The Correlation between Green Fodder Yield and Fodder Quality Traits in Hybrids of Pearl Millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.]

Abstract

Pearl millet is an ideal fodder crop having highly shiny, lush, palatable, nutrient- dense, excellent silage and biomass production potential and bestowed with various essential nutrients required for the livestock. The study material consists of 54 fodder pearl millet hybrids obtained through the hybridisation between 15 selected superior parents from ICRISAT gene-pool as well as gene pool of Department of Forage Crops, TNAU, Coimbatore. For the better understanding of the relationship between green fodder yield per plant, its contributing traits and various quality traits, genetic parameters such as genotypic and phenotypic correlation as well as path coefficients were analysed. Correlation studies revealed that out of all the seventeen biometric traits studied, all the traits are shown positive correlation with green fodder yield per plant whereas fifteen traits are found to have significant positive correlation with green fodder yield per plant. Ash content (rg =0.855), dry fodder yield per plant (rg =0.850), leaf-stem ratio (rg =0.710) have shown very strong significant positive correlation and plant height (rg =0.641), days to green fodder harvest  (rg =0.630), stem girth (rg =0.616) and days to fifty per cent flowering (rg =0.606) have recorded with moderately strong significant positive correlation with green fodder yield per plant. Number of tillers per plant (0.859), internode length (0.574), ash content (0.421) and dry fodder yield per plant (0.372) revealed highly positive direct effects with green fodder yield per plant. Hence, selection for traits exhibiting positive association and direct effects for green fodder yield would help the breeder to enhance it further.