Year: 2026 | Month: June | Volume 13 | Issue 1
Assessment of Trait Associations and Genetic Diversity in Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana L.) Germplasm
K. Jyotheermayee Sree Satyavalli1
N. Anuradha2*
Lal Ahmed
M.1 and T.S.S.K. Patro2
DOI:10.30954/2347-9655.01.2026.4
Abstract :
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) is a climate-resilient and nutritionally rich cereal crop with immense potential for ensuring food and nutritional security. The present study was conducted to evaluate the relationships among 13 quantitative traits using Pearson’s correlation analysis and to assess the genetic diversity of 100 finger millet genotypes through principal component analysis (PCA). Correlation analysis revealed that grain yield per plant exhibited significant positive associations with ear length, finger length, number of fingers per ear, leaf length, finger width, and fodder yield per plant indicating their importance as selection criteria for yield improvement. PCA identified five principal components with eigenvalues greater than one, collectively accounting for 72.88% of the total phenotypic variation. The first principal component alone explained 24.18% of the variability and was mainly influenced by ear length, finger length, grain yield, fodder yield, and leaf length. The PCA biplot showed considerable overlap among genotypes from different geographical regions, suggesting that genetic diversity was independent of geographical origin. The identified variability and key yield-contributing traits provide valuable information for selecting diverse parental lines and developing high-yielding, climate-resilient finger millet cultivars through efficient breeding programmes.
Highlights
- Evaluation of 100 finger millet genotypes revealed substantial phenotypic variability for 13 quantitative traits.
- Finger length, ear length, number of fingers per ear, leaf length, and finger width were identified as key traits associated with grain yield.
- PCA biplot revealed no distinct clustering based on geographical origin, emphasizing the importance of selecting parents based on genetic divergence rather than collection site.
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