Assessment of Combining Ability for Seed Yield Per Plant and Its Component Characteristics in Castor (Ricinus communis L.)

Combining ability for seed yield and its component traits in castor was studied using line × tester mating design involving three diverse pistillate lines and fourteen inbred lines. Analysis of variance revealed that, The estimates of σ2gca were higher than the corresponding σ2sca for plant height upto primary raceme, effective number of spikes per plant, seed yield per plant, 100 seed weight and oil content, indicated that the preponderance of additive component of genetic variance for these traits, while for the remaining traits, non-additive component of genetic variance was predominant. Two parental lines, SKP 84 and Geeta among the females and ANDCI 14, ANDCI 8, ANDCI 12-2, SKI 343 and DCS 109 among the males, exhibited good general combining ability effects for seed yield per plant and at least for two to three important yield contributing attributes. The best hybrids, SKP 84 × ANDCI 14, SKP 84 × ANDCI 10-3 and Geeta × SKI-343 registered high heterobeltiosis, standard heterosis and desirable highest sca effects for seed yield alongwith high per se performance may be directly exposed for commercial cultivation and may be advanced for development of parental genotypes by incorporating all the desirable characters in parental genotypes, which showed their superiority for seed yield and yield attributing characters.