Genetic Variability Studies for Yield and Yield Contributing Traits in Rabi sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) in Relation to Drought Tolerance

Genetic variability studies were useful for effective selection in a crop species. Presence of desirable variation and the amount of that variation which is heritable is the primary requirement of any breeding program for the crop improvement. Therefore any breeding program for crop improvement depends majorly on the knowledge pertaining to genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance. The genetic variability study was carried out for yield and yield contributing traits in thirty-seven genotypes of rabi sorghum with three checks namely M 35-1, Phule Suchitra and CSV-22-R at Sorghum Research Station, V.N.M.K.V., Parbhani during rabi 2019. A randomized block design was used with three replications and these treatments were evaluated and data pertaining to eleven traits were recorded with the objective to estimate the genetic variability for the quantitative traits. This investigation revealed presence of highly significant differences among the genotypes indicating presence of large amount of variability in all the eleven characters studied. The study indicated presence of higher estimates of phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) for all the traits when compared to genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and these estimates are of lower magnitude. Among the forty genotypes studied VJV 107, VJV 106, PEC 30, RSV 1921, RSV 1945 and RSV 1984 were considered as the superior genotypes as these recorded better performance. Higher estimates of GCV and PCV were recorded for the traits; days to 50 per cent flowering, plant height, panicle length, panicle width, fodder yield per plant, biological yield per plant, harvest index and grain yield per plant indicating selection for higher values of these traits of sorghum would be effective. Whereas high heritability coupled with moderate to high genetic advance was observed for traits like plant height, fodder yield per plant and total biomass per plant.