Identification of Elite Parental Lines in Cultivated and Wild Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) Accessions for Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus Disease Resistance Using Multivariate Analysis

Yellow vein mosaic virus (YVMV) is the most destructive viral disease of okra, has become a limiting factor in the successful cultivation and production of okra in India, resulting in yield losses ranging from 17.09 to 96.49 per cent. As a result, it is critical that breeders continue to develop superior varieties or hybrids with long-lasting resistance to overcome this major devastating disease. In this context present investigation was carried with 74 elite okra lines to discover potential parents for a resistance breeding programme. On the basis of D2 values the 74 genotypes were divided into seven groups. Cluster I constituted the highest number of genotypes followed by cluster II, III, IV, V, VI and VII. The traits per cent disease index of YVMV contributed maximum towards divergence followed by total phenolic content, peroxidase activity, fruit yield per plant, number of primary branches and number of fruit per plant. PCA showed four principal components with Eigen values more than one viz., 3.87, 3.21, 1.89 and 1.64 and accounted 81.56 per cent of the total genetic variation. Principal component analysis revealed that PC1 captured potential traits viz., total phenolic content, peroxidase activity, polyphenol oxidase, number of fruits per plant, number of primary branches per plant and fruit yield per plant, which could be used in future breeding programmes for high yield and YVMV resistance. The present study it was revealed that, eleven accessions viz., AE-65, AE-66, AE-CBE-921, Pusa Bhendi-5, SB-2, IC112449, AE-CBE-94, AE-CBE-943, AE-CBE-934, AE-CBE-92 and AE-CBE-93 appeared to be very promising lines for future use in resistant breeding programmes