Phenotyping of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genotypes for physiological and yield traits under mid-season drought stress

Abstract

Two field experiments were conducted during Rabi 2014-15 and 2015-16 to screen 12 peanut genotypes for physiological traits and to study the changes in gas exchange parameters under water deficit condition. The two years data on various physiological and yield traits was collected, pooled and subjected to Repeated Measures mixed Analysis of Variance (RMANOVA) at a probability level of 5 % and Principal Component analysis was carried out using SPSS 20.0software. The physiological traits viz., gas exchange parameters, SCMR, SLA, RWC, RI and CSI of peanut leaves significantly differed among irrigation treatments and genotypes. From the PCs, it was clear that among all the twelve variables, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and pod yield are the major source of variation both in T1 and T2 treatments. Our results suggest that the genotypes TCGS 1345 followed by TCGS 1343 are promising genotypes which maintained least deviation on physiological traits and recorded high pod yields under water deficit condition.