Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Sorghum germplasm field experiment was conducted at ICAR-CAZRI, Regional Research Station, Pali (Rajasthan) during kharif 2013 by using 224 genotypes to study genetic parameters and character association among yield components. Significant variation were recorded among 224 sorghum genotypes for various morphological and yield traits. The Phenotypic Coefficients of Variation (PCV) were higher than the Genotypic Coefficients of Variation (GCV) for all the traits under investigation. High magnitude of genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variations was observed for harvest index, grain yield per plant, dry and fresh weight per plant and panicle length. Estimates of heritability varied from 63.6% (panicle width) to 96.3% (days to flowering). The association of high heritability with high genetic advance and GCV was reported in case of fresh weight per plant and leaf area. Grain yield per plant was significantly and positively correlated with harvest index, 1000 seed weight, panicle length, fresh weight per plant and leaf area. Results from both correlation and path coefficient analysis indicated that 1000 seed weight, harvest index, dry weight per plant, panicle length and leaf area should be balanced for selecting high yielding genotypes. Tall plants with high fresh biomass might be poor in translocation of photosynthate, hence short statured plants having high leaf area with bold seed could be a better selection criteria for further sorghum improvement programme.
Keywords: Correlation, Heritability, Path Coefficient, Sorghum, Variability