Study of genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance for yield and its component traits in pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.]

Abstract

The present experiment was carried out to study genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance among the twenty six germplasms of pearl millet (2n=2x=14) for different fifteen characters. The analysis of variance revealed that mean sum of square of genotypes were significant for all the fifteen characters which indicated adequate genetic variability among the genotypes. High magnitude of GCV and PCV for traits like panicle weight, grain yield per plant, dry fodder yield per plant and iron content suggesting the presence of wide range of genetic variability in the germplasm for these traits. High heritability along with high genetic advance percent of mean were observed for number of effective tiller per plant, panicle length, panicle girth, panicle weight, grain yield per plant, dry fodder yield per plant, test weight, harvest index, protein content, iron content and zinc content that indicates the selection for these traits would be more effective.