Combiningability studies on yieldand its components in rice (Oryzasativa, L.)

An analysis of variance of combining ability for all the characters revealed significant differences among the parents, crosses and parents vs crosses. The mean squares due to line × tester interaction also differed significantly for all the traits except number of panicles per plant. The significant role of non-additive gene action for all the nine characters studied was observed. Among the lines, KCMS 33B, KCMS 37B and CRMS 31B and three testers, KMR-3, KMR-4 and MSN-67 were good general combiners, across the nine characters as they had high overall GCA status. The crosses, KCMS 33A/KMR4, KCMS 35A/MSN-68, KCMS 37A/KMR-3, KCMS 38A/KMR-12 and KCMS 29A/MSN-69 were good specific combiners for seed yield per plant.