Evaluation of per se performance of parents and hybrids for quantitative characters in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.)

Brinjal or eggplant belongs to family nightshade (solanaceae) is one of the most popular and widely grown vegetable in India. Eggplant is a good source of minerals and vitamins in the tropical diets. Assessment of genetic resources is the starting point of any crop improvement programme. The crosses PB-6 x PB-101, BARI x Pant Samrat and BARI x Pusa Upkar can be exploited as commercial hybrids as they exhibited high per se performance. The crosses PB-6 x PB-101 and BARI x Pusa Upkar showed high per se performance for yield attributing traits, can be utilized for commercial exploitation of heterosis for obtaining maximum yield. It can also be concluded that for total yield per plant (Kg) SMB-115, Pant Rituraj (PR) and PB-101 were established as good general combiners and yield per hectare (q). Hence, these parents can be utilized for further investigation and genotypes improvement in respective traits of brinjal. The crosses PB-6 x PB-101, BARI x Pant Samrat and BARI x Pusa Upkar highest per se performance for most the characters. However, these cross combinations can be utilized as commercially exploited to higher yield.