Eco-geographic survey, In-situ characterization and spatial analysis of phenotypic traits diversity among the maize landraces collected from Chhattisgarh

Exploration and germplasm collection expedition undertaken in the three districts of Chhattisgarh state in the present study resulted in the collection of 43 diverse local maize genotypes. The collected accessions were characterized in-situ on a farmer's field for six ear and seed-specific quantitative characters and the recorded data was analyzed for quantification and analysis of the genetic variability among the accessions. Significant variability was recorded in all the studied traits viz. ear length (7.33-26.67 cm), ear girth (8.00-16.33 cm), number of kernel rows per ear (8-18), number of kernels per ear row (12.67-45.33), ear weight (25.45-204.88 g) and 100 kernel weight (9.74-38.66 g). The first three components explained 99.61% of the total variation; the first principal component represented 97.33%. Cluster analysis based on Euclidean distances classified 43 maize genotypes into five clusters with clustering together of 9, 18, 13, 2 and 1 accessions. Geo-referencing analysis of recorded data was done using DIVA-GIS software. The diversity pattern of maize germplasm accessions revealed by the grid maps confirmed the existence of considerable genetic diversity for all the six quantitative traits in the surveyed area also discussed in this study.