Genetic variability analysis for surrogate traits of water use efficiency in F₈ recombinant inbred lines of the cross NRCG12568 X NRCG12326 in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

The present investigation was undertaken to study the variability, heritability and character association for 10 yield and physiological traits related to Water Use Efficiency in groundnut during kharif 2010. NRCG12568 which has low Carbon isotopic Discrimination value and NRCG 12326 has high Carbon isotopic Discrimination value were crossed to develop 194 F₈ recombinant inbred lines (RILs) through single seed descent method. Phenotypic co-efficient of variation (PCV) was higher than genotypic co-efficient of variation (GCV) for all the characters studied indicating the influence of environment on the characters. Pod yield per plant recorded maximum GCV followed by kernel yield per plant, number of pods per plant, sound mature kernel percentage, Specific Leaf Area, number of branches per plant, shelling percentage, plant height, SCMR and days to fifty per cent flowering indicating individual plant selection can be followed for characters having high GCV. A. moderate to high degree of heritability and genetic advance was observed for pod yield per plant, kernel yield per plant, pods per plant, sound mature kernel percentage, plant height, number of branches per plant and SLA indicating involvement of additive gene action in controlling these traits. Low heritability and moderate genetic advance as per cent of mean was observed for SPAD Chlorophyll meter reading (SCMR).