MANUJ SAINI*, M. S. DALAL, SONU LANGAYA, AJAY PAL, DEV VART, KIRAN, DEEPAK KAUSHIK AND AARTI KAMBOJ
Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
Department of Molecular Biology, Biotechnology & Bioinformatics, CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
Department of Biochemistry, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : doc.manujsaini@hau.ac.in)
(Received : 01 September 2022; Accepted : 27 September 2022)
SUMMARY
Pearl Millet is an important hardy coarse grain crop. Worldwide, notably in India and Africa, iron and zinc deficiencies are important public health issues that affect many people. Biofortification is a cost-effective and sustainable agricultural strategy to address this problem. Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess the character association in sixty pearl millet germplasm lines. The observations were recorded for nine morphological and three quality parameters. Correlation coefficient analysis revealed that grain yield per plant was positively and significantly associated with plant height, panicle diameter, dry fodder yield per plant and grain Zn content, while grain Fe and Zn content shows high association with panicle diameter and among themselves as well. Path coefficient analysis revealed that dry fodder yield per plant and plant height had highest positive direct effect on grain yield.
Key words: Pearl millet, zinc, iron, germplasm lines