Genetic variability among different accessions of Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata)

Abstract

Andrographis paniculata Nees, also known as kalmegh, is a significant crop utilized in both traditional and allopathic medicine in India. In the subtropical climate of Jammu, a study was conducted to compare the growth & yield of fourteen germplasm of kalmegh. Higher coefficients of genetic variation (GCV) and phenotypic variation (PCV) were noted in dry herbage yield plant-1 (28.99% & 30.20%, respectively). Furthermore, higher heritability values, along with an increase in genetic gain, were noted for the leaves number plant-1 (95.84% and 112.74%, respectively). Notably, there are 57.33% and 57.40% genetic gains for dry herbage output per plant and per hectare, respectively. These results suggest that there is a great deal of opportunity for enhancing the species through selection for these features. Particularly, plant spread vs. plant height (r = 0.949; p = 0.01), fresh herbage yield plant-1 vs. dry herbage yield plant-1 (r = 0.966; p = 0.01), and dry herbage yield plant-1 vs. the number of leaves plant-1 (r = 0.934; p = 0.01) showed highly significant correlation indices for the trait pairs. These findings indicate substantial scope for genetic enhancement in kalmegh through targeted selection based on the high-heritability, high-gain traits evaluated in this study.