An overview of genotype x environment interaction and yield stability analysis in applied plant breeding: great emphasis given to coffee (Coffea arabica L.)

The inconsistence of genotypes across location during plant breeding is the major challenges to the breeder. That is the differential response of genotypes to different environment. Meanwhile stability is the ability of a genotype to withstand stressful conditions and yet be able to produce yield. Thus, stability is an absolute and relative measure. Arabica coffee has location specific adaptation nature and that leads to highly significant instability in its breeding program. In the study of coffee bean yield stability cultivars tested at multi- locations within the domain of coffee growing ecologies of Ethiopia, showed a significant genotype x environment interaction. The review of previous research also indicated inconsistent effects of genotype x environment interaction on cup quality. Yield-stability analysis is very important in measuring cultivar stability and suitability for growing crops across seasons and agro-ecological region to identify stable genotype. The yield stability have been challenge to the plant breeders and biometricians, it complicates the selection of superior genotypes. It is important to minimize the usefulness of the genotype across environments for selecting. Since approach of plant breeding is to develop genotypes that are, optimum for the condition under which they will be grown breeders have to manage yield instability throughout formalized procedures of plant breeding. During stability measurement if the variance is found to be significant, various methods of measuring the stability of genotypes can be used to identify the stable genotype(s). Most of stability analysis parameters are briefly discussed in this review. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 11(2): 117-123, Dec 2021

GGE Biplot Analysis of Genotype X Environment Interaction and Yield Stability in Bambara Groundnut

In plant breeding and agricultural research, biplot analysis has become an important statistical technique. The goal of this study was to find the winning genotype(s) for the test settings in a part of the Southwest region of Nigeria, as well as to investigate the nature and extent of genotype X environment interaction (GEI) effects on Bambara groundnut (BGN) production. The experiment was carried out in four environments (two separate sites, Ibadan and Ikenne, for two consecutive years, 2018 and 2019) with ninety-five BGN accessions. According to the combined analysis of variance over environments, genotypes and GEI both had a substantial (p < 0.001) impact on BGN yield. The results revealed that BGN accessions performed differently in different test conditions, indicating that the interaction was crossover in nature. The results revealed that BGN accessions performed differently in different test conditions, indicating that the interaction was crossover in nature. To examine and show the pattern of the interaction components, biplots with the genotype main effect and genotype X environment interaction (GEI) were used. The first two PCs explained 80% of the total variation of the GGE model (i.e., G + GE) (PC1 = 48.59%, PC2 = 31.41%). The accessions that performed best in each environment based on the “which-won-where” polygon were TVSu-2031, TVSu-1724, TVSu-1742, TVSu-2022, TVSu-1943, TVSu-1892, TVSu-1557, TVSu-2060, and TVSu-2017. Among these accessions, TVSu-2017, TVSu-1557, TVSu-2060, TVSu-1892, and TVSu-1943 were among the highest-yielding accessions on the field. The adaptable accessions were TVSu-1763, TVSu-1899, TVSu-2019, TVSu-1898, TVSu-1957, TVSu-2021, and TVSu-1850, and the stable accessions were TVSu-1589, TVSu-1905, and TVSu-2048. In terms of discriminating and representativeness for the environments, Ibadan 2019 is deemed to be a superior environment. The selected accessions are recommended as parental lines in breeding programs for grain yield improvement in Ibadan or Ikenne or similar agro-ecological zones.

Evaluation of “Genotype x Environment” Interaction for Performance in the Potential Energy Plant Xanthoceras sorbifolium Under Multi-Environment

Xanthoceras sorbifolium Bunge has attracted the attention of the world because of its potential to produce biodiesel. We tested the traits of the seedlings of X. sorbifolium from 26 natural provenances cultivated in three locations of Zhangwu (ZW), Jingbian (JB) and Anqiu (AQ), and analyzed the genotype x environment interaction by BLUP-GGE method. The results showed that the genotype effect, environmental main effect and genotype-environment interaction effect have significant influence on X. sorbifolium growth in the early growth stage, and the variation of ground diameter is greater than that of tree height. The genotypes G25 with the highest yield at the early growth stage, G15 with the highest stable yield, and G9, G12 and G10 with good yield and stable yield were selected. Among them, G12 is a specific high quality genotype for ZW, G10 has the best tree height in JB and AQ, and G9 has the best ground diameter in AQ. This information can evaluate each experimental site and high-quality genotypes, and provide scientific guidance and basis for subsequent biodiesel production of X. sorbifolium.