~ 3134 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2020; 9(4): 3134-3137 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 www.phytojournal.com JPP 2020; 9(4): 3134-3137 Received: 04-05-2020 Accepted: 06-06-2020 Maguluri Sree Devi Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture, Arabhavi, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Seetharamu GK Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture, Arabhavi, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India BC Patil Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture, Arabhavi, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Hanchinamani CN Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture, Arabhavi, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Laxman Kukanoor Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture, Arabhavi, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Satish D Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture, Arabhavi, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Sandhyarani Nishani Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture, Arabhavi, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Corresponding Author: Maguluri Sree Devi Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture, Arabhavi, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India Assessment of genetic variability among dahlia (Dahlia variabilis L.) genotypes for productivity and quality traits Maguluri Sree Devi, Seetharamu GK, BC Patil, Hanchinamani CN, Laxman Kukanoor, Satish D, and Sandhyarani Nishani Abstract An experiment was conducted with 32 genotypes of dahlia to study the genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation, heritability and expected genetic advance. The data indicated that estimates of genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) are higher than those of phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) for all the traits studied indicating little influence of environment and the presence of inherent association between various characters. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance and high GCV were observed for most of the traits indicating the presence of additive gene action. High estimates of GCV (>20%), PCV (>20%), heritability (>60%) and genetic advance over mean(>20%) were obtained for plant height at 90 days after planting, leaf area index, duration of flowering, number of flowers/plant, flower yield per ha, tuber weight, number of tubers per plant, individual flower weight, flower diameter, petal length and stalk length showing that selection of these characters may be relied upon for pure line selection for improvement. Keywords: Dahlia, genetic variability, heritability, productivity traits Introduction Dahlia (Dahlia variabilis L.) is a tuberous rooted half hardy herbaceous perennial belonging to the family Asteraceae having its origin in Mexico, which is a popular plant in landscaping, cut flower and loose flower purposes (Smith, 1971) [13] . The performance of dahlia varieties varies with region, season, cultivation aspects and growing environment. In India, there is a wide fluctuation in temperature, light intensity, rainfall and humidity, which not only affects the yield and quality of flowers but also limits their availability for a particular period of the year. A systematic study of vegetative characters would facilitate the breeders to select suitable genotypes for planned breeding programme (Mahajan et al., 2011) [7] . Selection of proper variety for producing the desired quantity and quality of flowers for domestic market is of greater importance. Improvement in any crop depends on the magnitude of genetic variability, association between various characters and to the extent transmission of characters from one generation to the next (Bhujbal et al., 2013) [3] . With these points in view, the present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the genetic variability in thirty two cultivars of dahlia. Material and Methods The experiment was carried out at department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, Kittur Rani Channamma college of Horticulture, Arabhavi, which is situated in the northern dry zone (Zone III) of Karnataka. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with spacing of 60 cm  40 cm, which was replicated twice with 32 genotypes in open field condition. The details of 32 genotypes used in the study are presented in the table 1. Recommended agro techniques were followed and observations were made on the vegetative and floral parameters. The data regarding parameters of variability like mean, range, phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation (Burton and Devane, 1953) [4] , broad sense heritability (Johnson et al., 1955) [6] and genetic advance (Johnson et al., 1955) [6] . Results and discussion The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among the genotypes for all traits studied (Table 2) indicating that genotypes used in the present study are genetically diverse. The data presented in Table 3 and Fig-1 proves that there was high variability among the cultivars for vegetative traits such as plant height at 45 and 90 DAP, LAI, plant spread