JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE & SOCIAL SCIENCES

ISSN Print: 18132235; ISSN Online: 1814960X

08016/AWB/2010/647982
http://www.fspublishers.org

Full Length Article

Evaluation of Performance, Genetic Divergence and Character

Association of some Polygenic Traits in Upland Cotton
SABIR HUSSAIN, N.N. NAWAB1, M. AMJAD ALI1, AAMIR HUSSAIN, M. AZHER NAWAZ AND T.A. MALIK
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Vegetable Research Institute, AARI, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Wheat Research Institute, AARI, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Agriculture Officer, Lodhran, Punjab, Pakistan
1
Corresponding authors e-mail: nnnawab24a@gmail.com; amjad.ali2001@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
Five upland cotton cultivars and direct crosses between them were assessed for per se performance, genetic divergence and
character association in some polygenic traits. The differences among the genotypes were significant at P<0.01 for all the
traits. Among the genotypes, Fregobract and its hybrids performed better for most of the characters. Plant height exhibited
highest genotypic and phenotypic variance. Genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variability were high for number of bolls
per plant and number of monopodial branches. Broad sense heritability was the highest for seed index followed by number of
bolls per plant. Genetic advance was the maximum for plant height followed by number of bolls per plant and ginning out turn
(GOT). Among the few significant correlation coefficients, staple length and seed index revealed positive correlation with
number of bolls per plant. Ginning out turn displayed positive and highly significant association with seed index, while fibre
strength exhibited negative and highly significant relationship with GOT. Fibre fineness had positive and significant
correlation with bolls per plant and GOT. The extent of variability and positive association among the important traits
suggested potential for their simultaneous improvement. 2010 Friends Science Publishers
Key Words: Upland cotton; Polygenic traits; Variability; Heritability; Correlation

INTRODUCTION
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is the mainstay of
Pakistans economy. Pakistan is the worlds fourth largest
producer and third largest consumer. Cotton not only meets
the needs of fibre of local textile industry but also provides
food in the form of edible oil (about 78% of domestic oil)
and feed in the form of seed cake. Its cultivation engages 1.5
million farming families and is a source of livelihood for
several millions of labour in cities and towns as well. It is
the main source of foreign exchange earnings and brings
annually about 65% of the foreign exchange for the country
by exporting raw material as well as its finished products
(Anonymous, 2009).
Owing to undisputed significance of cotton, plant
breeders made remarkable and sustained efforts to improve
the genetic architecture of this crop, which led to the
evolution of high yielding cultivars through various
breeding strategies. The availability of genetic variation is
crucial for any breeding program, which provides an
opportunity for selection of desirable genotypes. The study
of correlated response of various traits is very important for
crop improvement, because the information on genetic
association among various economic traits provides the

basis of selection and synthesis of improved cultivars

(Siddique et al., 2006). If the genetic correlation is high,
selection for one trait would result in changes of the other
trait. This association may be either harmful or beneficial,
depending upon the direction of genetic correlation and
objectives of the breeder (Meredith, 1984).
The variability and correlation studies were focused by
many scientists. According to Ahmed et al. (2006) plant
height and seed cotton yield per plant displayed moderate to
higher estimates of heritability and genetic advance, while
bolls per plant, boll weight and staple length exhibited
opposite results. Khan et al. (1991), Ali et al. (1998) and
Ahmad et al. (2003) reported high heritability for boll
weight and bolls per plant and suggested selection for
improvement of these traits due to presence of sufficient
genotypic variability. Larik et al. (1997) investigated low
genetic advances irrespective of their high heritability
estimates for G.O.T, staple length and fibre fineness,
probably due to non-additive gene effects. Hussain et al.
(2000), Echekwu (2001), Pandey et al. (2003), Naveed et al.
(2004), Rauf et al. (2007) and Tuteja et al. (2006) noted that
plant height was positively associated with bolls per plant,
monopodial branches and lint percentage. Hassan et al.
(1999) reported positive correlation of staple length with

To cite this paper: Hussain, S., N.N. Nawab, M.A. Ali, A. Hussain, M.A. Nawaz and T.A. Malik, 2010. Evaluation of performance, genetic divergence and
character association of some polygenic traits in upland cotton. J. Agric. Soc. Sci., 6: 7982

