Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(12): 3234-3241 3234 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.912.385 Genetic Variability Studies for Quantitative Traits in a Pool of Maintainer (B) and Restorer (R) Lines in Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) P. Saikumar 1* , M. Shanthi Priya 2 , P. Shanthi 1 and P. Latha 3 1 Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, S.V. Agricultural College, Tirupati, A.P, India 2 Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, ARS, Perumallapalle, Tirupati, A.P, India 3 Department of Crop Physiology, IFT, RARS, Tirupati, A.P, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) is diploid (2n=14) and highly cross pollinated, annual C 4 crop which belongs to the family of poaceae. It is originated in central tropical Africa and is cosmopolitan within arid and semi-arid topics of Africa and India. It is commonly known as cumbu or dark millet or spiked millet or candle millet. It has protogyny and anemophily mechanisms which fulfils the essential biological requirements for hybrid development. In India, pearl millet is cultivated in a total area of 6.93 million hectares with a production of 8.61 million tonnes and productivity of 1243 kg/ha (Anonymous, 2019). It is the fifth most widely cultivated staple grain crop in India next to rice, wheat, maize and sorghum. It is an outstanding multipurpose coarse cereal crop for grain, fodder and stover across wide range of environments around the world. It can adapt well to drought and adverse agro- ecological conditions, capable of rapid and vigorous growth, hence it is grown under International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 12 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com The present investigation was carried out at Agricultural Research Station, Perumallapalle, Tirupati, A.P. with 10 maintainer (B) and 27 restorer (R) lines of pearl millet during summer, 2020 in randomized block design with three replications to estimate genetic parameters viz., genetic variance, heritability (broad sense) and genetic advance as per cent of mean for 15 quantitative traits. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among the genotypes for all the characters studied. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was higher than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and the difference between PCV and GCV was narrow for most of the characters, implying little influence of environment on expression of the traits. High values of PCV, GCV and heritability estimates coupled with maximum genetic advance over mean were obtained for panicle length, green fodder yield per plant, dry fodder yield per plant, panicle weight, 1000 grain weight, harvest index and grain yield per plant indicating the preponderance of additive gene action and selection based on these characters could be effective. Keywords Pearl millet, Genetic advance, Heritability, Variability Accepted: 25 November 2020 Available Online: 10 December 2020 Article Info