Assessment of adaptability of cashew varieties to changing environmental conditions of Odisha

Abstract

The present challenges faced due to climate change necessitates the development of cashew varieties with wider adaptability for nut yield. This study was therefore undertaken to assess the performance of twenty-five varieties of cashew for nut yield, stability and adaptability over six years. Statistical analysis indicated presence of significant differences among the varieties for their mean performances for nut yield. The genotype-environment interaction was also highly significant. Stability in nut yield was predicted using both parametric and non-parametric measures. Among the varieties BPP-8 recorded highest nut yield (11.81 kg tree−1) over six years followed by Vengurla-7 (10.12 kg tree−1) and Bhaskara (7.47 kg tree−1). However, average sum of ranks computed by integrating all the parametric and non-parametric stability measures indicated that the varieties Bhubaneswar-1, Vengurla-4 and Dhana recorded consistency for nut yield over six years. Interrelationship analysis among the parametric measures indicated Wricke (Wi2) measures had a total correspondence with Shukla (σ2i) statistic, while among the non-parametric measures, highest positive correlation was observed between Si(6) and NP(4) (r = 0.97) followed by Si(1) and Si(2). Nut yield was highly positively correlated to bi, Si(1) and Si(2). Thus, the measures Wi2, σ2i, Si(6) and NP(4) are useful to predict the genetic stability for nut yield in cashew. The cashew variety Bhubaneswar-1 was found to be stable with relatively high average yield over changing environmental conditions and can be considered as a stable variety for cultivation in Odisha.