Phenotypic Correlation and Heritability Estimates in Bt and non - Bt Cotton Genotypes

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the experimental area of the Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, during the year 2022 in order to determine the phenotypic correlations and heritability estimates in Bt and non-Bt cotton genotypes. The trial was designed in Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications. The material consisted of eight upland cotton genotypes viz. CRIS-129, BT-3701, FH-901, FH-142, MS-370, Sindh-1, NIA-Ufaq, and SGA-1. The observations were recorded on plant height (cm), sympodial branches per plant, bolls per plant, boll weight (g), ginning outturn percentage, seed index (g), seed cotton yield per plant (g) and staple length (mm). Analysis of Variance showed meaningful differences between the  genotypes for most of the characters studied excluding seed index was non-significant. The phenotypic correlations indicated that  traits viz. plant height, sympodial branches, number of bolls, ginning out-turn (%) were positively associated with yield. The results further revealed high heritability (h2 b.s) for plant height, sympodial branches, bolls per plant, boll weight, yield, ginning out-turn (%) and staple length, whereas low heritability was observed only for seed index. Promising genotypes can be used for hybridization programs in order to isolate useful recombination in the segregating generations.