Variability Studies and Metroglyph Analysis in Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica L.) for Grain Yield Characters

Abstract

The present investigation was conducted with 20 Foxtail millet genotypes including one check during kharif (July-October 2021) at the Crop Research Farm (CRF), Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, U.P., India. The objectives were to study the magnitude of variability for different traits among foxtail millet genotypes and to identify diverse parents for morphological and seed quality parameters in foxtail millet. The data were recorded on 12 quantitative traits. ANOVA revealed high GCV and PCV for test weight, flag leaf length, number of tillers plant^-1, grain yield plant^-1, number of productive tillers plant^-1, flag leaf width and peduncle length. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean (h² _b) (>60%) were recorded for test weight, number of tillers plant^-1, flag leaf length, grain yield plant^-1, number of productive tillers plant^-1, peduncle length, flag leaf width, flag leaf area, plant height and panicle length. Days to maturity, plant height, flag leaf area, peduncle length and panicle length were positively significant concerning grain yield plant^{- 1}. Metroglyph analysis indicated significant variations among the 20 genotypes  for twelve characters. The maximum number of genotypes falls in cluster I (14) followed by cluster II (4), cluster III (1) and cluster IV (1). The genotypes recorded high grain yield plant^-1 fell into cluster I. The genotypes that recorded high index scores fell into different clusters that can be crossed to have maximum variability of a good combination of characters. Thus, the use of these genotypes in a further breeding program is suggested.