Among the viral diseases, enation leaf curl virus (ELCV) has now becoming a menace in okra cultivation particularly in the tropics. Okra parents and hybrids tolerant to ELCV disease were selected based on estimates of combining ability and heterobeltiosis in the Gangetic plains of West Bengal, the most productive okra growing zones in eastern India. Eight diverse lines were crossed in diallel fashion without reciprocals to obtain 28 F 1 s. Additive genetic control of ELCV disease severity

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... ted use of pure line selection in the advanced generations from the highly heterotic crosses could be the best possible method to improvement of this trait. Two parents 285-1-3A-1-17-1 and VRO-178 with good general combining ability effects for tolerance to ELCV disease can now be used in future breeding programme. Partial-to over-dominance reactions for the inheritance of studied traits were recorded. We could able to isolate two outstanding hybrids 285-1-5-1-16-23 × VRO-178 and 285-1-3-1-15-2-1 × VRO-178 based on fruit yield and ELCV disease tolerance under field and epiphytotic conditions, and they could be commercially exploited after critical evaluations. Our study also suggests that either the identified donor parents will be used to develop backcross populations or exploiting promising hybrids in segregating populations for generating new inbred lines with much higher levels of tolerance to ELCV disease in okra.