HUSSAIN et al. / J. Agric. Soc. Sci., Vol. 6, No. 4, 2010

number of bolls. Studies of Badr and Aziz (2000) showed
negative relationship of fibre strength with GOT and with
lint yield (Zhang et al., 1997). McCarty et al. (2006) found
weak genotypic correlations between 2.5% span length and
fibre strength whereas Ulloa (2006) reported conversely.
The objective of this study was to investigate the
performance, variability and association pattern of
agronomic traits of upland cotton.

of variance (Steel et al., 1997). Highly significant genetic

differences (P<0.01) were found among the genotypes for
all the traits under study (Table I).
Mean values of genotypes (Table II) showed that the
cultivar Fregobract had the highest mean value for the plant
height (152.03), number of bolls per plant (22.40) and seed
index (8.73), while Okra type had the highest value for
number of monopodial branches (3.33) and LSS had the
highest mean for number of sympodial branches (24.23).
Among the fibre trait, maximum staple length was produced
by BH-162 and highest GOT (38.50) was achieved by the
genotype Green. However, Okra had the highest value for
fibre strength (29.43) and BH-162 gained the lowest mean
value for fibre fineness (4.40). These results recommended
that the parents with best performance for these characters
could be utilized in the breeding programs for improving
these traits.
Among the hybrid means (Table II), BH-162
Fregobract yielded highest plant (143.57), BH-162 LSS
had the highest mean for number of bolls per plant (26.00)
and number of sympodial branches (23.33), Okra
Fregobract had the maximum value for number of
monopodial branches (5.00), while the cross BH-162 LSS
gave the highest mean for. Similarly, Okra type Green had
the highest value for staple length (29.50); LSS
Fregobract for GOT (44.73); BH-162 Fregobract for fibre
strength (29.20) and BH-162 Okra had the lowest mean
value (4.67). These cross combinations revealed best
specific combining ability for these parameters, which
suggested that these crosses could be exploited through
heterosis breeding (Mert et al. 2003). The results also
revealed that the genotype Fregobract performed better in
crosses for most of the characters which suggested this
genotype as the best general combiner for the traits
collectively.
Among nine polygenic characters (Table III), plant
height exhibited the highest genotypic variance (121.32),
phenotypic variance (132.21) and environmental variance
(11.10). Genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of
variability (Table III) were the highest for number of bolls
per plant (29.38% & 30.47%) following number of
monopodial branches (21.65% & 23.32%). This suggested
that the data had significant variability for the initiation of
breeding program with the aim to improve these traits (Ali
et al., 1998). Coefficient of variability due to blocking
effects was highest for number of sympodial branches
(9.62%) following number of monopodial branches
(8.66%), which suggested that these parameters were
considerably influenced by environmental factors like
climate, irrigation, fertilization and plant protection
measures.
Broad sense heritability expresses the extent to which
individuals phenotypes are determined by their genotype
(Dabholkar, 1992). All the traits revealed high estimate of
broad sense heritability (Table III) except number of
sympodial branches (55.96%) and staple length (58.71%)

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present genetic studies pertaining to the evaluation
of linkage of some agronomic traits like plant height,
number of bolls per plant, number of monopodial branches,
number of sympodial branches, staple length, seed index,
lint percentage, fibre strength and fibre fineness in upland
cotton (G. hirsutum) were conducted in the Department of
Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture,
Faisalabad during the years 2005-2007. The plant material
for these studies was developed by making direct crosses of
five genotypes, namely BH-162, Okra type, LSS,
Fregobract and Green, differing from each other for the
characters.
The parents were sown in earthen pots in a glasshouse
in November 2005. A temperature 353C was maintained
by heaters in the glasshouse. At the time of flowering,
crosses were made following all the necessary precautionary
measures to avoid any contamination of the genetic
material. A large number of pollinations were made in order
to produce sufficient quantity of hybrid seed.
The F0 seeds of 10 hybrids and their five parents were
planted in a field in a triplicate randomized complete block
design during June, 2006. The distances between and within
rows were 75 cm and 30 cm, respectively. All the
recommended agronomic practices and plant protection
measures were followed from sowing till harvesting of the
crop. At maturity, the data were recorded from 10 guarded
plants of each entry for plant height (cm), number of bolls
per plant, number of monopodial branches, number of
sympodial branches, seed index (g), lint percentage, staple
length (mm), fibre strength (g/tex) and fibre fineness
(g/inch).
The collected data were subjected to analysis of
variance following the method given by Steel et al. (1997)
in order to determine the significance of differences in plant
characters among the genotypes under study. Genetic
components of variance were obtained as outlined by
Johnson et al. (1956) and Mahmud and Kramer (1951).
Heritability estimates were calculated following Allard
(1960). Correlation coefficients were calculated by the
formula outlined by Dewey and Lu (1959) using Minitab
program.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The data on 10 plant traits were subjected to analysis

