Unmasking heterosis artifact in okra

Okra or Bhindi (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench.) is an important vegetable crop of India. The experiment was conducted to estimate the heterosis over superior and economic parents in F₁ hybrids and inbreeding depression in F₂ progenies. The experiment comprised of 10 parents, their 45 F₁s and F₂s. Which were grown in randomized complete block design with three replications. The observations were recorded for eight traits namely, days to flower, height of plant, number of branches per plant, length of !irst fruiting node, length of fruit, width of fruit, number of fruits per plant and yield per plant The data gathered were subjected to dialle analysis and various biometrical analysis. In general, considerable heterosis over superior and economic parent (PS) was observed for all the characters. The cross 7103 x LG may be exploited for hybrid seed production.