Identification of foxtail millet (Seteria italica (L.) P. Beauv.) genotypes for multi-season adaptability using GGE biplot analysis in Foothills of Nagaland

Abstract

Foxtail millet is a main millets crop of Northeastern region of India. The genotype-by-environment analyses assist in understanding the potential performance of the genotypes over environments. The present study aimed to investigate the 30 foxtail genotypes over the four different environments to identify the genotypes with stable yield in this region. The investigation was carried out during July 2022 to May 2023 for four different dates of sowing with fifty-five days interval. Two environments maintained under rainfed condition and the remaining two environments are maintained under irrigated condition with seven days interval. The experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design with three replications in all environments. Genotype-environment interactions significantly influenced grain yield across four environments, while replicates were non-significant. Pooled analysis revealed significant genotypic effects and seasonal impacts. The “discriminating power vs. representativeness” GGE biplot showed that E4 (showing dates in January 2ndfort night) is the most ideal test environment for foxtail millet elite line selection based on discriminative ability and representativeness. The accessions that performed best in each environment based on “which-won-where” polygon biplot, genotypes G19 (FOX 4392) and G27 (FOX 4420) showed superior and stable performance in E1, however G25 (FOX 4341) and G1 (ELS 20) excelled in E2, E3, and E4.Mean vs stability biplots exposed G1 (ELS 20) is stable and high yielding performance. Ranking genotypes GGE biplot identify the G25 (FOX 4341) is an ideal genotype due to its higher yield and stability compared to the other genotypes. Keywords: GGE Biplots, Foxtail millet, Tukey's Honest Significant Difference (HSD) Test