The present investigation was carried out in order to study the general and specific combining ability effects forseed cotton yield and its attributes in diploid cotton (G. arboreum L.). A set of 19 genotypes, including 16 lines and threetesters, 48 crosses and four checks were grown under rainfed conditions during kharif 2015 at Botanical garden, AgricultureCollege, Dharwad, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. The hybrids were generated using Line × Tester design.Analysis of variance showed significant differences among parents and hybrids for maximum characters indicating presenceof genetic variability. The ratio of variance due to GCA to that of SCA was less than one for all the characters indicatingpreponderance of non additive gene effects in the inheritance of characters. None of the lines showed significant positivegca effects for yield but line, G. arb 205 for number of bolls per plant and the line, G.arb 59 for boll weight recordedsignificant positive gca effects. Two crosses G. arb 52 × G. arb 147 and G. arb 106 × G. arb 151 registered significant andpositive sca effects along with significant and positive standard heterosis for seed cotton yield and majority of yieldcomponents.