80

EVALUATION OF SOME POLYGENIC CHARACTERS IN COTTON / J. Agric. Soc. Sci., Vol. 6, No. 4, 2010
Table I: Mean squares of five genotypes along with their direct hybrids in cotton
SOV
Replication
Genotypes
Error

df
2
14
28

PH
23.568
374.417**
11.101

MBR
0.28
1.717**
0.087

SBR
5.222
18.468**
3.838

BPP
0.145
73.379**
1.801

GOT
1.678
25.134**
1.128

SI
0.002
2.148**
0.03

SL
0.591
4.703**
0.893

FF
0.073*
0.242**
0.017

FS
1.067
7.399**
0.52

Table II: Mean performance of five cultivars including their direct hybrids in cotton
Sr. No.
PH
MBR
SBR
BPP
GOT
SI
SL
FS
FF
117.77
2.83
16.83
13.47
35.20
7.13
28.50
28.90
4.40
1.
138.43
3.33
21.50
13.03
35.63
7.33
27.43
29.43
5.30
2.
124.33
2.87
24.23
8.50
37.30
8.20
28.23
25.67
5.00
3.
152.03
3.30
15.53
22.40
38.10
8.73
25.53
26.53
5.10
4.
122.43
2.43
20.00
20.63
38.50
7.57
26.40
29.33
4.80
5.
138.50
4.00
22.53
13.33
38.13
8.23
28.90
26.47
4.67
6.
127.00
3.00
23.33
26.00
39.50
9.30
27.20
27.37
5.17
7.
143.57
17
20.37
15.97
42.63
9.73
29.47
29.20
5.10
8.
120.10
2.27
17.00
20.60
41.27
7.60
27.67
24.77
5.47
9.
123.23
3.00
20.53
13.77
42.37
8.30
27.60
25.33
4.80
10.
113.03
5.00
21.67
13.13
38.93
7.80
28.57
26.53
4.90
11.
119.03
4.50
18.63
14.27
43.77
9.97
29.50
26.97
5.10
12.
116.20
3.67
20.67
15.73
44.73
8.37
27.23
25.03
5.43
13.
127.13
3.30
22.33
21.90
42.33
7.97
28.93
26.57
5.00
14.
133.43
3.17
19.67
10.53
38.77
7.73
25.67
27.53
4.87
15.
Whereas, BH-162 (1), Okra (2), LSS (3), Fregobract (4), Green (5), BH-162 Okra (6), BH-162 LSS (7), BH-162 Fregobract (8), BH-162 Green
(9), Okra LSS (10), Okra Fregobract (11),Okra Green (12), LSS Fregobract (13), LSS Green (14), Fregobract Green (15) for traits, Plant height
(PH, cm), number of bolls per plant (BPP), number of monopodial branches (MBR), number of sympodial branches (SBR), staple length (SL, mm), seed
index (SI, gm), GOT (%), fibre strength (FS, g/tex), fibre fineness (FF, g/inch)

Table III: Estimates of genotypic variance (2g), phenotypic variance (2p), environmental variance (2e), genotypic
(CVg), phenotypic (CVp) and environmental (CVe) coefficients of variation, heritability in broad sense (h2 bs) and
genetic advance (GA) for various traits in cotton
Variables
g
p
e
CVg %
CVp %
CVe %
h2 (bs)%
GA

