Genetic variability and correlation for yield and yield related traits in Foxtail millet

Abstract

Foxtail millet is a crop known for its nutritional significance and climate resilience. This study was conducted with 31 genotypes which were evaluated for 11 traits in a randomized block design with three replications. The results of the variability parameters revealed a high phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance as percent of mean for flag leaf length, panicle length, peduncle length and thousand grain weight. Except for days to maturity and single plant yield, all traits recorded a high heritability and high genetic advance. These above mentioned two traits were found to have a high heritability with low genetic advance as percent of mean indicating the presence of non-additive gene action. The principal component analysis revealed a higher genetic variability for all traits depicting five reliable PCs with eigen values greater than one. PC1 contributed the maximum towards over all variance (25.10 %), while PC2 and PC3 contributed 16.48 % and 13.92 %, respectively. The genotypes viz., SiA 3085, SiA 3156, RAU 2, GPUF-3, GPUF-16, Garuda, Renadu, Narasimharaya, and Krishnadevaraya were found to be elite for yield and their associated traits in biplots. These genotypes could be exploited as parents for developing high yielding segregants. The traits viz., thousand grain weight, number of productive tillers and peduncle length recorded a significant positive correlation with single plant yield. Hence, these traits could be effectively employed as selection indices in foxtail millet improvement for yield.