~ 904 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2018; 6(6): 904-907 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 IJCS 2018; 6(6): 904-907 © 2018 IJCS Received: 11-09-2018 Accepted: 15-10-2018 Himanshu Chaudhary Research Scholar, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India DC Baskheti Professor, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India Dhanraj Meena Research Scholar, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India Madhubala Kurmanchali Research Scholar, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India Correspondence Himanshu Chaudhary Research Scholar, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India Assessment of genetic variability parameters for yield and quality traits in aromatic rice ( Oryza sativa L.) Himanshu Chaudhary, DC Baskheti, Dhanraj Meena and Madhubala Kurmanchali Abstract A study was conducted during kharif 2017 to generate information on genetic variability parameters among forty four aromatic rice genotypes. These genotypes were evaluated in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications and observations were recorded on various yield and quality traits. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences among the genotypes for all the characters studied except grain breadth and kernel breadth, indicating that ample amount of genetic variability among the genotypes. In general, PCV were higher than the GCV for all characters indicates influence of environment. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance were observed for the characters viz. grain yield/plant, biological yield/plant and plant height which suggested the presence of additive gene action and thereby these traits could be considered as reliable indices for selection. Keywords: aromatic rice, genetic variability, yield and quality Introduction Rice belongs to the family Graminaeae and it is recognized as “millennium crop” because it is expected to contribute towards food security in the world, as it is one of the staple cereal crop of the world and a primary source of food for about 65% of the world’s population. It is grown under diverse agro-climatic conditions and over wide geographical range (Cheng et al., 2005) [3] . With an alarming raise in the population throughout the world, the demand for rice will continue to increase in near future. Therefore, rice breeders across the world aim at increasing the grain yield of rice (Song et al., 2007) [18] . The efficacy of any selection programme depends upon the existence and magnitude of available genetic variability for yield and yield contributing traits in the breeding material (Pal et al., 2018) [11] . A better understanding of the relationship between grain yield and its component traits becomes compulsory for making an efficient selection for the development of new varieties with improved economically important traits (Kumar et al., 2014) [9] . The knowledge of heritability and genetic variability is a pre- requisite for carrying out selection-based improvement. The information about genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance help in the breeding programmes by broadening the gene pool of rice and gives an indication about the efficiency of transformation of characters into future generations respectively (Selvaraj et al., 2011) [16] . Heritability is a good index of the transmission of character from parents to their offspring (Falconer et al., 1981) [4] . The prosperous variability of complex quantitative traits still remains un-exploited and under- exploited. Rice landraces have proven to be highly adaptive to diverse environmental conditions and are supposed to harbor a number of valuable genetic resources for crop improvement (Ganie et al., 2014) [5] . In any crop species setting the breeding objective for improvement of crop yield is prime importance. Understanding of nature and magnitude of genetic variation governing the inheritance of relatively quantitative traits like yield and attributing traits are essential. Plant breeder has to analyze certain genetic variability parameters like genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV), heritability, and genetic advance of various economic important quantitative traits to sketch future crop improvement programmes. Genetic variability plays a key role in study and identification of promising rice genotypes.