0 Views
PRANUSHA*, V. RAJA RAJESWARI, H. S. TALWAR, P. LATHA AND K. N. GANAPATHY
Department of Crop Physiology, S.V. Agricultural College, ANGRAU, Tirupati– 517502.
Field experiment was laid out in randomized block design, replicated thrice under rainout shelter during kharif, 2015 and kharif 2016 at Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR), Hyderabad. The moisture stress was imposed from panicle initiation to grain filling stage.Growth and physiological traits viz., leaf area, total dry matter ,harvest index and grain yield significantly reduced under imposed moisture stress conditions compared to irrigated control. Among the thirty genotypes,imposed for moisture stress GE-1034,GE-639, GE-1034 and GE-224 recorded significantly higher physiological efficiency in terms of leaf area, total plant drymatter along with higher HI and yield. It denotes their efficiency in performing under drought condition.
Finger millet, moisture stress, genotypes, physiological Efficiency, harvest Index, yield
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana G.) is the third most important millet crop of India. It is also an important food crop in South Asia and Africa. Its wide adaptability to diverse environments and cultural conditions makes it a potential food crop. Finger millet grains contain 65-75 per cent carbohydrates, 5-8 per cent protein, 15 -20 per cent dietary fibres and 2.5-3.5 per cent minerals (Chetan and Malleshi, 2007). Finger millet is predominantly grown under rainfed conditions, where intermittent moisture stress is a common feature and drought is a major constraint for productivity. Stress during reproductive phase of finger millet is more important and decreases the grain yield to the extent of 18.9 percent and also the yield attributes. Hence, there is a need for identification of tolerant genotypes in finger millet to withstand under moisture stress condition.
The present study was aimed at evaluating the relative performance of thirty finger millet genotypes for morphological, physiological characters, drought tolerant traits, yield and its attributes and grain quality parameters. These genotypes were evaluated in a field experiment, laid out in randomized block design, replicated thrice thrice in kharif 2015 and 2016 at Indian Institute of Millet Re- search (IIMR), Hyderabad. Prophylactic measures were
During crop growth period the moisture stress was imposed from panicle initiation to grain filling period under rainout shelter. Data on leaf area (cm2 plant), total dry weight (g plant-1),grain yield (Kgha_1) and harvest index (%) were recorded at harvest in both moisture stress and irrigated (Control) treatments. The data were statistically analyzed and described by Panse and Sukhatme (1985).
The physiological characters used for evaluating finger millet genotypes under imposed moisture stress conditionsviz., leaf area, total dry matter significantly varied between moisture stress treatments and genotypes at harvest during kharif, 2015 (Table1) as well as kharif, 2016 (Table 2). The finger millet genotypes differed in their response to moisture stress and irrigated treatments in terms of physiological and yield traits.
Among the genotypes, GE-1034, GE-224, GE-639 and GE-1013 recorded significantly higher leaf area and higher dry matter under moisture stress as well as irri- gated conditions in both seasons of testing. The geno- types GE-5112, GE-156 and GE-4004 recorded lowest values. Dry matter accumulation and distribution is an important factor indicating partitioning efficiency of a genotype. In general, soil moisture determines the accumulation of dry matter in different plant parts. Similar results were also reported by Muhammod Maqsood and Azam Ali (2007) and Venkatesh Babu et al., (2014) in finger millet.
The green leaf area which is primary plant organ for higher photosynthetic capacity of a genotype was affected in moisture stress treatments compared to irrigated control. The genotypes, GE-224, GE-1034, GE- 1013 and GE-639 which maintained higher leaf area also maintained higher dry matter under both moisture stress and irrigated conditions. It denotes that drought tolerant capability of these genotypes as they maintained higher physiological activity in terms of higher green leaf area, thus higher total plant dry weight
Grain yields and harvest Index were also significantly reduced due to moisture stress compared to control. The genotypic differences and their interaction effects were also showed significant. GE-1034, GE-639, GE-224 and GE-1013 recorded higher grain yield and harvest index both under irrigated and imposed moisture stress conditions. The higher harvest index of these genotypes represents an increased physiological capacity to mobilize photosynthates and translocate them efficiently to organs of economic value, i.e. grain yield as opined by Wallace et al.,(1972).
Among the genotypes, GE-1034, GE-224, GE-639 were superior in terms of higher leaf area, total drymatter, grain yield and harvest index under moisture stress as well as irrigated conditions. The superior genotypes identified for drought tolerance in the present study may be used as a donor source for development of drought tolerant finger millet genotypes through conventional or molecular breeding and development of mapping populations for drought tolerance and crop improvement programmes.
Muhammad, M and Azam Ali, S.N. 2007. Effects of environmental stress on growth, Radiation use efficiency and yield of finger millet (Eleucine coracana L). Pakistan Journal of Botany. 39(2): 463-474.
Panse, V.G and Sukhatme, P.V. 1985. Statistical Method
for Agricultural workers. ICAR, New Delhi.
VenkateshBabu, D., SharathKumar Reddy, Y and Sudhakar, P. 2014. Evaluation of Physiological efficiency and yield potential of Ragi Genotypes under imposed stress conditions. The Bioscan. 9(2): 1-4.
Wallace, J.R., Ozbum, J.L and Munger, H.M. 1972. Physiological genetics of crop yields. Advances in Agronomy. 24: 97-146.