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An experiment was undertaken on One hundred eighty accessions of okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench] to assessed to determine their genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in all genotypes. The wide range of variability was observed among fifteen characters of all genotypes. The phenotypic coefficient of variance (PCV) was generally higher than their respective genotypic coefficient of variance, thus revealing the role of environmental factors. The genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variability were high for fruit width, intermodal length, plant height, number of primary branches, first flower production node and first fruit production node (23.01 and 23.43, 21.65 and 21.88, 20.68 and 20.78, 19.47 and 20.93, 19.35 and 19.40, 18.29 and 20.57 respectively) indicating maximum amount of variability present in the genotypes for these characters which would be amenable for further selection. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance per cent of mean was observed for plant height, first flower producing node, number of ridges per fruit, intermodal length, fruit width, stem diameter, number of fruits per plant and first fruit producing node (99.00 and 38.22, 99.00 and 39.77, 99.00 and 33.99, 98.00 and 44.13%, 96.00% and 46.54%, 96.00% and 23.95%, 92.00% and 27.56% and 79.00% and 33.50% respectively) indicates predominance additive gene action. Thus, there is ample scope for improving these characters through direct selection.
Keywords: Genetic advance, Heritability, Okra, Genetic variability.