Screening of Fennel (Anethum graveolens L.) genotypes for growth and seed yield attributing traits

Introduction

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.), a member of the Apiaceae family, originates from the Mediterranean region and Europe. Its seeds are commonly used as a spice, and both the seeds and their essential oil serve as flavouring agents in a variety of food products, including bakery items, pickles, confectioneries, and dairy products. In addition to its culinary uses, fennel is valued for its medicinal properties. It is traditionally used to treat conditions such as digestive disorders, constipation, dysentery, diarrhea, and colic pain. It also plays a role in managing ailments related to the respiratory system and internal organs like the spleen and kidneys. Despite its recognized importance in traditional medicine and its potential in the spice export market, fennel has not received adequate scientific focus for improving yield and quality traits (Choudhary et al., 2017) [2] . Improvement in crop characteristics through breeding largely depends on the presence of sufficient genetic variability and its proper utilization. Although several improved fennel varieties have been released in India, there is still a lack of regionspecific varieties for Central India, particularly Madhya Pradesh. Thus, there remains a strong need to enhance fennel productivity and adaptability through both conventional and modern breeding approaches. The present investigation was carried out to assess the performance of seventeen fennel genotypes along with four standard checks (C-1, C-2, C-3, and C-4) obtained from different regions of the country under the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Seed Spices.

Materials and Methods

A field experiment was carried out during the Rabi season of 2022-23 at the Horticultural Research and Extension Centre, Devihosur, Haveri, under the University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka, to evaluate the performance of different fennel genotypes for growth and seed yield. The research station is situated in the Northern Transitional Agro-climatic Zone (Zone 8) at 14°47′ N latitude and 75°21′ E longitude, with an altitude of 563 m above mean sea level. The soil of the experimental site is mediumdepth black soil, and the area receives an average annual rainfall of about 750 mm. The major crops of this centre include chilli and seed spices. The experiment consisted of seventeen fennel genotypes collected from Devihosur, namely DFnC-1 to DFnC-13, along with four check varieties (C-1, C-2, C-3, and C-4). Seeds were sown at a spacing of 60 × 30 cm. The trial was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with a single factor and replicated twice. All recommended agronomic practices were followed under limited irrigation conditions to obtain quality seed production. Since fennel is a cross-pollinated crop with a high tendency for outcrossing, an isolation distance of 200 m was maintained from other fennel fields to prevent genetic contamination. Rouging was carried out at different crop growth stages, including vegetative, flowering, and seed maturity stages, to ensure genetic purity. Observations were recorded on five randomly selected plants from each genotype in every replication. The parameters studied included plant height, number of primary and secondary branches, number of umbels per plant, number of umbellets per umbel, number of seeds per umbel, seed yield per plant, and seed yield per hectare. The net plot yield was used to calculate yield per hectare. All recorded data were subjected to appropriate statistical analysis.

Results and Discussion

The results obtained from the present investigation on performance of different genotypes of fennel differed significantly with respect to growth and seed yield attributing characters during 2022-23 as presented in table.1 & 2. The analysis of variance was calculated for all growth and seed yield parameters of different genotypes of fennel and mean of different parameters were presented and results were revealed that, the significant maximum plant height (178 cm) at harvest stage, primary branches (5.90 No./plant), secondary branch (20.90 No./plant), umbels (18.60 No./plant), number of umbellets (54.00 No./umbel), No. of seeds (42.30/umbel), seed yield (845 g/plot) and seed yield per ha (2113 kg/ha) at harvest stage was recorded with genotype DFnC-12. However, which was followed by the genotype the DFnC-2. While, the lowest plant height (146.00 cm), number of primary and secondary branches (3.90 & 14.40 No./plant, respectively), umbels (11.10/plant), umbellets (36.10/plant), No. of seeds (32.50/umbel), seed yield per plot (501 g) & seed yield per ha (1253 kg/ha) was recorded by the genotype C-3 (table.1&2). The observed variation in growth and yield traits among the genotypes may be attributed to differences in their genetic potential as well as their ability to adapt to specific seasonal conditions, location, and management practices. The morphological variability recorded among the genotypes is likely governed by their inherent genetic makeup. Similar observations have been reported by Malhotra and Vashistha (2007) [7] in dill and Balai et al. (2011) [1] in coriander. The present findings are also in agreement with the reports of Selvarajan and Chezhiyan (2001) [10] , Hellal et al. (2011) [5] , and Kushbhu Kumari et al. Enhanced crop growth, particularly in terms of the number of branches per plant, may be due to the combined effect of genetic potential and proper crop management practices, as also indicated by Kumar et al. (2002). Comparable results have been documented by Solanki et al. (2014) [12] and Raut et al. (2020) [9] in dill, as well as by Jyothi et al. (2017) [6] & Dhakad et al., (2017) [3] in Coriander. And genotypes were highly significant for all the characters indicating that the presence of genetic diversity in the material Sengupta et al., (2014) [11] Ghanshyam et al., (2015) [4] and Mamatha et al., (2017) [8] reported the same findings in thirteen genotypes of fennel evaluated at Vegetable Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, JNKVV, Jabalpur.

Conclusion

Among the evaluated fennel genotypes, DFnC-12 exhibited superior performance, particularly with respect to growth parameters and seed yield. Hence, this genotype may be

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