PH
121.11
132.21
11.10
8.64
9.03
2.62
91.60
2172.88

MBR
0.54
0.63
0.09
21.65
23.32
8.66
86.20
141.18

SBR
4.88
8.71
3.84
10.84
14.49
9.62
55.96
340.80

BPP
23.86
25.66
1.80
29.38
30.47
8.07
92.98
971.69

GOT
8.00
9.13
1.13
7.09
7.58
2.66
87.65
546.34

SI
0.71
0.74
0.03
10.12
10.33
2.09
95.92
169.77

SL
1.27
2.16
0.89
4.03
5.26
3.38
58.71
178.15

FF
0.08
0.09
0.02
5.46
6.05
2.60
81.52
51.01

FS
2.29
2.81
0.52
5.61
6.21
2.67
81.51
282.05

Table IV: Correlation coefficients among various polygenic characters in Gossypium hirsutum L
Parameters
BPP
Mon
Sym
SL
SI
GOT
FS
FF

PH
0.124
-0.008
-0.091
-0.154
0.223
-0.218
0.263
0.053

BPP

MBR

SBR

SL

SI

GOT

FS

-0.255
-0.129
-0.242
0.213
0.181
0.004
0.292*

0.190
0.371*
0.447**
0.240
0.017
-0.035

0.195
0.069
-0.036
-0.069
-0.062

0.267
0.238
0.031
-0.072

0.534**
-0.076
0.253

-0.426**
0.413**

-0.207

but it was highest for seed index (95.92%) followed by

number of bolls per plant (92.60%) and plant height
(91.4%). Khan et al. (1991), Ali et al. (1998) and Ahmad et
al. (2003) also reported high estimate of heritability for
number of bolls per plant. Genetic advance (Table III)
provides relative comparison of traits, was highest for plant
height (2172.88%) followed by number of bolls per plant
(971.69%), GOT (546.34%) and number of sympodial
branches per plant (340.80%). It was lowest for fibre
fineness. High estimates of broad sense heritability coupled

with high genetic advance values indicated additive genetic

effects, which provided sufficient scope for selection of
plant height, number of bolls per plant, GOT and number of
sympodial branches per plant. Ahmed et al. (2006) reported
that plant height and seed cotton yield per plant displayed
moderate to higher estimates of heritability and genetic
advance. Their report is contradictory to the present findings
in which both the broad sense heritability and genetic
advance were higher.
Knowledge of correlation is required to obtain the

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expected response of other characters when selection is

applied to the character of interest in a breeding program.
The coefficient of correlation is the measure of association
between two characteristics. Most of the correlation
coefficients were non-significant. Plant height had positive
correlation with bolls per plant (Hussain et al., 2000;
Pandey et al., 2003; Naveed et al., 2004; Tuteja et al., 2006;
Rauf et al., 2007). Number of sympodial branches exhibited
positive relationship with number of monopodial branches
(Rauf et al., 2007). Among the few significant correlation
coefficients, staple length (0.371) and seed index (0.447)
revealed positive correlation with number of bolls per plant.
Hassan et al. (1999) also reported positive correlation of
staple length with number of bolls. Ginning out turn
displayed positive highly significant association with seed
index (0.534), while fibre strength exhibited negative and
highly significant relationship with GOT (-0.426). Badr and
Aziz (2000) also reported negative relationship between
fibre strength and GOT and suggested that one should be
careful, while selecting both these traits simultaneously.
However, Zhang et al. (1997) studied negative correlation
between fibre strength and lint yield. However, fibre
fineness disclosed positive and significant correlation with
bolls per plant (0.292) and GOT (0.413), which
recommended that selection for fibre fineness could result in
more number of bolls and ginning out turn.
Conclusively, the highest CVp%, CVg% for bolls per
plant followed by number of monopodial and sympodial
branches suggested a good scope for selection in these
characters. The highest broad sense heritability coupled with
high genetic advance for seed index followed by number of
bolls per plant and plant height advocated additive genetic
effects, which provided sufficient scope for selection.
Positive and considerable association of staple length and
seed index with monopodial branches; between GOT and
seed index and positive correlation of fibre fineness with
bolls per plant and GOT recommended that these traits can
be improved immediately for the betterment of the crop.

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(Received 11 June 2008; Accepted 05 August 2010)

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