STUDIES ON VARIABILITY, CORRELATION AND PATH ANALYSIS IN PEARL MILLET [PENNISETUM GLAUCUM (L.) R. BR.] GENOTYPES
R. KUMAR *, S. HARISH, M.S. DALAL, V. MALIK, DEVVART, L. K. CHUGH, P. GARG AND K. RAJ
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : rameshkrgr@gmail.com
(Received : 14 October 2014; Accepted: 27 December 2014)
SUMMARY
A total of 97 pearl millet genotypes were grown in a randomized block design (RBD) with two replications in Research Area of Bajra Section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding CCSHAU, Hisar during Kharif 2013 season. The objectives of the investigation were to study genetic variability, correlation and path analysis for eight characters viz., days to 50% flowering, plant height (cm), effective tillers, panicle length (cm), panicle diameter (mm), number of nodes/main tiller, internode length (cm) and grain yield (g/plant) among 97 diverse pearl millet genotypes. Significant differences were observed among the genotypes for all the characters studied. The characters namely grain yield, panicle diameter, panicle length and plant height showed high phenotypic (PCV), genotypic (GCV) coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance. Genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation were highest for the trait grain yield. Estimates of heritability ranged from 18.15 per cent for effective tillers to 94.80 per cent for plant height, while grain yield showed 88.75 per cent heritability. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean was observed for days to 50% flowering, plant height, panicle length, panicle diameter and grain yield indicating the importance of these traits in selection and crop improvement. The result from character association indicated that grain yield (g/ plant) had significant and positive correlation with plant height and panicle diameter at phenotypic level. The genotypic correlation estimates showed significant positive association of grain yield with panicle length, panicle diameter, number of nodes and internode length. Panicle length and plant height exhibited the highest positive and significant direct effect on grain yield. Hence, these traits could be considered as suitable selection criteria for the development of high yielding pearl millet genotypes. Panicle diameter, plant height, internode length and panicle length showed highest positive direct effect on grain yield at genotypic level. Hence, main emphasis should be given to these traits in breeding programme for development of high yielding pearl millet hybrids.
Key words:Pearl millet, genetic variability, estimates of GCV, PCV and grain yield