Dissecting genotype × environment interaction in advanced varietal lines of finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.)) evaluated for seed and fodder yield across twenty environments

Abstract

The identification of superior and stable genotypes in any crop for commercial cultivation in farmers’ fields is constrained majorly by the existence of genotype × environment interaction (GEI). The current study aimed to assess the patterns of GEI governing seed and fodder yield, identify stable and high seed and fodder yielding genotypes, besides deciphering the correlation among the them in finger millet genotypes evaluated across twenty environments (ten locations-two years combination) in India. The results revealed that the variance due to genotype, environment and GEI were highly significant (P < 0.001) for seed and fodder yield. The AMMI8 model was adequate to explain the detected variation of seed and fodder yield attributable to GEI. For obvious reasons, the check GPU 67 exhibited relatively higher mean seed and fodder yield and also showed excellent stability across all the environments based on AMMI- and BLUP-model indices. In this study, the seed and fodder yielding ability of the genotypes VR1101 and WN559 was comparable to the checks and had broad adaptation across the test environments. The most representative and discriminative environments for seed and fodder yield were E1 and E9. Seed and fodder yield revealed highly significant positive correlations indicating the possibility of effective selection for these two traits simultaneously. The identified stable and high seed and fodder yielding genotypes VR1101 and WN559 are not just worthy genetic resources, and can be recommended for commercial cultivation after further yield trials. Consequently, the genotype VR1101 is approved for commercial cultivation across South Indian states.