Genetic Variability and Correlation Studies in Advance Families of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L)

Genetic variability is a major component which helps in selecting better genotypes under different environmental conditions. Thus, this study was conducted to understand the genetic variability and its components and their trait associations of yield characters from the cross of GKVK-13 and KCG-2 that contribute to the F6 and F7 families. In an augmented block design with three checks, TMV-2, KCG-6, and KCG-2, the study was carried out at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, in the 2017 summer and Kharif (rainy seasons). Highly significant differences between the families were found in the analysis of variance for all the characters studied in the F6 and F7 generations, indicating that there is enough variation. Furthermore, medium to high Phenotypic coefficient of variation and Genotypic coefficient of variation values coupled with high heritability and medium to high genetic advance as per cent mean observed in most of the traits showed that the majority of the attributes were controlled by additive gene activity and that there was adequate variability. In addition, phenotypic correlation coefficients depicted significant positive associations for most of the traits studied. The implications of the results are discussed. The study concludes that there was the presence of additive genes controlling most of the traits and early selection of these traits is possible for groundnut improvement in the breeding programme.