Identification of stable genotypes across the Ecologies using AMMI analysis.

Abstract

Maize is an important cereal crop after wheat and rice. It is grown on a wide range of environments across the world. Genotype × environment interaction affects the relationship between phenotype and genotype of in breeding programmes, particularly for quantitative traits. So multi environment trials (MET) are used for evaluation and identification of stable genotypes across the environments. So, to assess the differential performance of the 18 genotypes, an experiment was conducted under three different locations and different environments viz., Ludhiana, Godhra and Varanasi under irrigated, rainfed and drought condition, respectively during kharif 2017. Randomized completely block design (RCBD) along with two replications was used. Data was recorded for grain yield and then subjected to additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis to understand the interactions between genotypes and environment and identify the stable genotypes. In AMMI1 biplot the PC1 explained 65.07 percent of the variation. Genotypes ZH 161434 and ZH 161311 with high mean yield and wider adaptability were found stable across the environments. Genotypes ZH 161038 and ZH 161083 were best performing genotypes under irrigated environment at Ludhiana, whereas under rainfed conditions at Godhra, ZH 161434 and ZH 161093 revealed good grain yield. Genotype ZH 161063 was specifically adapted under drought conditions at Varanasi. The best selected genotypes having wider adaptability across the environments can be used further in the breeding programmes.