Pantnagar Journal of Research

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out during the Rabi season of 2022–23 to evaluate thirteen oat (Avena sativa L.) genotypes for germination, seedling vigour, and their association with green forage yield. While seed quality parameters are routinely assessed in cereals, their potential as indirect selection criteria for green forage yield improvement in oat remains poorly documented, particularly for newly developed genotypes under north Indian agro-climatic conditions. The field experiment was conducted at the Dairy Farm, Nagla, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, and the laboratory studies on seed quality parameters were carried out at the Seed Testing Laboratory, Breeder Seed Production Centre, GBPUAT, Pantnagar. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with three replications. Ten genotypes (UPO-22-1 to UPO-22-10) along with three checks (UPO-212, UPO-10-2, and UPO-06-1) were evaluated for first count (%), standard germination (%), seedling root length (cm), germination index (GI), mean germination time (MGT), mean daily germination, time to 50% germination (T50), seedling fresh weight (g), seedling dry weight (g), seedling vigour index-I, seedling vigour index-II, speed of germination (SOG), relative growth index (RGI), and green forage yield (kg/plot). Significant genotypic variation was recorded for all traits studied. Genotype UPO-22-6 recorded the highest first count (93.67%) and standard germination (94.003%), while UPO-22-5 showed the lowest time to 50% germination (3.49 days) and UPO-22-9 exhibited the lowest mean germination time (3.94 days) and highest germination index (19.43), collectively identifying these genotypes as the most vigorous among those evaluated. Correlation analysis revealed that seedling fresh weight (SFW) was the only trait under given conditions with a significant positive association with green forage yield at both genotypic (r = 0.431^*) and phenotypic (r = 0.431^*) levels, while mean germination time showed a consistent negative trend with yield. Path coefficient analysis confirmed that SFW exerted the highest positive direct effect on green forage yield at both genotypic (+0.758) and phenotypic (+0.691) levels, establishing it as the most reliable indirect selection criterion for forage yield improvement. These findings suggest that simultaneous selection for high seedling fresh weight, high standard germination, and low mean germination time particularly in genotypes UPO-22-5 and UPO-22-6 would be an effective strategy for developing high-yielding, vigorous oat varieties.