Question

A cabbage farmer is trying to selectively breed his crop for larger heads of cabbage Currently, the average weight of a head of cabbage in his field is 2.5 kg. He selects the plants producing the largest heads as breeders, the average size among this proportion of his population is 5.5 kg. In the next generation, the average weight of a head of cabbage in his field is 3.5 kg a. Calculate heritability for this trait. b In part a, did you calculate narrow-sense or broad-sense heritability? C. If the farmer wanted to increase the average weight of a head of cabbage to 5 kg (assume the change must occur within one generation) from an initial population mean of 2.5 kg, how much must the average head among the breeders weigh?

Answer 1

Answer:

Check the explanation

Explanation:

Average weight before selection =2.5 kg  

Average weight after selection = 5.5 kg

Average weight in the next generation =3.5kg

$h^{2}$= $\frac{R}{S}$

R= Mean weight in the next generation - mean weight before selection

=  3.5-2.5 = 1.0

S= Mean weight after selection -mean weight before selection

= 5.5 - 2.5 = 3.0

$h^{2}$ = $\frac{R}{S}$ = $\frac{1.0}{3.0}$ = 0.33