ABSTRACT
SUMMARY. Eggplant or brinjal is an important crop of many coun tries. It is highly productive crop and consumed as a cooked vegetable in various ways. It is a hardy annual herbaceous plant. There is a lot of vari ability exists in the nature in color, shape, size, etc. A number of cultivars are grown across the globe depending on the market needs and consumer preference. Different worker in terms of yield, maturity, uni form harvest, etc., has showed considerable amount of heterosis. Egg plant is attacked by many insect pests and diseases like Shoot and fruit borer, Epilachna beetle, Damping off, Phomopsis blight. Leaf spot, Wilt, Little leaf, Fruit rot, Collar rot, etc. Some varieties tolerant/resistant to different biotic and abiotic stresses are developed. Further work on resis tance breeding is of much importance in this regard. Hybrids are also popular in this crop. In some countries, F2 are also being marketed by different companies. The flowers of eggplant are large and showy with the corolla purple in color. Flowers are hermaphrodite. The hybrid seed production is based on hand emasculation and hand pollination. For this
we need honest and skilled manpower and we have to lake utmost care while undertaking the seed production program. [A rticle copies available
KEYWORDS. Eggplant, genetics, breeding, heterosis, resistance breed ing, hybrid seed production
INTRODUCTION
Eggplant or brinjal (Solatium melongena L.) is an important solanaceous crop of many countriei particularly India, Japan, Indonesia, China, Bulgaria, Italy, France, USA, and the several African countries.
