CHARACTERIZATION OF OAT (AVENA SP) GENOTYPES FOR MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS
TANVI KUMARI, Y. JINDAL* AND PUMMY KUMARI
Forage Section
Department of Genetics and Plant
Breeding CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : yjindalhau@gmail.com)
(Received : 30 January 2018; Accepted : 5 March 2018)
SUMMARY
Fifty oat genotypes belonging to eight different Avena species, were characterized on the basis of observations recorded for seven different qualitative characters as per the guidelines for the conduct of test for Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability. The observations were recorded on five randomly selected plants in each genotype for the following seven qualitative traits viz., leaf colour, growth habit, stem colour, awn-ness, awn colour, panicle shape and panicle branch position. On the basis of leaf colour the genotypes were classified into the light green (nine), green (37) and dark green (four). Plant growth habit of 50 genotypes were classified in three groups erect (29), semi prostrate (13) and prostrate (eight). Based on stem colour there were three groups viz. light purple (seven), purple (11) and green (32). Similarly, out of 50 genotypes of oat, 23 had no awns, 24 had one awn and three had two awns. The 24 genotypes with awns were also classified on the basis of awn colour into yellow and black, 12 genotypes had yellow awn whereas 15 had black awn. Panicle shape categorized the oat germplasm into two groups i.e. equilateral (27) and unilateral (23). Panicle branch position 50 genotypes were classified in five categories on the basis of panicle branch position erect (15), semi erect (13), horizontal (eight), drooping (12) and strongly drooping (two). The outcome of these traits tells us about the genetic architecture of the genotypes and their interaction within a specified environment for further improvement.
Key words: Oat, characterization, DUS, morphological traits