Heterosis for seed yield and yield contributing characters in Indian mustard

The present investigation was carried out with the set of six varieties of Indian mustard and thirty F1 obtained through full diallel crossings, with the objective to find out best heterotic crosses. The six parents, 30 F1 crosses and checks were grown in randomized block design replicated thrice and observations were recorded on yield and yield contributing traits. The analysis of variance for experimental design revealed significant variability among them which allowed exploitation of material for further analysis. The mean squares due to parents, crosses and parent Vs crosses exhibited significant differences for all the eleven characters. This indicates the suitability of data for estimation of heterobeltiosis and useful heterosis. The crosses DRMRQ-1-5 x RLC-3, NUDH-18 x PM-31, DRMRQ-1-5 x NUDH-18, NUDH-18 x NUDH YJ-6 and NUDH YJ-6 x LES-39 had high mean performance and exhibited significant useful heterosis over the superior check for yield and most of its contributing characters. These crosses identified as superior crosses, which can be utilized for development of hybrid varieties.