Analysis on combining ability and heritability of male sterile lines of Medicago sp.

Conducted with eight male sterile lines of Medicago sp. and four excellent Medicago sp. varieties as parents in way of incomplete diallel cross design (NCII), the combining ability and heritability for F1 hay production characters were studied. The results showed that 1) both general combining ability and specific combining ability of hay production character was very significant difference, it was explained that the additive and nonadditive variation were principal. The general combining abilities of sterile line number as 1，10 and 12 were better than other Medicago sp. materials, they could serve as better parents;2) there was no obvious correlation between general combining ability and specific combining ability on Medicago sp. hay yield traits. Both wide and narrow heritability were medium and the characters could be selected in the early or medium generations.