Genetic variability and correlation studies for growth, yield and quality in Strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch.)

The traits viz., fruit nutritional quality, yield, day neutral nature to be improved in strawberry and hence the present study was undertaken to identify the nature of variability present in the promising advanced strawberry genotypes and to detect the association among yield and yield component traits in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.). Fourteen advanced genotypes were evaluated to study genetic variation and the relationship between yield and its components using a randomized complete block design during the year 2021. The results showed significant variance among genotypes of all traits. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) for all the characters was slightly higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), which signified the presence of environmental influence to some degree in the phenotypic expression of characters. The leaf area index had the highest PCV (30.71) and GCV (30.82). The genetic advance was recorded maximum for fruit yield per plant (228.24), whereas genetic advance as a percent of mean was highest for leaf area index (63.05) followed by shelf life of fruits (61.95). The highest heritability (h2, 95.22) was coupled with higher genetic advance (228.24) estimated for fruit yield per plant, which indicated that the character is controlled by additive genes and therefore further improvement could be brought by selection. Being octoploid, the inheritance of traits is complex in strawberry and the identified heritable traits in the study would be helpful for strawberry improvement breeding programs. Fruit yield was significantly and positively associated with most of the characteristics except flowering duration, fruiting duration, and volume of fruit at both genotypic and phenotypic levels; therefore, these are important prerequisites to formulate a successful strawberry improvement program.