Genetic Variability Studies on Drought Tolerance using Agro-Morphological and Yield Contributing Traits in Rapeseed-Mustard

Abstract

A study was conducted during rabi season (October-May), 2018−2019 at the Experimental Farm of Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CSK HPKV, Palampur (HP), India to develop reliable selection criteria for drought tolerance. 25 advanced breeding lines of different Brassica species were used to determine their mean performance, components of variability, heritability and genetic advance under moisture stress conditions created at rosette stage, flower initiation stage and siliqua formation stage using various agro-morphological and yield contributing traits. Sufficient genetic variability was found for almost all the characters except for 1000-seed weight under non-stress stage conditions. Estimates of parameters of variability revealed that phenotypic coefficients of variation were higher than their respective genotypic coefficients of variation. Under moisture stress conditions, high heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for number of secondary branches plant-1 in non-stress and all the moisture-stress stages. Siliqua formation stage was found most susceptible to moisture stress conditions which also led to maximum reduction in seed yield. Using drought susceptibility index, the genotypes HPBS-1 followed by HPKM-04-1 were found to be moderately drought tolerant as these exhibited the lowest drought susceptibility index value in Stage-I and Stage-III while in Stage-II, RCC-4×Varuna followed by HPBS-1 exhibited lowest drought susceptibility index value. Therefore, systematic characterization of differences in physiological responses to drought stress among elite lines is helpful in understanding mechanisms of drought resistance. Hence, traits like primary branches plant-1, secondary branches plant-1, siliquae plant-1, seeds siliqua-1, seed yield plant-1 and 1000-seed weight can be further used in selection criteria for future breeding programme aimed for enhancing drought tolerance.

Genetic Variability of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn) Genotypes on Agro-Morphological Traits

“…Its calcium (Ca) content (344 mg 100 g -1 ) is tenfold higher than wheat (Triticum aestivum), maize (Zea mays), and rice (Oryza sativa) and three times higher than milk (Shobana et al, 2013;Kumar et al, 2016). Millets are suitable staples when focusing on the food and nutritional security of the common people (Tiwari et al, 2022 The basic information on the existence of genetic variability and diversity in a population and the relationship between different traits is essential for any successful plant breeding programmed (Jain et al, 2022;Sharma et al, 2022). The utilization of any species in a breeding programme depends upon its genetic diversity and adaptability in different environments (Rai and Jat, 2022).…”

Effect of Drought Stress on Growth of Soybean under Seedling Stage

“…Oilseeds are the most important for boosts agricultural economy globally (Sharma et al, 2022). Soybean is an important oilseed crop and is widely cultivated worldwide [Sakthivelu et al, 2008].…”