Background: Selecting the right parents is essential in a breeding programme. It is necessary to access a large number of germplasm accessions for genetic diversity in order to select a diverse set of accessions as the parents for a hybridization program that aims to produce superior hybrids or better segregants in subsequent generations. Therefore, understanding the degree of diversity and assembling the germplasm is crucial. Thus, the aim of the current study was to quantify diversity and explore the impact of several traits that promote increased diversity within the population.
Methods: The current study was laid out in a Randomised Complete Block Design with two replications to quantify the genetic diversity among the 50 germplasm accessions of foxtail millet at the Regional Agricultural Research Station, Nandyal, during Rabi, 2023-24. Upon Mahalanobis D2 analysis of 16 morpho-physiological and yield-attributes.
Results: Six clusters were formed from 50 accessions studied. Cluster I was the largest comprising 22 accessions, followed by clusters II and III, which was 16 and 9 accessions respectively. The remaining three clusters, IV, V, and VI, were solitary. Clusters V (SiA 3159) and VI (SiA 4389) had the greatest inter-cluster distance of 35.11%. The traits that contributed the most to genetic divergence were photosynthetic rate (39.59%), 1000-grain weight (17.47%), relative water content (16.41%) and fodder yield per plant (10.45%). This study suggests that selecting for these traits might be beneficial for improving foxtail millet. Based on their overall appearance and per se performance from a diverse cluster, the accessions SiA 3290, SiA 4345, SiA 4391, SiA 4281, SiA 4389, SiA 4396, and SiA 3159 were found desirable.
Conclusion: These selected foxtail millet accessions can be employed in the hybridization programmes and interbreed to produce better transgressive segregants, offering a high potential for yield in subsequent generations.
foxtail millet, germplasm, genetic diversity, clusters, grain yield
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