Three hundred and twenty two finger millet (Eleusine coracanu (L.) Gaertn.) germplasm accessions collected from Zimbabwe were evaluated at Aisleby and Henderson during the 1988/89 and 1989/90 rainy seasons. The data were recorded on grain yield and nine morphological traits to study the genetic variability and the heritability for each trait as well as the genetic and phenotypic correlations between traits. Differences between finger millet accessions for grain yield, finger length, finger width, number of fingers per head, 1000 grain weight and threshing percentage were

significant at both locations, while differences in finger yield and number of productive tillers per plant were significant only at Aisleby. Number of days to flowering and plant height were recorded only at Aisleby and the differences among accessions were significant. Heritability in the broad sense for days to flowering was high (0.60). those for finger length. threshing percentage and 1000

grain weight were moderate (0.2 1 to 0.46), whereas the estimates were low (0.0 I to 0.29) for the rest of the traits. The correlation coefficients indicated that grain yield can be increased by selecting for high threshing percentage, high grain weight, early flowering and high finger yield

Gupta, S C

Mushonga, J N

ICRISAT Open Access Repository

VARIABILITY, HERITABILITY AND CORRELATIONS \ o~~ AMONG MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS IN FINGER MILLET (ELEUSINE CORACANA (L.) GAERTN.) S. C. GUPTA' and 1. N. MUSHONGA2 ' : *Crop  reeding lnsititute, P.O. Box 8108, ~ausewa~,'~hrare, Zimbabwe. SUMMARY Three hundred and twenty two finger millet (Eleusine coracanu (L.) Gaertn.) germplasm accessions collected from Zimbabwe were evaluated at Aisleby and Henderson during the 1988189 and 1989/90 rainy seasons. The data were recorded on grain yield and nine morphological traits to study the genetic variability and the heritability for each trait as well as the genetic and phenotypic correlations between traits. Differences between finger millet accessions for grain yield, finger length, finger width, number of fingers per head, 1000 grain weight and threshing percentage were significant at both locations, while differences in finger yield and number of productive tillers per plant were significant only at Aisleby. Number of days to flowering and plant height were recorded only at Aisleby and the differences among accessions were significant. Heritability in the broad sense for days to flowering was high (0.60). those for finger length. threshing percentage and 1000 grain weight were moderate (0.2 1 to 0.46), whereas the estimates were low (0.0 I to 0.29) for the rest of the traits. The correlation coefficients indicated that grain yield can be increased by selecting for high threshing percentage, high grain weight, early flowering and high finger yield. INTRODUCTION Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) is an important traditional food crop of Africa and Asia. In Africa, it is extensively grown in Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi (Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations, 1990). It is used for food and for brewing. The grain stores well for a long period of time and, for this reason, some farmers consider it as an insurance crop. In Zimbabwe, most of the finger millet is grown in areas over 600 m above mean sea level (MSL) and with an annual rainfall of 500 to 900 mm. Most of the areas are in Masvingo, Midlands and Manicaland Provinces (Shumba, 1984). Improvement in any crop depends upon the extent of genetic variability present for the different traits and the association between traits. Finger millet accessions collected in Zimbabwe from 1985 to 1988 were utilized to study the variability, heritability and correlations among morphological traits. MATERIALS AND METHODS The trial comprised 324 finger millet accessions collected from all provinces of Zimbabwe. The accessions were planted in a lattice design with two replications each at Aisleby farm on 29 November 1988 and at Henderson Research Station on 16 December 1989. Aisleby is located 15 km south west of Bulawayo at 1305 m above MSL and Henderson is located near Mazowe at 1292 m above MSL. The total rainfall during the cropping season was 332 mm at Aisleby and 8 10 mm at Henderson. The soils at Aisleby are sandy derived from forest sand stone. At Henderson the soils are sandy clay loams. The trial at Aisleby was given protective irrigation while the trial at Henderson was rainfed only. The fertilizer rate at Henderson was 32 kg N, 56 kg P2O5 and 28 kg K 2 0  per hectare as basal application and 5 1 kg N in form of urea was applied as top dressing four weeks after planting. No fertilizer was applied at Aisleby as the soils were rich due to previous use of sewage effluent. The plot size at both locations was 4.0 m'. The number of days to flowering, plant height, finger length, number of fingers, finger width, number of productive tillers, finger yield, grain