Selection of new Architecture Lines from Egyptian Local Okra Cultivars (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) Using Pure Line Selection Program

Abstract

This study was conducted during six cycles of an individual plant selection program to obtain promising pure lines of okra; that possess a new uniform architecture with desirable traits, using two local cultivars of okra, Balady and Eskandirani. This was followed by an evaluation of the selected pure lines with the two base populations. So, this study was conducted during the seven successive summer seasons of 2014 to 2020, at the Experimental Station Farm (at Abies) of the Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Egypt. The obtained results revealed that in the two original populations, the estimated means, ranges, and coefficients of variations of all analyzed characteristics exhibited noticeable variation in vegetative growth, productivity, and pod quality. Also, positive performance was obtained in the selected pure lines, where they were characterized by short to medium plant height, broad stem diameter, no branches (zero-type plants), and short internodes, as well as a low position of nodes number to the first flower or pod. Regarding productivity and quality of pods, the results showed that the selected pure line L 15 showed significantly the highest mean values for the characteristics of pods number per plant, pods yield per plant, pods yield per square meter. Also, the seven pure lines L 14 , L 10 , L 12 , L 9 , L 8 , L 11 , and L 13 recorded significantly higher mean values than the Eskandirani cultivar for the same traits mentioned earlier; while the five pure lines L 3 , L 4 , L 5 L 6 , and L 7 did not reflect any statistically significant differences from the Eskandirani cultivar.