Morphological variability and character association in diverse collection of garlic germplasm

Abstract

Analysis of variance (mean square) revealed the existence of highly significant variation for all the traits except leaf width (4th leaf) indicating greater variability in the germplasm. High estimates of heritability were obtained for pseudostem diameter, days to maturity, polar diameter of bulb, equatorial diameter of bulb, average weight of 10 cloves and plant height. Average weight of 10 cloves, number of cloves per bulb, bulb yield per hectare, equatorial diameter of bulb and plant height exhibited higher value of genetic advance as percentage of mean. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as percentage of mean was observed for equatorial diameter of bulb, average weight of 10 cloves and plant height at 60 days after planting (DAP) suggesting that they can be improved through direct selection. Path coefficient analysis revealed that highest consideration for varietal improvement should be given to plant height, polar diameter of bulb, average weight of 10 cloves, number of cloves per bulb and pseudostem diameter and these traits are also positively and significantly correlated with bulb yield per plant in garlic. Key words: Garlic germplasm, traits, analysis of variance.