Improvement of Fruit Pubescence and Fruiting Pattern among Pure Lines and Landrace of Okra (Abelmoschus spp.) through Interspecific Hybridization

The research study was aimed at improving fruit pubescence and growth pattern in the highly mucilaginous but very spiny local and wild okra variety - ‘Ele Ogwu’ through generic hybridization with selected glabrous conventional and early maturing varieties at the Research Farm of the Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The hybrid seeds generated from their diallel crosses were selfed to generate the F2 seeds. Backcrosses (BC1 and BC2) were also made to the much improved and glabrous varieties. The parents, F1, F2 and BC genotypes were sown in an experimental field in a randomized complete block design and organoleptic assessment was done at harvest. The F2 hybrids from the crosses, ‘UHIE x CLM’ and ‘AGW x CLM’, yielded some smooth fruits; although most of the hybrids generated, exhibited intermediate smoothness, except for ‘OGW x UHIE’ and ‘OGW x LD88’ that exhibited high degree of spineness. Most of the F2 hybrids generated exhibited intermediate growth and fruiting pattern, except for ‘OGW x UHIE’ which showed indeterminate pattern. The Chi-square statistics for the F2 showed that fruit pubescence for the highly spiny landrace and the more glabrous improved ones was monogenically controlled with incomplete dominance, while growth pattern were polygenically controlled. The successful backcrosses obtained showed reduction in the proportion of fruits spininess and increased fruit determinate growth pattern. This hereby indicates the prospect of obtaining okra plants with glabrous, highly appealing and determinate growth pattern with early maturity from the local, wild spiny but mucilaginous, nutritious and high yielding local varieties through sustained hybridization programme.