~ 1294 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2017; 6(5): 1294-1296 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2017; 6(5): 1294-1296 Received: 03-07-2017 Accepted: 04-08-2017 Rohit Yadav N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Priyanka Rajpoot N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India OP Verma N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India PK Singh N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Priyansh Singh N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Vijayanand Pathak S.M.M.T.D. College Ballia, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Correspondence Vijayanand Pathak S.M.M.T.D. College Ballia, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) for grain yield and it’s contributing attributes under sodic soil Rohit Yadav, Priyanka Rajpoot, OP Verma, PK Singh, Priyansh Singh and Vijayanand Pathak Abstract Thirty five diverse genotypes of rice (Oryza sativa L.) with two checks were evaluated for twelve quantitative traits under sodic soil. The variability studies indicated that high PCV (phenotypic coefficient of variability) and GCV (genotypic coefficient of variability) was observed in case of biological yield/plant indicating greater scope of improvement through selection in the environment. Moderate PCV and GCV was observed in case of plant height (PCV =18.80%, GCV =18.52%), grain yield per plant (18.67%, 18.15%) effective tillers per plant and flag leaf area (PCV =17.47%, GCV = 14.07%). while spikelets per panicle followed by 1000 grain weight, days to 50% flowering, harvest index, days to maturity, panicle length and spikelet fertility (%) showed lower PCV and GCV. High heritability in broad sense was noted for plant height followed by days to 50% flowering, biological yield per plant, days to maturity, grain yield per plant 1000-grain weight and spikelet per panicle whereas, flag leaf area per plant, spikelet fertility and harvest index showed moderate heritability. Panicle length and effective tillers per plant recorded low heritability among all traits under study. while high genetic advance as % of mean was noted for biological yield per plant while panicle length had lowest value for this parameter. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent mean was observed for plant height and grain yield per plant indicating the involvement of additive gene action. Hence, emphasis should be given to select these quantitative traits to enhance the yield potential of rice in sodic soil. Keywords: (Oryza sativa L.), genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance. Introduction Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the world’s largest food crop, providing the caloric needs of millions of people daily. It plays a pivotal role in Indian economy being the staple food for two third of the population (Singh et al., 2008) [16] . It is vary paramount cereal for the people of South-East Asia where about 90 percent of the population consumers rice. The slogan- “Rice is life “ because it is not only the staple food for more than 70 percent of the Indians but also a source of livelihood for about 120-150 million rural households. Utter Pradesh is also an important rice growing state in the country. In India, it is staple food for more than 65 percent of the people. It provides about 29.4 per cent of total calories/capita/day in Asian countries (FAO, 2006) [4] . In India it is grown on 43.4 million hectares of land and producing approximately 106.3 million tons rice grain with an average productivity of 2.42 tons per hectare (Anonymous, 2013-14) [2] . The presence and mangnitude of genetic variability in a gene pool is the pre-requisite of a breeding programme. Heritability estimates provide the information on the proportion of variation that is transmissible to the progenies in subsequent generations (Kumar et al., 2014) [10] . Genetic advance provides information on expected genetic grain resulting from selection of superior individuals. The estimates of heritability and genetic advance are of great significance to plant breeders for developing suitable selection strategy. Sawant and patil (1995) [15] observed high values of heritability coupled with high expected genetic advance for plant height and grain yield per plant. The grain yield is a complex character, quantitative in nature and an integrated function of a number of component traits. The success of any breeding programme depends on the exploitation of existing variability and therefore, it is desirable to collect, evaluate and utilize the available diversity for crop improvement to suit specific need with regards to specific ecosystem. Materials and Methods The materials for present study comprised of thirty five genotypes along with two checks viz.