Genetic Variability of Some Physiological Traits, Yield Components and Grain Quality Characters in Rice Entries

Abstract

An experiment was performed to evaluate the variability parameters of the quantitative features in fifteen rice genotypes planted during the growing seasons of 2020 and 2021. These genotypes were grown in three replications with a randomized complete block design. For all of the studied characters, analysis of variance revealed that variations between the genotypes were highly significant. Among the studied phenotypic and genotypic parameters, the number of filled grains/panicles showed the highest variations, while grain width had the lowest value in this respect. The highest genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) was found for grain yield while hulling rice % had the lowest GCV. In yields, the genotypic and phenotypic coefficients were the highest, clarifying the action of additive genes in commanding these traits. Most of the studied traits had a high heritability. The highest genetic advance value (98.06) was determined for the number of filled grains/panicles, while total chlorophyll content had the lowest value (0.11). Five principal components with eigenvalues above 1 were identified using principal component analysis. The first and second principal components were responsible for about 30.34 and 15.24 of the total variation, respectively, indicating that these traits played a larger role in the overall clustering distinction of the populations. Rice enhancement programs can be more successful if selection efforts are focused on these characteristics. Cluster analyses of the fifteen genotypes have grouped the genotypes into five clusters based on the data taken. Genotypes found in Cluster II had the highest thousand-grain weights, grain yield and head rice, and they could be recommended for breeding due to these favourable parameters of height, yield and head rice percentage.