Vol. 9, Special Issue 12, Part U (2025)

An experiment entitled “Genetic variability studies in F₅ population of China aster (Callistephus chinensis (L.) Nees.)” was conducted during 2024-2025 at the Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot. The material consisted of thirty-two F₅ progenies developed from four crosses along with five parental genotypes, evaluated in a randomized complete block design with two replications. The investigation aimed to estimate genetic variability and assess heritability and genetic advance for growth, flowering, yield and postharvest traits to aid selection of superior lines. Considerable variation was observed among the genotypes for all characters studied, reflecting the presence of substantial genetic diversity. For all traits, phenotypic coefficients of variation exceeded genotypic coefficients of variation, though the magnitude of difference was small for most traits, indicating limited environmental influence. Higher variability was recorded for number of branches and shelf life. Traits such as plant height, number of branches, stem girth, shelf life, length of ray florets, disc diameter, flower yield per plant and total yield per hectare exhibited high heritability along with high genetic advance as per cent of mean, suggesting the predominance of additive gene action and greater response to selection.