PER SE PERFORMANCE OF GENOTYPES AND ASSOCIATION STUDIES IN GUINEA GRASS (PANICUM MAXIMUM JACQ.)
P. RAMAKRISHNAN*, C. BABU, K. IYANAR AND N. MANIVANNAN
Department of Forage Crops, Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics,
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, India
*(e-mail : rama.tnau@gmail.com)
(Received : 11 February 2019; Accepted : 25 March 2019)
SUMMARY
Evaluation of 60 Guinea grass genotypes collected from various sources was carried out. Observations were recorded on plant height, number of tillers per plant, number of leaves per plant, leaf weight, leaf stem ratio, green fodder yield per plant and dry matter content along with quality traits such as crude protein content, crude fibre content, crude fat content of the grass and analyzed statistically. Among the genotypes, GGLC 12, GGLC 19, FD 679 and GGLC 1 were recorded the highest mean value of fodder yield and crude protein content. Correlation analysis revealed that green fodder yield per plant was positively and significantly correlated with number of tillers per plant, number of leaves per plant, leaf weight and dry matter content. owever negative association was observed with crude fibre content, crude fat content. Hence selecting Guinea grass genotypes with more number of tillers per plant, number of leaves per plant, leaf weight and crude protein content will help to improve fodder yield and quality. On account of this per se performance and trait association it has been found that genotypes GGLC 12, GGLC 19, FD 679 and GGLC 1 were potential genotypes for yield and quality.
Key words: Guinea grass – Per se performance – association analysis, evaluation