VARIABILITY AND CHARACTER ASSOCIATION STUDIES AMONG MICROMUTANTSÂ OF FORAGE RICE BEAN
G.B.DASH
AICRP on Forage Crops
Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology,
Bhubaneswar 751003, India.
*(gokulbdash@gmail.com)
(Received: 1 July, 2013, Accepted: 20 July, 2013)
SUMMARY
Genetic variability, coefficient of variation, genetic advance and character association for 10 characters were studied in 36 micromutants of forage rice bean variety Tikabali Local developed by induced mutagenesis of EMS, NG, MH and Gamma- rays. Significant variability was observed for all the 10 characters. The heritability estimate was high for days to flowering, branches per plant, branch length, leaf weight and dry matter per plant. Green fodder yield had positive and significant correlation with days to flowering, main stem length, branches/plant, branch length, leaves/ plant, leaf weight and stem weight both at phenotypic and genotypic level. Path coefficient analysis revealed that leaves/plant and days to flowering had high positive direct effect on fodder yield while branches/plant and branch length had moderate direct effect. Therefore while formulating selection criteria for improvement of green fodder yield in rice bean characters like days to flowering, main stem length, branches/plant, leaves/plant, leaf weight and stem weight should be given preference.
Key words: Mutagenesis, variability, correlation, path coefficient and rice bean