Genetic Variability among different populations of Grewia optiva Drummond in low and mid hill zones of Himachal Pradesh.

Abstract

The study was conducted to estimate genetic variability among different populations of Grewia optiva Drummond under field conditions of Himachal Pradesh, India. Seed source (S₈) Barthi exhibited outstanding performance for growth parameters. Based on the progeny performance, genotypes S₁G₁ (Uncha-gaon), S₂G₃ (Gaddo), S₃G₂ (Jajjar), S₅G₂ (Bala) and S₆G₃ (Jinzkari) were found to be most promising for growth traits. The percentage of genotypic coefficient of variance (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was recorded maximum for branch angle i.e., 40.56% and 40.65 %, respectively. Percentage of phenotypic coefficient of variation observed higher than genotypic coefficient of variations for all the traits. Highly significant and positive genotypic and phenotypic correlation was observed in plant height with number of branches (r_g=0.324, r_p=0.317) and leaf area with basal diameter (r_g=0.326, r_p=.307). High heritability was reported for all growth traits. The highest genetic gain was recorded for branch angle (54.74) and moderate for leaf area (29.95. The highest genetic advance (54.74) reported in branch angle. Genotypes were clustered into two distinct groups using hierarchical clustering analysis. The maximum inter- cluster distance was observed between S₂G₃ and S₇G₂, whereas, the maximum intra-cluster distance was observed between S₂G₃ and S₈G₃ in cluster I and S₁G₁ and S₇G₂ in cluster II. Principal components (PCI-PCIV) cumulatively accounted for 76.31 % of total variation. The PCA I explained 23.18 % of the total variance, associated with plant height, branch angle, basal diameter.