Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding (The)
SCOPUSWeb of Science
  • Year: 2026
  • Volume: 85
  • Issue: 4Supplementary

Assessment of genetic diversity and population structure of barnyard millet [Echinochloa frumentacea (Roxb.) Link.] genotypes for yield and quality traits

  • Author:
  • Aditi Singh$, Subhash C. Kashyap2*, Gyanendra Kumar Rai1, Bupesh Kumar2, Radheshyam Kumawat&
  • Total Page Count: 7
  • Page Number: 806 to 812

1Institute of Biotechnology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Jammu, Chatha180 009, Jammu (J & K), India

2Division of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Jammu, Chatha180 009, Jammu (J & K), India

$Present address: Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Modipuram250 110, Uttar Pradesh, India

&Present address: College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University, (Imphal), Umiam, Meghalaya793 103, India

*Corresponding Author: Subhash C. Kashyap, Division of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Jammu, Chatha180 009, Jammu (J & K), India, E-mail: sck2412@gmail.com

Abstract

Barnyard millet is an important minor millet crop that is valued for its superior nutritional qualities and short duration. The studies on genetic diversity aimed at exploring diversity within genotypes through morphological, molecular, and nutritional profiles (Fe and Zn) were undertaken to assess significant variation among 30 barnyard millet genotypes. The genotypes were categorized for qualitative and quantitative traits based on the Shannon diversity index and D2 analysis, respectively. Thirty genotypes were grouped into four clusters, wherein Cluster I and Cluster IV comprised 19 and 9 genotypes, respectively; Cluster II and Cluster III each had a single genotype only. The genetic diversity analysis using 14 SSR markers on 12 genotypes of barnyard millet showed polymorphism. The highest number of alleles per locus was generated by BMESSR 16, BMESSR 19, and BMESSR 28. The higher PIC value (0.63) was found to be of the BMESSR 19 marker. The cluster analysis for both molecular and morphological analyses grouped the genotypes into two clusters. The first Cluster comprised 20 genotypes, and the other comprised 10 from the Jammu region, suggesting the presence of diversity among the genotypes. All the genotypes were stratified into 2 groups (K=2) in population structure analysis. The results of micronutrient content analysis showed the highest amount of iron content in IEC-217 (26.24 mg/100g) and the highest zinc content in BAR 1012 (6.35 mg/100g). The study highlighted the presence of genetic diversity in diverse barnyard millet genotypes for conservation and further use in crop improvement.

Keywords

Barnyard, millet, SSRs, D2, micronutrient, diversity