Evaluation of Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance for Fodder Yield and Associated Traits in Maize (Zea mays L.) and Teosinte Germplasm

Maize (Zea mays L.) serves as a crucial fodder crop, as it produces substantial biomass which is palatable and rich in nutrient content. The research focused on evaluation of genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance for fodder yield and related traits in 23 maize genotypes and five teosinte accessions grown at Norman E. Borlaug Crop Research Centre of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, during Kharif 2024 in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed the significant differences among all genotypes for all the traits indicating considerable genetic diversity. The study revealed that the green leaf weight (GLW), dry stem weight (DSW), green stem weight (GSW), green fodder yield (GFY) and dry fodder yield (DFY) showed high phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variance (PCV and GCV) which indicated that these traits contained high variability and can be selected for enhancing fodder yield. The broad sense heritability was observed high for days to 50% tassel emergence (DTE), days to 50% anthesis, days to 50% silking, plant height (PH), green fodder yield (GFY), leaf number (LN), leaf area (LA), stem girth (SG) and leaf length (LL). The traits like green leaf weight (GLW), dry stem weight (DSW), and green fodder yield (GFY) exhibited both high heritability and high genetic advance as a percentage of mean suggested the predominance of additive gene action and may be used directly for selection for high fodder biomass production. The study demonstrates that the evaluated maize and teosinte accessions possess significant genetic potential to enhance fodder yield and its component traits for developing high yielding fodder maize hybrids using specific breeding methods.