Estimation of Genetic Variability in Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) Germplasm for Morphological and Quality Traits

Crop improvement relies heavily on the genetic variability present within the gene pool. Understanding the nature and extent of genetic variations within germplasm is essential for breeders to design effective breeding programs. The present investigation comprised of 35 germplasm lines of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) conducted in a RCBD with three replications at ARSSSS, SKUAST-K, Pampore. Observations were recorded on morphological, yield, and quality traits for the assessment of genetic variability and other parameters. The findings revealed significant differences among germplasm lines, indicating substantial variability across all traits. Phenotypic coefficient of variation consistently exceeded the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all characters, with stigma length exhibiting the highest PCV (25.24%) and GCV (24.08%), while the number of days taken to first flush demonstrated the lowest PCV (1.84%) and GCV (1.66%). The study reported high broad-sense heritability for all traits, ranging from 75.1% for corm diameter to 99.2% for the number of leaves. Notably, safranal content, stigma length, and fresh weight of pistil displayed the highest heritability and genetic advance over mean. Correlation analysis revealed significant associations, with dry weight of stigma exhibiting positive correlations with various traits, including pistil length, stigma length, and safranal content, while displaying negative correlations with outer tepal width, inner tepal width, and number of leaves per corm/plant. Path coefficient analyses underscored the importance of traits such as pistil length, fresh weight of pistil, stigma length, and style length and the UPGMA clustering method categorized saffron genotypes into five clusters. The study reports the morphological characterization and genetic variability of diverse saffron genotypes, which could be used for future saffron breeding programs especially clonal selection from the available germplasm resources is of prime importance.