Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance in Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.)

Sixteen genotypes of cauliflower were evaluated to study the magnitude of genetic variability and character association for growth, yield and quality traits. The genotypes were evaluated for fourteen quantitative characters viz., plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf length, leaf width, fresh weight of leaf, total weight of the plant, days taken to curd initiation, days taken to curd maturity, diameter of the curd, average weight of curd with guard leaves, curd weight without guard leaves, vitamin C and yield of curd with guard leaves. The Present study showed that both phenotypic co-efficient of variation (PVC) and genotypic co-efficient of variation (GCV) were higher for most of the traits and indicates that characters were much influenced by environmental factors. The estimate of high heritability in broad sense was observed for two traits viz., curd weight without guard leaves and vitamin C, while the moderate heritability was observed for stem diameter. The high genetic advance in per cent of mean showed by curd weight with guard leaves while the lowest genetic advance in per cent of mean showed by leaves plant-1. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for curd weight with guard leaves which are governed by additive gene and could be effectively improved through selection. The genotypes Pusa Snowball K-1 showed high genotypic co-efficient of variability for vitamin C followed by Pusa Sharad and Pusa Hybrid-2, while the genotype K-1 showed low genotypic and phenotypic co-efficient of variability for number of leaves plant^-1.