yield, 1000 grain weight and threshing percentage were recorded according to the standard finger millet descriptors (IBPGRJ ICRISAT, 1985). Number of days to flowering, finger yield, grain yield and threshing percentage were recorded on per whole plot basis and the remaining characters except 1000 grain weight were recorded on five random plants per plot. One thousand grain weight was obtained by multiplying the weight of 200 grains. The weight of 200 grains was estimated from two random samples per plot and the samples were drawn after threshing the whole plot. Number of fingers and number of productive tillers were recorded on per head and per plant basis, respectively, on five randomly chosen plants per plot. Two finger millet accessions failed to establish, therefore a randomized block design was employed to analyse each site separately using analysis of varidnce (Steel and Torrie, 1980). All data were subjected to analysis of co- variance using the SAS programme (SAS Institute, 1985). Genetic and pheno- typic variances and covariances were computed by equating expected variance and covariance components to the appropriate mean squares and cross products using random models. Variance and covariance components were used to compute genetic and phenotypic correlations and heritability in the broad sense. Correlations were estimated using the standard formula: r,, = COV,, /(v, .v,,)'~! where Cov,, is covariance, and V,  and V, are the respective variances for traits s and y. Heritability estimates in the broad sense were calculated by dividing genetic variances with their respective phenotypic variances. RESULTS Differences between the finger millet accessions were significant for grain yield, finger length, number of fingers, finger width, 1000 grain weight and threshing percentage at both locations (Table I). Differences between accessions +n flnul~rinp and plant height which weR recorded only at Aisleby. Significant variation between accessions in number of productive tillers and finger yield were observed only at Aisleby. Pooled analysis of data over locations could not be conducted as error mean squares were heterogeneous for all the traits except finger length, number of fingers and number of productive tillers. Means over accessions, ranges between accessions and heritability estimates in the broad sense for the ten traits are presented in Table 2. At both locations, a similar trend in variation was observed for most of the traits except for finger length, finger yield and grain yield. The accessions showing early flowering were SDFM 284, 1603, 301, 323 and 1638, those showing long fingers were SDFM 1702, 1596, 360, 332 and 1 166, while accessions with wider fingers were SDFM 305, 288, 1634, 1577 and 291. High number of fingers per head were observed in accessions SDFM 1568,247, 1656, 1680 and 166 1, and high number of productive tillers per plant were recorded in accessions SDFM 219, 1662, 1 1 18, 26 1 and 306. The accessions with large seed size ( i . ~ .  high 1000 grain weight) were SDFM 333, 1596, 270, 232 and 1665. Several accessions, namely, SDFM 170 1, 1677,1559, 1636 and 263, had over 70 per cent threshing. Heritability was highest for number of days to flowering (0.60), moderate for finger length, threshing percentage and 1000 grain weight (0.21 to 0.46) and low for the rest of the traits. TABLE I .  - ACCESSION MEAN SQLIARES, F VALUES AND COEFFICIENT OF VARIATION FOR TEN TRAITS IN FINGER MILLET AT AISLEBY IN IYX8/89 AND HENDERSON IN 1980/90 Trait Aisleby Henderson Mean F value CV (96) Mean F value CV (%I )  square sq uare Number of days to flowering Plant height (cm) Finger length (cm) Finger width (mm) Number of tingers Number of productive tillers Finger yield (t/ha) Grain yield (tha) Grain weight (g11000 grains) Threshing (%) MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS IN FINGER MILLET GERMPLASM GROWN AT AISLEBY ( A )  AND HENDERSON (H) DURING 1988189 AND 1989190 RAINY SEASONS, RESPECTIVELY Trait Location Mean f S.E. Number of days to flowering A 92.44 f 3.815 Plant height (cm) A 109.62 f 7.080 Finger length (cm) A 5.70 + 0.827 H 6.08 f 0.781 Finger width (mm) A 8.87 +_ 0.791 H 9.20 f 0.899 Number of fingers A 8.65 t 1.010 H 8.02 f 1.091 Number of productive tillers A 10.98 + 2.426 H 10.92 f 2.383 Finger yield (t/ha) A 4.84 + 0.655 H 1.86 t 0.360 Grain yield (t/ha) A 2.99 f 0.466 H 1.16 f 0.237 Threshing (%) A 61.5 1 t 4.000 H 62.13 f 4.892 Grain weight (g11000 grains) A 2.35 f 0.157 H 2.45 f 0.188 Range Heritability At both locations, the genetic correlations were generally higher than the corresponding phenotypic correlations. Genetic and phenotypic correlations at both locations were significant and positive (0.89 to 0.94) between grain yield and finger yield (Table 3). Grain yield showed significant and positive correlation with threshing percentage and significant and negative correlation with number of days to flowering. High genetic and phenotypic correlations were found for finger length with finger width, finger width with 1000 grain weight, and 1000 grain weight with threshing percentage (Table 3). 