Multi-environment evaluation of finger millet genotypes for agronomic traits, yield stability and adaptability for summer cultivation

Identification and advancement of high yielding and early maturing finger millet genotypes for summer season is essential for crop diversification in the Indo-Gangetic flood plains to enhance food security and production efficiency. The current experiment studied 145 finger millet genotypes under six contrasting environments namely: E2, E4, and E6 (summer) and E1, E3, and E5 (rainy) in three consecutive years (2021–2024) to identify parents suitable for the development of specific varieties and superior genotypes for summer cultivation. An integrated analytical framework combining AMMI, GGE biplot, BLUP, WAAS and MTSI were employed to reveal greater insights. REML/BLUP analysis was employed to enhance the reliability of selection, which revealed that genotypic variance accounted for a larger proportion of the phenotypic variance (49.5%) than genotype × environment interaction variance (24.3%), coupled with moderate broad-sense heritability (0.49) and high selection accuracy (0.95). AMMI found C3, C2, C1, G120 and G11 to take the top high yielding genotypes and G111, G12, G7, G65 and G81 were the most stable. GGE mean vs. stability biplot indicated G120, G80 and G29 as broadly adapted and high-yielding, G120 topped as the best performer and G52 and G68 summer-specific adaptors (E2 and E4). BLUP predicted results with re-affirmation of G120, G29 and G80 as the good performers. C3, C2, C1, G120, G29, G28 and G85 were grouped by the WAAS index as ideal (high yield and stable). Multi-Trait Stability Index (MTSI) also identified eighteen genotypes that could be improved simultaneously for multiple traits. Overall, the elite genotypes (G120, G80, G29 and the check varieties C1, C2, and C3) are useful as parents for breeding climate resilient finger millet varieties adapted to summer climatic conditions in the Gangetic plains of India.