21 www.jinagri.com Patil et al., 2021 Edited by Gurunathan Selvakumar, SRM College of Agricultural Sciences, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India. Received: 02 February 2021 Accepted: 11 February 2021 Published: 31 March 2021 *Correspondence Harshal E. Patil harshpatil@nau.in Journal of Inn ovative A gricultu re: 8 (1 ) : 2 1-2 6, 2 021 DOI: 10.37446/jinagri/rsa/8.1.2021.21-26 Research paper Genetic diversity studies for yield and quality traits in barnyard millet Harshal E. Patil * 1 , Tanvi A. Darjib 2 , Vikas Pali 3 1 Hill Millet Research Station, Navsari Agricultural University, Waghai (Dangs) -394 730, India. 2 Department of G enetics and Plant B reeding, N. M. College of A griculture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat - 396 450, India. 3 Hill Millet Research Station, Anand Agricultural University, Dahod, Gujarat, India. Assessments of genetic variability was carried out in a set of forty-one genotypes of Barnyard millet [Echinochloa frumentacea (Roxb.) Link] grown in a Randomized Block Design with three replications during the Kharif, 2019-2020 at Hill Millet Research Station, Navsari Agricultural University, Waghai, The Dangs. The basic objective of the experiment was to assess the extent of morphological variation as well as genetic divergence in the available barnyard millet germplasm, which will serve as base for future barnyard millet crop improvement programmes. Fourteen different characters related to seed yield were recorded and subjected to estimation genetic diversity of the genotypes. Studies pertaining to genetic divergence were also carried out using Mahalanobis D 2 statistics for forty-one barnyard millet genotypes and twelve clusters were formed. Clustering pattern of the genotypes was independent of their geographical distribution. Based on inter-cluster distance, cluster III and V showed the maximum distance followed by the distance between cluster III and IV. Therefore, it is concluded that the genotypes belonging to these clusters should be inter-crossed in order to generate more variability and improving grain yield in barnyard millet. On the basis of cluster means for different characters, it concluded that high yielding genotypes coupled with other important physiological traits viz., days to 50 % flowering, days to maturity, plant height at maturity, productive tillers per plant, branches per panicle, panicle (finger) length, straw yield per plant, 1000 seed weight, protein content, Ca content, fat content, Fe content and Zn content could be selected as parents for hybridization programme from cluster III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII. Inter-crossing among the genotypes from these clusters might results in hybrids having high vigour which may further results in wide array of genetic variability for exercising effective selection. Analysis corroborated the absence of relationship between geographic origin and genetic diversity, as genotypes from the different area grouped into same clusters and the genotypes of same area were grouped in the different clusters. Therefore, breeder must evaluate their material for genetic diversity and should not merely depend on their geographical origin. Key words: barnyard millet, genetic diversity, yield characters, quality characters, quantitative characters INTRODUCTION Barnyard millet [ Echinochloa frumentacea (Roxb.) Link] is mainly grown in India, China, Japan, and Korea for human consumption as well as fodder (Upadhyaya et al., 2014). The crop is valued for its drought tolerance (Dwivedi et al., 2012), short growth period with superior nutrition value (Saleh et al., 2013). Globally, India is the biggest producer of barnyard millet, both in terms of area (0.146 m ha −1 ) and production (0.147 mt) with average productivity of 1034 kg/ha during the last 3 years. In India, the crop is grown in Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Bihar. In Gujarat, barnyard millet is cultivated in the Dangs, Dediyapada and Valsad districts of south Gujarat. Barnyard millet has emerged as very important dual purpose feed and fodder crop. The grain can be consumed as whole grain or ground into flour which is used for porridge and various flat cakes or chapatis. Thus small millets are nutritionally rich staple food crop. But besides that they also provide good quality stover which is important for hill farming system, where fodder has become scarce in recent years. In fact the stover of barnyard millet is one of the best in terms of nutritional quality among all the existing small millet crops. Barnyard millet grains are nutritious and as similar to other millets, it is also an appropriate food for patients intolerant to gluten causing celiac