Assessment of germplasm and development of breeding populations of Okra (<em>Abelmoschus esculentus</em>) for drought tolerance

Abstract

Drought susceptibility index was used to screen okra germplasm for drought tolerance. On the basis of fresh pod yield and drought susceptibility index, genotypes were divided into four groups. There was a relative shift in the performance of the genotype across the water levels. Arka Anamika showed the highest fresh pod yield under non-stress condition with high drought susceptibility index while Sanam showed lowest drought susceptibility index with highest yield potential under drought stress condition. Physiological and morphological analyses were carried out to study the mcchanisms of drought tolerance. The genotypes showed significant interaction with sampling intervals. However for osmotic adjustment, turgor pressure, relative water contents, harvest index and root/shoot ratio, genotypes' performance were relatively stable over sampling intervals. Among the traits, relative water contents allowed the genotypes to separate into drought tolerant and sensitive groups. Therefore selection for high RWC at 30 days after stress may be useful tool for the selection of drought tolerant genotypes. Furthermore, this trait has also shown very high narrow sense heritability, showing its potential for the selection of drought tolerant breeding material. Segregating generations of' the cross Arka Anamika x Sanam was used to establish high yielding progenies.