AbstractFoxtail millet is an important traditional crop among the ethnic tribes of Nagaland and plays a significant role in local food and cultural systems. Micronutrient malnutrition remains a major global challenge, particularly in cereal-based diets of developing countries and nutrient-rich millets such as foxtail millet offer a sustainable solution. Exploiting genetic variability for the simultaneous improvement of yield and micronutrient traits is, therefore, crucial for developing superior genotypes. In the present study, genetic variability, trait associations, and multi-trait performance were evaluated among 30 foxtail millet genotypes. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among genotypes for all traits. Micronutrient traits exhibited high genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation (>20%), while agronomic traits showed moderate to high variability. Most traits showed high heritability (>60%), and high heritability coupled with high genetic advance as a percentage of mean was observed for grain yield per plant, plant height, panicle length, peduncle length, fodder yield, and micronutrients including magnesium, aluminum, potassium, calcium, iron, copper, and zinc. Grain yield per plant exhibited significant positive associations with most yield traits and showed positive correlations with magnesium, aluminum, potassium, calcium, manganese, and copper at the genotypic level, and with potassium and calcium at the phenotypic level. MGIDI analysis identified four genotypes (G27, G22, G3, and G4) as superior ideotypes, while factor analysis revealed six factors explaining 75.23% of the total variation. These results highlight substantial genetic variability and favorable trait associations, demonstrating strong potential for the simultaneous improvement of yield and micronutrient content in foxtail millet through targeted breeding strategies.
Rao et al. (Wed,) studied this question.