Variability and character association in fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) germplasm

Abstract

Extent of variability was assessed in 50 accessions of fennel using augmented design. The analysis of variance indicated that the accessions differed significantly for most of the characters. The genotypic coefficient of variation was high for umbels plant-1 (16.96%) followed by seed yield plant-1 (13.13%), plant height up to primary umbel (11.08%) and length of first internodes (10.71%) indicating that these characters have high to moderate amount of genetic variability. The estimates of heritability (broad sense) was high for plant height up to primary umbel (78.66%), plant height up to top of the plant (72.61%), length of first internodes (64.07%) and days to 50% flowering (51.24%). The genetic advance as percentage of mean were high for umbels plant-1 (22.75), plant height up to primary umbel (20.24), length of first internodes (17.66) and plant height up to top of the plant (16.43). On the basis of yield as well as other morphological characters the accessions namely JF-406, JF-533-2, NDF-45 and GK/RM/AK-7 were found superior as compared to checks.