Studies on Genetic Divergence in Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.)  Genotypes Grown over Multi Season at the Nagaland Ecosystem

D. Purushotama Rao and H. P Chaturvedi^*

Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagaland University, Medziphema Campus, Nagaland, India.

Corresponding Author E-mail: purushotamadatti@gmail.com

Abstract:

Foxtail millet cultivation in India's North Eastern Hill region holds promise due to its adaptation to diverse environments and high-quality grain. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated statistically significant differences (P<0.05) among the 30 genotypes for all yield variables. D² analysis confirmed high genetic diversity among the genotypes and grouped into nine clusters in the first environment, six clusters in the second, seven clusters in the third, ten clusters in the fourth, and five clusters in the pooled environment combination. In environment-1, Cluster-I, IV, V, and VI are largest and having a maximum of five genotypes each. Environment-2 had Cluster-I as the largest with 20 genotypes. Environment-3 had Cluster-I as the largest with 24 genotypes. While environment-4, Cluster-I had largest with 18 genotypes. Finally, when considering pooled environments together, Cluster-I had the largest with 26 genotypes. The foxtail millet genotypes exhibited a wide range of intra-cluster distances in each environment. Clusters VIII and IX showed the highest inter-cluster distance in Environment-1, while clusters III and IV displayed the maximum distance in Environment-2. In Environment-3, Cluster I and VII exhibited the highest distance, and in Environment-4, clusters II and X had the maximum distance. The pooled environment analysis showed clusters III and V with the highest inter-cluster distance. Mahalanobis' D² Statistic revealed the percentage contribution of different traits to genetic diversity in different environments. In Environment-1, plant height had the highest contribution (48.74%), while test weight dominated in Environment-2 (31.03%), Environment-3 (53.56%), Environment-4 (36.78%), and the pooled environment analysis (22.30%).  

Keywords:

Cluster analysis; D² analysis, Foxtail millet; Genetic diversity; Tocher method

[ HTML Full Text]