Fifty C. olitorius germplasms were screened for their resistance to premature flowering in Kalyani, West Bengal, India, during 2000. Seven photoperiod insensitive genotypes, namely OIJ-058, OIJ-107, OIJ-155, OIJ-167, OIJ-188, OIJ-194 and OIN-571, were identified. Nine genotypes were isolated as susceptible and 34 genotypes were grouped under medium susceptible. Two highly susceptible (OIN-627 and OIN-499), 4 medium susceptible (OEX-012, OIJ-002, OEX-003 and OIJ-197) and 2 resistant (OIJ-107 and OIJ-058) genotypes were identified for their high fibre yield. Genetic variability study revealed that plant height was highly affected by high degree of environmental variability in all 3 classes of genotypes, masking the genotypic difference. Base diameter showed a high amount of genetic coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance as per cent over mean in the case of highly susceptible genotypes. Path coefficient analysis showed that plant height and base diameter had strong positive direct effect on fibre yield in the case of resistant and susceptible genotypes, respectively.