62 Zinthuhnv J .  u,ql.ic.. Rrs. 30 (1) ( I  992) Trails correlated" Aisleby Henderson Genetic Phenotypic Genetic Phenotypic correlation correlation correlation correlation DFL PHT FL FN Tiller FYD GYD PW GWT PHT FL FN Tiller FYD GYD FW GWT Threh FL FN 'Tiller FYD GYD FW G WT Thres FN Tiller FYD GYD FW CWT Thrrs Tiller FYD GYD FW CWT Threh FYD CYD FW GWT Thres GYD FW G WT Thrch FW GWT Thrrs GWT Thres Thres --0.17** 0.00 4.0 I 0.05 -0.05 -0. IS*"' 0. I I 41.06 -0.26"" 0.2 1 "" -0.12': 0.02 4.03 0.00 0.06 0.08 0.M 0.00 41.04 0.03 41,OI () 1 8:): d: 0.24"": 4 ) .  I0 -0.07 0.05 0.02 -0.06 41.06 -0.05 O.(h 0.07 O.o() -0.02 0.04 O.YO*"" 0. I0 0.02 0. 14::; 0.00 0.OX ().+j2'"1' (1.2 1 :l::k 0.0 I O.I3#' ': P < 0.05: :I::', t' < OJII .' UFL. = Nulnhcl. oftlily\ to Ilowcri~lp: PIIT = PI;IIII Il~iph(: 13. = F~II~CI. ICI I~ I~:  FN = Nun1h.r of lingcn: l'illcr = N U I I I ~ ~  of ~~wluctivc lillcru: FYD = Filigcr yicltl: GYU = (;r;li~i yicltl: FW = Fingcr witllh: (iWT = IIWW) gclill wciph~: l'hlvh = Ikrcuhing ~x.lcclllilgc. Zinrhnhu,~ .I. trgric.. Rcs. 30 ( I )  ( I  992) Most of the other phenotypic correlations were non-significant especially at Henderson. Significant and positive phenotypic correlations were observed for number of days to flowering with finger width, plant height with finger length, finger length with 1000 grain weight, and finger yield with threshing percentage. Significant and negative phenotypic correlations were observed for number of days to flowering with plant height and threshing percentage, and for plant height with number of fingers per head (Table 3). Number of days to flowering was significantly and positively correlated genetically with finger width and finger length, and negatively correlated genetically with threshing percentage, plant height, number of productive tillers and 1000 grain weight. Plant height showed significant and positive genetic correlation with finger length and threshing percentage, and significant negative genetic correlation with number of fingers per head. At both locations, a significant positive genetic correlation was observed between finger length and 1000 grain weight, finger yield and threshing percentage, and between grain yield and 1000 grain weight. Significant and negative genetic correlations were observed for finger length with number of productive tillers, number of fingers with number of productive tillers and for threshing percentage and number of productive tillers with finger width and 1000 grain weight. Some genetic correlations at Aisleby were not in agreement with the corresponding estimates at Henderson. Thus number of productive tillers was positively correlated genetically with grain yield at Aisleby and negatively correlated at Henderson (Table 3). Furthermore, genetic correlations between most traits were higher at Aisleby than corresponding estimates at Henderson. DISCUSSION The finger millet accessions included in this study represent different geographical areas of Zimbabwe. The differences among these accessions were significant for grain yield and component traits of yield. As large variation exists for many useful traits, a systematic selection between accessions for grain yield and other traits will be useful. Based on mean performance over the two locations, few finger millet accessions were selected for each trait. These accessions can be utilized for further selection and in crossing programmes. Kempanna and Thirunialachar (1968) and Goud and Lakshmi (1977) found significant variation for grain yield and number of tillers per plant. Joshi and Mehra (1989) reported significant variation for days to heading, plant height, finger length, number of fingers and grain yield but observed no significant differences for number of effective tillers. In the present study, the differences between accessions for number of productive tillers and finger yield were significant only at Aisleby. Apparently, these traits are more influenced by 64 Zinrh t rh~~c  . I .  rrgric.. Kes. 30 (1)  (1992) environment than the other traits studied. Therefore, further research is necessary involving bigger plot sizes and several plants per plot for estimating finger yield and number of productive tillers. Certain component or indicator characters which were highly heritable and strongly associated with yield might serve as guides for making selection. In the present study, several traits contributing to grain yield were moderately heritable and the differences between accessions were significant. Early flowering was highly heritable and accessions could be selected for this trait. Three traits, namely, finger length, threshing percentage and 1000 grain weight, were moderately heritable. Kempanna and Thirumalachar (1968) and Joshi and Mehra (1989) reported grain yield as a highly heritable trait and this is probably because their studies were based on a few selected varieties. Finger