LINE x TESTER ANALYSIS IN CHEWING TOBACCO

Abstract

Seven females were crossed with three males in a line x tester mating design. The resulting 21 hybrids along with 10 parents were evaluated for combining ability and gene effects. The results revealed significant differences among genotypes (parents and crosses) for yield and its components. Combining ability variance and the ratio of GCA versus total genetic variance showed predominance of non-additive gene action for all the characters except plant height and days taken for maturity where additive gene action was predominant. Lines, Lichchavi and Bori Bargama were found to possess significantly high GCA effects for yield and its components while the crosses Lichchavi x Vaishali special and Sonapatti-2 x PT-76 exhibited significant desired SCA effects for first grade leaf yield and spangle score, respectively. Parents Lichchavi and Bori Bargama can be subjected to diallel selective mating for fostering greater recombinations, if simultaneous improvement of developmental characters related to productivity is sought. The results suggest adoption of reciprocal recurrent selection for improving the yield potential in chewing tobacco.