ASSESSMENT OF GENETIC VARIABILITY FOR METRIC TRAITS IN BARLEY UNDER DIFFERENT SOWING CONDITIONS

SUMAN DEVI, YOGENDER KUMAR*, AXAY BHUKER AND RAM NIWAS
Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : yogenderkgulia@gmail.com)
(Received : 2 March 2020; Accepted : 29 March 2020)

SUMMARY

Fifty diverse genotypes of barely (Hordeum vulgare L.) were grown in the two environments with three replications during Rabi 2016-17 at Barley Research Area of Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (India). The objective of investigation was to study the genetic variability for ten metric traits i.e. days to heading, days to maturity, plant height (cm), spike length (cm), number of tillers per meter row, number of grains per spike, 1000 grain weight (g), grain yield (kg/plot), biological yield (kg/plot) and harvest index (%). Genotypes significantly differed for all the traits under both the environments indicating enough variability in the experimental material. The mean performance of genotypes under timely sown for most all characters was higher than under late sown condition. The results under investigation also revealed wide range for all the traits under both the environments. Among all the traits under both the conditions, number of grains per spike had highest phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation followed by grain yield per plot. Moderate to high heritability in broad sense observed under timely sown for all the traits except of plant height, harvest index and number of tillers per meter which exhibited low heritability. However, under late sown conditions, all the traits showed moderate to high heritability except plant height. Highest genetic advance as per cent of mean was recorded for number of grains per spike followed by grain yield under both environments. Moderate to high heritability coupled with high genetic advance under timely sown was observed for number of grains per spike, grain yield, 1000-grain weight, biological yield and spike length likewise, for number of grains per spike, grain yield, number of tiller per meter, biological yield and 1000 grain weight under late sown indicating the importance of these traits in selection and crop improvement.

Key words:Barley, GCV, PCV, heritability, genetic advance

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