length was moderately heritable, which is in conformity with the findings of Patnaik (1968) and Joshi and Mehra (1989). Joshi and Mehra (1989) reported high estimates of heritability for number of days to heading which is in agreement with our findings on number of days to flowering. Joshi and Mehra (1989) also observed moderate heritabilities for plant height and number of fingers per head which were low in the present study. Our findings on heritabilities of number of productive tillers and number of fingers are in agreement with Patnaik ( 1  968). The heritability estimates for different traits were consistently higher at Aisleby than at Henderson. This is mainly because of higher F values or less environmental variation at Aisleby compared to Henderson. This suggests that selection at Aisleby will be more effective than at Henderson. Most of the phenotypic and genetic correlations between traits observed at Aisleby were supported by the findings at Henderson. Grain yield can be increased by selecting for high threshing percentage, large seed size and early flowering. In addition to these traits, finger yield was the most important trait contributing to grain yield (r' = 0.79 to 0.88) at both locations. Since there were no significant differences between accessions for this trait at Henderson, the results should be considered with caution. Most of the late flowering accessions had poor seed setting resulting in poor threshing percentage and low grain yield. Late flowering accessions should not be used in the breeding programme unless they have some useful traits which can be transferred into early maturing accessions. M'Shonga (1974) reported highly significant and positive correlations for grain yield with threshing percentage, grain weight per head and number of seeds per head. Shanthakumar (1988) indicated that grain yield per plant was positively correlated with number of productive tillers per plant, number of fingers per ear and ear weight per plant. A positive correlation between grain yield and seed size was reported by Prabhakar and Prasad (1983) and is in .... vul 1111ulngs. The correlation between grain yield and number of days to heading was reported to be positive (Patnaik, 1968) and negative (Chaudhari and Acharya, 1969). The differences may be due to the use of different types of material in the two studies. Finger length was positively correlated with finger width at both locations. This suggests that genetic improvement can be achieved simultaneously for both traits. Most of  the early flowering lines were of tall stature as indicated by the negative correlation between the two traits. This is a desirable combination: tall plants should be easier to harvest and early flowering lines are likely to produce more grain as indicated by the negative correlation between number of days to flowering and grain yield. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful to Miss R. Mokwena and Mr 0. Mhere for their assistance and to Dr L. R. House for suggestions in the preparation of this paper. REFERENCES CFIAIII)HARI. L. B and ACHAKYA, R.  C. 1969. Genetic variability and path coefficient analysis of components of ragi (Elt~lrsi~ic c,or.trc,t~ritr). E\.l~o.inic~rit~rI Agr~ic~u1rur.a 5 :  295-300. Fool) A N D  AGKlCLlLTURE ~ K G A N ~ S A T I O N  F UNITED NATIONS. 1990. Structure and characteristics ot'the wul.ld millet economy. CCP:GR 9014, July 1990. FAO, Rome. (;01~D. J .  V. and LAKSHMI. P. V. 1977. Morphological and genetical variabilities for quantitative characters in riigi (Elclrsiric~ t.or.trc.trriu Gaertn. ). M y s o r . ~  .lournu1 c!f'A~qr.i~.ultur.ul Se.ipnc.rs I I :  43x443. IBPGR/ICRISAT. 1985. Descriptors for Finger Millet. IBPGR Secretariat, FAO, Rome. Italy: 1-20. JOSHI. H. C. and MEHRA. H.  S .  19x9. Investigations of v;iriution. heritability. and genetic advances i n  ragi germplasm from U.P. Hills. In: Pr.oc,c,crlings c)f 'c l  Nutio~iul Stvninur. 0 1 1  F i a ~ r r .  M i l l ~ t  Crneric..~ L I I I L ~  S / . e ~ c l i n ~  ill Ineli~r, A. Seethararn and B. T. Shanknre Gowda (cd.). Indian Council of Agricullurnl Research, UAS. Bangalore. India. pp. 73-75. KEMI'HANNA, C. and THIRLIMALACHAR. D. K. 1968. 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Thesis abstract. My.sor.o . I o l i ~ . n ~ I  (!f'A~i.i(.liltltr.ul S(.I't>11t.tl.s 23: 1 17. SHCIMHA, E. M. 1984. A new look a1 small grain cere~tls as persistent droughts hit the communal Iiuids. %inrhtrhw*t, A,qr~ic~lrltlr~~trl .lo ir.rltrl 81: 169- 17 1 . STEEL. R. G. D. and TOKKIE. J .  H. 1980. Pr.inc~il)lcs unrl Pl.oc~c~tltrr~~s of'Stcrtisric.s 2nd ed. McGraw- Hill B(wk Co. Ncw York. 663pp. 

Variability, heritability and correlations among morphological traits in finger millet (eleusine coracana (l.) Gaertn.)

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Variability, heritability and correlations among morphological traits in finger millet (eleusine coracana (l.) Gaertn.)

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