Genetic diversity and character association in diverse genotypes of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Abstract

Genetic diversity is a primary prerequisite for improvement in genetic makeup of plant through breeding. The variation exhibiting in most breeding programs is derived from naturally occurring variant, wild relatives, improved strain and special genetic stock. Assessment studies exhibited that the wide range of variation for different characters and comparison of means of germplasm using least significant difference (LSD) indicated existence of very high degree of variability. Grain yield/plant showed significant positive correlation with no of tillers/plant (0.242), spike length (0.249), weight of grains/spike (0.273), harvest index (0.682) and seed shape (0.259). Character association analysis revealed that high yielding genotype could be developed by incorporating spike length, weight of grains/spike, number of tillers/plant, harvest index and reducing the plant height for average yield potential. Path analysis, identified harvest index followed by number of tillers/plant, weight of grains/spike, plant height, vigour index and spike length as major direct contributors towards expression of grain yield/plant.