Identification of Drought Tolerant Fenugreek Mutants at Seedling Stage Through Multi-Trait Genotype-Ideotype Distance Index (MGIDI)

The top-performing mutants from the M2 generation, induced by a combination of γ radiation and EMS treatment, underwent screening for drought tolerance at the seedling stage in the M3 generation under controlled laboratory conditions. This investigation aimed to assess their potential for drought tolerance. The top 15 high-yielding mutants were assessed under both normal (control) and induced drought conditions (10% PEG solution). Utilizing the MGIDI method, the evaluation provided valuable insights into selection traits and identified mutants with potential drought tolerance. Under normal conditions, mutants M3-181 and M3-149 exhibited superior performance in seedling growth traits, with M3-149 being the top performer under induced drought conditions, followed by M3-181. Their proximity to the red-cutline suggests promising potential that warrants further investigation. Furthermore, these findings indicate that mutant lines displayed superior multi-trait performance compared to the parent cultivar. Specifically, mutants M3-181, M3-149, and M3-29 ranked higher than the parent cultivar under normal conditions, while mutants M3-149, M3-181, and M3-168 surpassed the parent cultivar RMt-1 under induced drought conditions. This underscores the effectiveness of mutation breeding, particularly through the induction of mutations using γ radiation and EMS, as an efficient strategy not only for generating genetic diversity but also for producing variants superior to the parent cultivar. To the best of our knowledge, this is first report made on mutant selection in fenugreek for drought tolerance at seedling stage, using the MGIDI approach.