Genetic variability, heritability and expected genetic advance for yield and yieldcomponents in forage sorghum [Sorghum bicolor(L) Moench]

Abstract

Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance studies were necessary for crop improvement which must be exploited for yield improvement. The present investigation was undertaken for 40 diverse genotypes of forage sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], which were grown in a RCBD with three replications and were evaluated for fifteen characters, including of green fodder yield and its components characters. The ‘analysis of variance’ revealed the significant differences among the genotypes for all the character under study. This indicated the presence of sufficient variability in the experimental material. In the present study, magnitude of genetic coefficient of variation (GCV), phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV), heritability and genetic advance as percentage of mean were recorded. It was observed that the results were high for characters like leaf: stem ratio, number of leaves plant-1, green fodder yield plant-1, stem girth and dry matter yield plant-1. Therefore, more emphasis should be laid on these component traits during selection for further improvement of green forage yield.