Improvement of ginger for yield and quality traits under the hill ecosystem of Mizoram

Abstract

The field study on ginger was carried out at ICAR Research Farm, Mizoram Centre, for three consecutive years (2019-2021). The best selection criteria for crop improvement were determined based on genetic component analyses and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). There exists highly significant variation for all traits due to genotypes based on analysis of variance. The highest extent of variability was recorded in oleoresin content. The magnitude of heritability and genetic gain was moderate to high for LAI, leaves per hill, tillers per plant, fresh weight of clump, rhizomes per plant, dry recovery, total chlorophyll, total phenol content, 6-gingerol and oleoresin content, indicating the additive gene control for which choosing of these traits will be beneficial. The rhizome yield exhibited the highest positive correlation with leaves per hill, followed by LAI and tillers per plant. Direct selection of characters like LAI, fresh weight of clump, rhizomes per plant and 6-gingerol ontent could be most reliable for yield improvement. Based on PCA and bi-plot figures, LAI, tillers per plant, leaves
per hill, rhizomes per plant, fresh weight of clump, and yield of rhizomes contributed mostly to genetic diversity among the ginger genotypes and ‘Bold Nadia’, ‘Bhaise’ and ‘PGS 102’ were identified as the best genotypes possessing optimum combinations of yield and quality traits for exploitation in future crop improvement programmes under Mizoram condition.