COMBINING ABILITY ANALYSIS FOR ELONGATION ABILITY IN A 6 PARENTAL DIALLEL CROSS OF RICE

A six parental diallel cross of rice involving ''BR4'', ''CN 540'', '' TCA148-3'', ''Goda'', Hbj. A. II'', and ''Fulkari'' was made to analyz e combining ability for elongation. The parents and their 15 F(1)s wer e evaluated in randomized complete block (RCB) design under deepwater and irrigated situations. Combining ability analysis indicated additiv e, dominant and epistatic genes controlling the trait as exhibited by significant general and specific combining ability variance. Among the parents ''TCA148-3'' and ''Fulkari'' would contribute for elongation ability as indicated by their significant general combining ability ef fects. Specific crosses identified for elongation ability were ''CN540 /Hbj. A. II'' and ''BR4/Goda'', where both had significant estimates o f specific combining ability effects.