GENETIC VARIABILITY AND DIVERGENCE STUDIES IN OATS (AVENA SATIVA L.) FOR GREEN FODDER AND GRAIN YIELD
JAIPAL AND S. S. SHEKHAWAT*
AICRP on Forage Crops & Utilization
Centre for Forage Management,
Agricultural Research Station,
S. K. Rajasthan Agricultural University,
Bikaner-334 006 (Rajasthan), India
*(e-mail : surendrashekhawat884@gmail.com)
(Received : 21 April 2016; Accepted : 25 June 2016)
SUMMARY
Genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance and genetic divergence for grain and fodder production in oats (Avena sativa L.) were studied for 30 genotypes of oats. Analysis of variance indicated that sufficient amount of genetic variability was present among the genotypes for all characters. High heritability along with high genetic advance was observed for tillers per metre row length and green fodder yield (q/ha). On the basis of multivariate analysis based on Mahalanobis D2 statistic, 30 genotypes were grouped only into four clusters. Cluster I was the largest and consisted of 23 genotypes followed by II with five genotypes. Rest of the clusters III and IV had single genotype in each cluster. Inter cluster-distance was the highest between clusters II and IV and minimum inter-cluster distance was present between cluster I and cluster III. The clusters II and IV having maximum inter-cluster distance showed that their members were far apart from each other, while members of clusters I and III having minimum inter-cluster distance were quite close. The superior genotypes identified for dual purpose aspect were NDO-711, UPO-10-2, KENT and RO-19, which gave good green fodder yield and grain yield.
Key words : Genetic variability and divergence, oats