Breeding for quality characters in Panicum maximum Jacq.

Abstract

Panicum maximum is noted for its good protein content (4 to 15%), in vitro dry matter digestibility (41 to 72%) and high yield (62.2 q/ha dry matter). A recent collection of germplasm from Southern and North Eastern parts of India at IGFRI, Jhansi, exhibited that this diversity is fixed in these apomictic lines. The present study deals with extent of diversity for quality characters and their association with morphologial characters among the representative lines of these groups. Forty nine germplasm lines of Panicum maximum were grown in two replications of single row of eight tussocks each at a distance of one meter between rows and 75 cm between tussocks. Observations were recorded on all the lines for five plant characters but crude protein content, ADF% and NDF% were determined following standard methods. Correlation coefficients among seven characters were determined by the standard statistical procedure.