Heterosis for morphological and yield contributing traits in tropical carrot (Daucus carota L.)

Abstract

Carrot (Daucus carota L.) is one of the most important salad vegetable crops globally because of the nutrient richness, palatability and lower pesticide load. Heterosis breeding and hybrids has noteworthy role in boosting the productivity, better crop management and enhanced quality in many crops. Therefore, the field experiments were carried out during 2022-2024 to estimate the heterosis among CMS-based hybrids for growth and yield contributing traits in carrot. The significant differences of mean squares among parents and hybrids for various traits of economic importance indicated the presence of sufficient variation. Overall the hybrid mean of 48 cross-combinations is appreciably higher/desirable than parental mean for days to germination (13.2%), plant weight (41.5%), leaf length (15.0%), leaf weight (37.9%), root weight (42.7%), shoulder diameter (11.1%), core width (-24.2%) and marketable yield (42.5%) clearly indicates the presence of hybrid vigour and prospects for heterosis breeding in carrot. Overall, the superior hybrid-combinations namely VRCARH-23344, VRCARH-27244, VRCARH-23485, VRCARH-21185, VRCARH-212135, VRCARH-21244, VRCARH- 241199 and VRCARH- 214206 have prospects for development of CMS-based potential heterotic hybrids in tropical carrot.