Frequency of superior segregants as influenced by hybridization (F2) and hybridization followed by irradiation (F2M2) using selected parents for important component traits in desi cotton

Impact of hybridization and irradiation in isolation of superior segregants in four crosses of desi cotton were studied and compared between F2 and F2M2 progenies. The F2M2 progenies of four crosses recorded higher per cent of superior segregants compared to F2 progenies for boll number, boll weight and halo length excepting in KS-16 x MB-3200 cross. Out of four F2M2 progenies, RDC-53 x 9747 cross produced higher percentage of superior segregants for number of bolls per plant, boll weight and seed cotton yield per plant as compared to remaining progenies. The superior segregants identified for rare combination of traits revealed that F2M2 progenies of four crosses in general produced more number of superior segregants for combination of traits as compared to F2. The F2M2 progenies of the KS-16 x MB-3200 recorded more number of superior segregants for combination of seed cotton yield and halo length. Similarly F2M2 progenies of KS-16 x 9747 and RDC-53 x 9747 recorded more number of superior progenies for combination of seed cotton yield and boll weight traits compared to remaining progenies. These results indicate that use of irradiation involving selected parents in cross combination was better option to get higher number of promising progenies as compared to hybridization alone.