Genetic Diversity Studies for the Assessment of Variability on Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)

Abstract

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) is an important crop in many countries because of its nutritional value, culinary uses, and economic significance. Okra serves as a model organism for studying various biological processes due to its ease of cultivation. Research on okra genetics can contribute to broader understanding in plant biology and genetics. This study was conducted to understand the genetic diversity of okra for effective selection of traits. Seeds of five varieties of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) were collected at the National Center for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The seed of each accession was sown in a plot laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Data were collected on 13 agronomic characteristics and analyzed. PCV was moderately higher than GCV in all of the traits studied, indicating that environment played a small role in the expression of these traits. High heritability and high genetic advance as a percentage of the mean were recorded for plant height (79.80%, 47.11%), days to flowering (87.60%, 25.43%), and dry pod length (70.63%, 39.64%), indicating that these traits were less influenced by the environment and presence of additive gene action.A wide range of variability and heritability with high genetic advance was observed for the characters like plant height, days to flowering, and fresh pod length. Therefore, the selection of superior genetic materials based on these performances could be very effective.

Keywords

• Accession
• Additive gene
• Genetic advance
• Heritability

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