses viz., G(B) 20 x G.Cot.10, G(B) 20 x DHY-286-1 and LRK-516 x DHY-286-1 performed better for standard heterosis, where their SCA effects were also significantly higher. It was observed that hybrids showing high heterosis for seed cotton yield per plant also manifested heterotic effects for its contributing characters like number of monopodia per plant, number of sympodia per plant, number of bolls per plant, boll weight, number of seeds per boll and seed index.