Utilizing morphological variation and genetic divergence for pre-breeding in finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) under Bastar plateau conditions

Abstract

A pre-breeding study on 100 finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) accessions was undertaken on Kharif 2024 at S.G. CARS of college Agriculture and Research Station, Kumhrawand, Jagdalpur, Bastar (C.G.) to identify promising donors for yield enhancement. Pigmentation traits were useful for parental classification such as leaf juncture pigmentation was observed in GEC-46, while ICO-477132 lacked it. Similarly, pollen pigmentation was present in ICO-476636 and absent in GEC-93, providing distinct donor groups. Trait-based classification highlighted ICO-476838 × GEC-93 for finger length and ICO-476846 × GEC-135 for test weight as potential cross combinations. Flowering synchronisation further enabled compatible crosses such as GEC-181 × ICO-587981 and GEC-122 × ICO-476958. Genetic divergence analysis revealed the widest inter-cluster distance between clusters VIII and IX (11.68), with promising heterotic combinations like GEC-127 × ICO-476958 and GEC-122 × ICO-477385. High-yielding accessions including GEC-53 (24.4 g/plant) and ICO-476711 (20 g/plant) were identified as donors. The integration of pigmentation markers, trait grouping, synchronisation, and divergence analysis strengthens pre-breeding strategies in finger millet.