Studies on genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in turmeric [Curcuma longa L.] under low hills of Himachal Pradesh

The present investigation “Studies on genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in turmeric [Curcuma longa L.]” under low hills of Himachal Pradesh was carried out at Vegetable Research Farm, Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Neri, Hamirpur (HP) during summer-rainy season, 2019. Twenty-one genotypes were evaluated in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications to ascertain extent of variability, heritability and genetic advance for yield and other horticultural traits among the genotypes. Analysis of variance showed significant differences among all the genotypes for all the characters under study. Three genotypes namely LC-T-20-18, LC-T-9-18 and LC-T-12-18 were found to be high yielding as well as better from consumer’s point of view. They could be the promising parents for utilization in further breeding programmes. Moderate PCV and GCV were observed for weight of mother rhizome, length of mother rhizome, girth of mother rhizome, number of primary fingers per plant, number of secondary fingers per plant, number of leaves per plant, curcumin content, dry matter content and yield per plot. High heritability estimates were observed for curcumin content, plant height, weight of mother rhizome, leaf length, dry matter content, leaf breadth, length of mother rhizome, number of primary fingers per plant and girth of mother rhizome while, high estimates of genetic gain were observed for weight of mother rhizome, length of mother rhizome, number of primary fingers per plant and girth of mother rhizome.