GENETIC VARIABILITY AND CORRELATION STUDIES IN F4 POPULATIONS OF UPLAND COTTON

Genetic variability, heritability and correlation studies were carried out among F-4 populations of upland cotton during 2014 at the University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan. Eight upland cotton genotypes i.e. SLH-284, CIM-446, CIM-473, CIM-496, CIM-499, CIM-506, CIM-554 and CIM-707 and their 59 F-4 populations were grown in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Genotype means revealed highly significant differences for all the traits. On average, the F-4 populations showed best performance than parental cultivars for yield attributing traits and eventually increased the seed cotton yield. Heritabilities (broad sense) were moderate to high in magnitude for all the traits. Major yield components i.e., plant height, bolls per sympodia, boll weight and seeds per boll revealed significant (p <= 0.01) positive correlation with seed cotton yield. However, monopodia showed non-significant positive correlation. Overall, the F-4 populations CIM-707 x CIM-506 S-1, CIM-446 x CIM-284 S-2, SLH-284 x CIM-499 S-2 and CIM-554 x CIM-473 S-2 exhibited maximum boll weight and bolls per sympodia and eventually the seed cotton yield. Results further revealed that F-4 populations with larger genetic potential, positive association between yield and yield contributing traits and moderate to high heritability could guide intensive selection for improvement in segregating populations.