Selecting Parental Lines among Cultivated and Wild Species of Okra for Hybridization Aiming at YVMV Disease Resistance

Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus (YVMV) disease of okra is the single major production constraint and causes yield loss to the tune of 50-90% in India. Hence continuous search for new sources of resistance and development of better varieties/hybrids with durable level of resistance should receive attention of breeder. An attempt was made to screen twenty-six advanced lines/varieties of okra in one of the hot spots of YVMV disease in eastern India to identify suitable parents for resistant breeding program. The study revealed high magnitude of genetic variability and high degree of transmission of majority of the growth, earliness, and yield component traits under consideration. Based on the degree of divergence, the genotypes were grouped into four clusters. Hybridization between genotypes belonging to Cluster II and Cluster III could combine early maturity, higher yield, and having high tolerance against YVMV disease. Dendrogram among the genotypes also revealed high diversity along with strong inter cluster relationships. Based on averages and principal component analysis, six genotypes viz., BCO-1, A. caillei, A. manihot, 11/RES-6, VNR Green and 12/RES-2 appeared very promising candidates for future use in resistant breeding programs.