2024, Vol. 7, Issue 3, Part F

Achieving enhancement in Indian mustard traits through indirect selection by prioritizing more heritable and easily identifiable characteristics is crucial. In this study, we examined 12 yield-related traits across ten varieties/strains of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern & Coss). The study assessed twelve traits contributing to yield, including the duration to 50% flowering, maturity duration, plant height (cm), length of the main raceme (cm), primary and secondary branches per plant, siliquae count on the main raceme, seeds per siliquae, 1000-seed weight (g), plant's biological yield (g), harvest index (%), and grain yield (g) per plant. During rabi season 2020-2021, set of parental lines were grown and made 45 crosses in 10 x 10 diallel fashion mating design (excluding reciprocals) with help of hand emasculation. The F1 seeds of 45 crosses were advanced during the Rabi season of 2021-2022 to raise the F1's with their parents and two checks/standard varieties under two different environments i.e., timely sown (E1) and late sown (E2) conditions at Students Instructional Farm (SIF) of Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Ayodhya and were left for natural or open pollination. The value of correlation coefficient at phenotypic level, grain yield per plant (g) was recorded with highly positive significant correlation with harvest index (%), no. of siliqua on main raceme, biological yield per plant, no. of secondary branches per plant, no. of seeds per siliqua, 1000-seed weight (g) and some other traits. Traits harvest index (%) was observed with highest direct effect on grain yield in followed by biological yield per plant and some other traits in genotypic path analysis at both the (E1 & E2) conditions. Resultant direct selection for these traits would be more effective and applicable for further yield improvement in given genotype of Indian mustard. At phenotypic path analysis, most of the traits except days to 50% flowering and plant height, exerted high order of positive indirect effects on seed yield/plant via biological yield per plant viz., length of main raceme, number of primary branches per plant, no. of secondary branches per plant, no. of silique on main raceme, number of seeds per siliqua, 1000-seeds weight and harvest index in E1 and E2.