Evaluation of Half-sib Progeny of Grewia optiva Drummond under Nursery Conditions

Significant variability was observed for different years and between selected populations for all seedling growth characteristics in two-year-old half-sib progenies of Grewia optiva. Phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) found higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the characters. GCV and PCV values were observed at their maximum for the number of branches (GCV: 20.97% and PCV: 24.06%) and branch angle (GCV: 22.30% and 24.92%). The highest heritability was recorded for leaf area, i.e., 91.22, and highest genetic advance (64.20) for seedling height and highest genetic advance as a percent of mean (41.12%) were observed for branch angle. The root/shoot ration had the lowest values of heritability, genetic advance, and genetic advance as a percentage of mean. The principal components (PCI-PCIII) cumulatively accounted for 71.07 per cent of the total variation. PCA I explained 44.43% of the total variance. The genetic divergence divided thirty-five populations into two major clusters. The maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between population Dharkyari (SI-5) and population Gangal (MA-2).