Genetic variability of agronomical and economical traits in Psyllium germplasm

The present investigation was conducted to asses of the genetic variability, correlations and character contribution were conducted in a set of 106 native and collected from abroad accessions of five psyllium species. The GCV was higher in magnitude than PCV, suggesting genetic correlations between the selected traits at genotypic level. The largest direct contributor to seed yield was panicle weight. Lower indirect effect was found in inflorescence husk yield and panicles/plant. Panicle weight and seed yield had high heritability and high genetic advance i.e. 96.14, 134.19 and 88.61, 103.51%, respectively. Mean performance, heritability and genetic advance, of accessions GSS-1, GSS-98, GSS-20, GSS-14, GSS-35 and GSS-78 were selected for high seed yielder. Biochemical analysis, fatty acid composition and nutraceutical value of the GSS-1 indicated that the total oil content was 8.56 and protein content was 19.85% in seeds along with other rich nutraceutical value. Therefore, accession GSS-1 of psyllium could be exploited on commercial scale.