CHARACTERIZATION OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE TRAITS FOR DIVERSITY ASSESSMENT AND CORRELATION STUDIES IN FOXTAIL MILLET (SETARIA ITALICA (L.) BEAUV.)

Abstract

A higher level of variability can be found in Nepalese foxtail millet. To assess potential traits for further breeding activities and estimate the genetic diversity, phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation, heritability, genetic advance, and correlation coefficient for 15 different genotypes of foxtail millet, an experiment was conducted in alpha lattice design with 3 replications at Agronomy farm of IAAS, Lamjung, Nepal during March- June 2021. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among the accessions for all the traits observed indicating the presence of a sufficient amount of variability. The value of the Shannon index ranged from 0.245 (plant anthocyanin coloration of the basal sheath) to 1.309(grain color) which indicates that the characters were more diverse for grain color while the value of evenness ranged from 0.22 (plant: anthocyanin coloration of the basal sheath) to 0.965(panicle density) indicating that the characters are more evenly distributed for the intensity of green leaf foliage. High PCV, high GCV, high heritability, and high genetic advance per mean were found for flag leaf length, peduncle length, no. of nodes, and yield per hectare. It indicates that these traits are less influenced by the environment and hence can be exploited by pure line and mass selection methods for crop improvement. Yield per hectare was positively and significantly correlated with grain per panicle (r=0.4**) and no. of nodes (r=0.39**). A strong positive correlation was observed between plant height and the number of nodes, flag leaf width, panicle length, and flag leaf length indicating their consideration for further breeding activities. The findings of the study can be crucial in identifying better-performing genotypes that can help develop improved varieties