DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2014.v02i02.016

Pages: 157-167

Most of the commercially cultivated coffee varieties are heterogeneous in nature and produce variation in the plant population in further generation for phenotypic characters. Use of such varieties in crossing leads to breed the variable plant population in F1 generation. In this context, a study on degree of phenotypic variation in eight F1 progenies derived from various cross combinations of dwarf and tall varieties was undertaken at Coffee Research Sub Station, Chettalli, Kodagu District, Karnataka during 2008-10. The vegetative characters such as bush spread, primary thickness, intermodal length, leaf length and breadth as well as yield parameters in the F1 progenies of Dwarf and Tall crosses exhibited variation caused by the influence of female parent. Cultivars used as female parent in crossing with the other cultivars showed dominant effects over male for the above mentioned characters by expressing higher plant frequencies in the class-intervals. The percentage of high yielding plants were more in the F1 progenies derived from Tall x Dwarf crosses as compared to the Dwarf x Tall progenies. Variation in the F1 population was due to involvement of heterogeneous breeding material. Selection of plants from the F1 based on the desirable traits and their multiplication will be useful for character stabilization and commercial exploitation.