Genetic variability in fodder bajra

Abstract

A research programme was carried out at the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during May to August 1995, with the objective of assessing the genetic variability and the scope of selection for forage yield and quality in bajra. Twenty varieties were evaluated adopting a randomised block design with three replications. Data on twelve characters were collected and subjected to statistical analysis. Analysis of variance revealed significant difference among the varieties for all the characters studied. Genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation were high for leaf weight per plant, green fodder yield, dry matter yield, leaf- stem ratio and crude protein content. High heritability coupled with relatively high genetic advance was recorded for leaf weight per plant and internodal length suggesting the reliability of these characters during selection programme. High positive genotypic correlation of dry matter yield, plant stand after germination, leaf number per plant, leaf weight per plant and leaf area index with green fodder yield had indicated that selection based on the above components results in the improvement of green fodder yield. Path analysis revealed that leaf number per plant and leaf area index were the most important characters influencing green fodder yield and dry matter yield. Selection index based on yield contributing characters had enabled to select four high yielding fodder bajra genotypes namely HTGPK – 1993, SSG – 59 - 3, IP – 5714 and LSGP – 1995.