Screening of various pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br germplasms for high green fodder yield in Jharkhand condition

Abstract

Feed shortage is a major challenge for the expansion of livestock production to cover the increasing demand for meat and dairy products by the continuously growing population, especially in developing countries. Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) is world’s sixth and India’s fourth important cereal food crop after rice, wheat and maize. It is an important food and fodder crop of short duration in India. The efficiency of milch as well as draught animals largely depends upon the supply of quality of ration in which green fodder plays a vital role. In the recent years, shortage of fodder has remained the burning problem which calls for the attention of researchers to initiate efforts that can ensure regular fodder supply for development of dairy farming and improving the cattle wealth. A field experiment was carried out in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) with 28 cultivars including 15 open-pollinated varieties (OPVs), 10 top-cross hybrids, and 3 check hybrids/ and varieties from ICRISAT, Hyderabad to study genetic variability for green fodder yield and its related characters. The observations were recorded on individual plant basis for five randomly selected plants of each genotype for each replication for days to 50% flowering, plant height, and fodder yield on plot basis. The results revealed that the genotypes were significantly different for all the characters indicating sufficient variability in the experimental material. Green fodder yield showed high GCV and PCV with estimates of heritability along with high genetic advance (% of mean). Therefore, selection may be effective for these characters.