Screening of guar accessions [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] for higher yield potential under irrigated conditions

Abstract

Twelve quantitative traits such as germination percentage, days to 50% flowering, plant height, branches plant -1 , clusters plant -1 , pod length, days to maturity, 1000-seed weight and grain yield plot -1 were studied to determinate ample variation and association between 100 Guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub , seeds pod -1 and pod length. However, branches plant -1 and days to maturity were significant but negatively correlated with grain yield plot -1 . Principal component analysis indicated the quantity of variation by principal components 1 to 4 viz., 38.9, 14.7, 10.6 and 8.3%, respectively. Cluster analysis based on different quantitative traits arranged 100 guar accessions into eight groups. Ward clustering method was used to construct dendrogram based on quantitative traits of genotypes. Genotypes having desirable plant traits like early maturity and higher yield potential were screened for guar variety development under irrigated conditions.

Guar resilience in water‐restricted production

“…Seed weight adjustment as a response to water deficit is a compensatory mechanism that has not been fully explored in guar. Majority of related reports indicate number of pods per plant as a yield component that is typically affected by water stress in guar (Avola et al., 2020; Khalid et al., 2017; Stafford & McMichael, 1991). To our knowledge, this study is the first to report on the observed tradeoff between pod production and seed weight for guar under water‐limited conditions.…”