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Not AvailableMicronutrient malnutrition resulting from the dietary deficiency of important minerals such as Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu) and Manganese (Mn) in the staple food crops like pearl millet leads to ubiquitous food-related health problems. In context to this present investigation was undertaken to study the phenotypic diversity among 48 maintainer (B) and restorer lines (R) of pearl millet genotypes for grain micronutrients concentration, yield and agro-morphological traits using multivariate approach. Higher range, large value of Shannon-weaver Diversity Index for both traits and genotypes and large differences in mean values for most of the characters showed that sufficient diversity existed among the genotypes and traits. Cluster analysis using unweighted pair group method of arithmetic averages (UPGMA) grouped the genotypes into five clusters with varied number which suggested the clear differentiation among B and R lines with some exceptions. Clustering of pearl millet genotypes from different geographical locations or source/origin into same cluster has confirmed that they are genetically related, and possibly from the same progenitor, but could have been separated by geographical or ecological barrier. The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that most of the variation (68.83%) was accounted by first four PCA and genotypes from maintainer were clustered into left side of the biplot graph while the lines from the restorer category were distributed throughout the PCA biplot graph. Average Diversity Index of 1.883 and 3.792 for genotypes and traits respectively, further validated that the genotypes were more diverse among themselves and for all the traits studied. Association studies revealed significant positive correlation of grain Fe content with the grain Zn and Cu content; grain yield per plant with the plant height, panicle weight and dry fodder yield per plant; panicle weight with plant height, panicle length and dry fodder yield; panicle length with plant height and dry fodder yield per plant and dry fodder yield per plant with plant height. It indicated the likely effectiveness of simultaneous improvement of all these characters along with grain micronutrients in pearl millet. Grain yield per plant showed non-significant positive or negative correlation with grain micronutrients concentration thus suggesting improvement in nutrient content without compromising yield. The significant negative association between the grain yield and panicle weight with days to flowering has the great advantages in pearl millet cultivation as crop can fit into multiple cropping system in arid and semi-arid environments.Not Availabl

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Not AvailablePresent study was undertaken among 48 diverse pearl millet genotypes in 2 replications in randomized complete block design (RCBD) for genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance as per cent of mean along with path analysis of grain micronutrients concentration, yield and its component traits. The analysis of variance showed highly significant differences among the genotypes for most of the characters studied, indicating the presence of adequate variability. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was higher than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) signifying influence of environment on the expression of all the characters studied. Moderate to high PCV and GCV were recorded for most of the characters. High to moderate heritability coupled with moderate to high genetic advance as per cent of mean were observed for the plant height, panicle length, panicle girth, panicle weight, grain yield per plant, grain iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) content revealed the characters are predominantly governed by additive gene action and phenotypic selection for these characters will be effective. Characters like dry fodder yield per plant, panicle weight, plant height and panicle length were shown high positive direct effect on grain yield per plant can be directly used for improvement of pearl millet.Not Availabl