Assessment of the Genotype × Environment Interaction in Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Genotypes for Yield and Its Contributing Traits under Different Dates of Sowing

The forty-five genotypes of groundnut were evaluated at Field Experimentation Centre of the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Naini Agricultural Institute, SHUATS, Prayagraj (U.P.) during kharif, seasons of 2021-22 and 2022-23 in four artificially created environments by four different dates of sowing considered as E-I, E-II, E-III & E-IV. The present experiment was carried out in Randomized Block Design with three replications and involved recording observations on 17 yield and its contributing characters. Identifying stable-performing genotypes in the changing environmental scenario is of paramount importance in modern breeding materials. Crop improvement programme mostly depend on the identification of superior and stable genotypes. Mean sum of squares due to environment were found to be substantially distinct for all the traits and the mean sum of square due to genotype were found to be significant for all the characters. The regression coefficients (bi) of the genotypes ranged from -3.40 to 2.52 and the deviation from regression (S2di) ranged from -1.01 to 1.56. Stability parameters of various traits revealed that GJG-18, RG-574 and RG-559-3 pod yield per plant and RS-1 oil content showed high mean performance and regression coefficient close to unity and non-significant deviation from regression stable under overall environments. Thus indicating the importance of non-linear components in determining interaction of the genotypes with environments in the present study according to the Eberhart and Russell (1966) model.