Assessment of Genetic Variability, Heritability and Correlation in Crossandra (Crossandra infundibuliformis (L.) (Nees) Genotypes

The present investigation was carried out to study the performance of crossandra genotypes for morphological, flowering, yield, quality and screening for nematode resistance at the Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during the year 2018-2019. Ten genotypes were investigated for ten quantitative characters viz., Plant height (cm), Plant spread both E-W& N-S (cm), No. of primary branches, Number of leaves, 100 flower weight (g), Number of flowers per spike, Number of spikes per plant, Rachis length and Yield per plant (g). The presence and magnitude of genetic variability is prerequisite for any breeding program. It will be useful for quantifying the genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance of genotypes to identify for high yielding characters. Phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation for all the parameters recorded which shows greater influence over environment in plants. High GCV and PCV were recorded for plant height, number of leaves, rachis length, number of spikes per plant and yield per plant. High heritability with high genetic advance was noted in plant height, number of leaves, primary branches, number of spikes per plant, number of flowers per spike, 100 flower weight, rachis length and yield per plant. High heritability with high genetic advance is an important character for selection and these are traits controlled by additive gene action. From the correlation studies, yield per plant was positively correlated with number of primary branches, number of spikes per plant and rachis length. Further,positive and significant correlation was also recorded in rachis length, plant spread, number of spikes per plant and number of flowers per spike. Hence, simultaneous selection for the above traits would be more rewarding to bring improvement in crossandra.