Identification of guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] genotypes with wider adaptability to rainfed environments through stability analysis

Abstract

The stability and yield of guar genotypes are important factors for the long-term development of this gum-producing industrial crop. A study was undertaken to assess the impact of the G × E interaction on yield stability in guar genotypes at seven distinct sites. Yield and its component traits such as the total number of pods per plant, pod length and seeds per pod were evaluated in the kharif season of 2020-21 and 2021-22 resulting in 14 environments. Stability tests for multivariate stability parameters were performed based on analyses of variance. For all the traits, the pooled analysis of variance revealed highly significant (p < 0.01) variations which provided sound evidence for the validity of the experiments. Genotypes KGG 6 and KGG 5 had desirable stability parameters for the number of pods per plant and pod length respectively. KGG 12 and KGG 3 were stable under all environments for number of seeds per pod. In the case of yield per hectare , the genotype KGG 6 recorded highest yield followed by KGG 4 and KGG 1. Among the tested genotypes, KGG 1 and KGG 2 were highly stable with average yield performance. AMMI biplots identified genotypes KGG 11 and KGG 12 as stable ones but these genotypes exhibited low-yield. The high-yielding stable genotypes identified in the present study could be recommended for commercial production in guar-growing areas of arid and semi-arid regions. Aside from these, the genotypes KGG 6 and KGG 4 were suited for exploiting better environmental conditions and genotype KGG 7 recorded more pod yield per plant and bi value less than one, explaining its suitability in poor environments. However, these genotypes could be incorporated into breeding strategy for yield enhancement in targeted environments. Keywords: Guar, Genotypes, Environments, G×E interaction, Stability.