L
Naveed Murtaza
Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan,
Pakistan. E-mail: naveedm@bzu.edu.pk
Sufficient genetic variability for all the nine characters in nineteen potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) genotypes of local and exotic origin was observed. The estimated broad sense heritibilities were high for different potato grades, plant height, stems/plant, number of eyes/tuber, stolen length, while low heritability were observed for emergence percent and yield of tubers/plot. Significant positive genetic correlations (rg) were observed for >55mm (rg=0.274) number of eyes/tuber (rg=0.912), plant height
(rg=0.459) with yield the other way negative association was observed for seed grade i.e.
35-55mm, number of stems/plant, stolen length (cm) with yield of tubers/plot.
High heritability coupled with higher genetic advance for percentage of table potato grade (55 mm), number of eyes/tuber and plant height, indicated high proportion of inherited variation, additive gene effects and greater scope of improvement through selection. Hence, the selection based on these characters could play a significant role in their improvement.