GGE BIPLOT ANALYSIS FOR SEED PRODUCTION POTENTIAL OF EUROPEAN CARROT (Daucus carota L.) GENOTYPES IN PLAINS AND SUBMOUNTENOUS ZONES OF PUNJAB

Carrot ( Daucus carota L.) is grown worldwide in two different groups namely Asian and European. However the seed production of European cultivars is not possible in tropical and sub-tropical areas with less chilling period. The present study was planned to find the suitable areas in Punjab near foothills of Himalaya for seed production of European cultivars. Therefore fifteen carrot genotypes stecklings were transplanted in three dates of sowing i.e. first week of December, first week of January and first week of February at two locations of Punjab namely Ludhiana and Langroya. Seed yield traits like number of branches, number of seeds per plant, seed weight per plant, 100 seed weight and seed yield per hectare were recorded. Combined analysis of variance showed highly significant differences for GE (genotypexenvironment) interaction indicating the possibility of stable genotypes. Seed production was better in location Langroya and better than location Ludhiana. Most of the genotypes showed stable performance with regard to seed yield and yield parameters in first week of December and first week of January by GGE Biplot. Number of branches were significantly higher in genotype Pusa Meghali which was statistically at par with P-3, PCO-4. Similarly PCO-4 showed maximum number of seeds per plant and PCO-6 showed the highest seed weight per plant and 100 seed weight. Moreover, seed yield per hectare for genotypes PCO-4, PCO-6 was significantly higher than other genotypes. The study showed that European cultivars of carrot i.e. Pusa Meghali, PCO-4 and PCO-6 cultivars can produce seed in submontaneous zones of Punjab.