Assessment of combing ability in rice genotype is important role for increasing grain yield to develop new or improved varieties. In present investigation these parameters have been selected for these genotypes which have not been made earlier. It requires proper study about these characters which fascinated me to study about these parameters in the respected genotypes. This study aimed to determine the effects of combining ability in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Ten parental lines and their 45 F1 progenies were evaluated in Kharif 2020-21 in randomized block design with three replications at CRC of SVPUAT, Meerut using a half-diallel mating design. The analysis of variance for the treatments (parents and hybrids) revealed that all genotypes had highly significant differences for both yield and quality traits indicating sufficient variability among the material studied. The mean sum of squares due to general combining ability were highly significant for all traits under study, indicating that these characters are governed by additive gene action. While the mean sum of squares due to specific combining ability were observed to be highly significant for all the characters, excluding days to maturity, plant height, L/B ratio and kernel length after cooking, which indicates that those traits are expressed by non-additive gene action. The variance of the GCA/SCA ratio was less than unity for days to maturity, panicle length, grains per panicle, 1000 grain weight, biological yield, harvest index, hulling percentage and grain yield per plant revealed preponderance of non-additive gene action, while all the remaining character like days to 50% flowering, plant height, spikelet’s per panicle, gel consistency, L/B ratio and kernel length after cooking were more than unity, revealed additive gene action. The significant GCA effects for parents Vallabh Basmati 23, Pant Basmati 2, Pusa Basmati 1718, Pusa Basmati 1637 and Pusa Basmati 1509 were found to be good general combiners for grain yield per plant. The best significant SCA effect crosses viz., Vallabh Basmati 23 × Pusa Basmati 1121, Pusa Basmati 1637 × Pusa Basmati 1718, Pusa Basmati 1509 × Vallabh Basmati 24, Pant Basmati 2 × Pusa Basmati 1121, Pusa Basmati 1 × Basmati CSR 30, were found to be good specific combiners for grain yield per plant. In present study outcomes based on combing ability which revealed that the grain yield can be enhanced by improving these traits through heterosis breeding followed by recurrent selection methods.

Combining ability, GCA, SCA, and Basmati rice.

The general combining ability is associated with fixable gene action (additive and additive × additive gene action). In contrast, the specific combining ability is attributed to non-fixable gene action (non-additive genes). The existence of additive gene action can be used in pure line selection, mass selection, and progeny selection, whereas the presence of non-additive gene action can be used to initiate a hybrid breeding programme. Based on the findings, we may conclude that both additive and non-additive gene action significantly impact on grain yield and the yield contributing features. As a result, it is suggested that pure line and heterosis breeding could be used to improve the yield of these rice genotypes

Pushpanjali Kushawaha, Pooran Chand, L.K. Gangwar, S. K. Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Nirdesh Chaudhary, Shiva Mohan, Veerala Priyanka and Rahul Kumar (2022). Assessment of Combining ability for Grain Yield and its Related Contributing Traits in Rice (Oryza sativa L.). Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(2): 1488-1493.