Abstract:

To breed millet varieties suitable for summer sowing in the summer millet area of North China, using the regional trial data of millet varieties across the country in 2023, grey correlation analysis and membership function analysis were conducted on the main yield-related traits and resistance-related traits of 21 millet varieties (lines) participating in the trial to explore the relationship between agronomic traits and yield. The results showed that the coefficient of variation of grain weight of spike was the highest at 8.24%, while the coefficient of variation of yield rate of millet was relatively low at 1.41%. The yield was highly correlated with the weight per spike (0.7409) and the grain weight of spike (0.7321). The results of membership function analysis showed that the panicle traits of ‘Zhongzagu 76’performed exceptionally well, among which spike length (0.9722), spike thickness (1), weight per ear (1), grain weight per ear (1), and thousand kernel weight (1) all had higher membership values; the processing quality was also good, with its yield rate of millet value of 0.8652. At the same time, ‘Zhongzagu 72’ was also outstanding in panicle characters, with spike length belonging to 1, spike thickness (0.8621), weight per ear (0.7432), grain weight per ear (0.8) and thousand kernel weight (0.9773) were also at a high level, and its yield rate of millet was 0.9265. In addition, the membership function values of these two varieties in terms of waterlogging tolerance and lodging resistant were both 1, indicating good performance in these two resistances. However, both of them performed moderately in terms of disease resistance (including foxtail millet rust, sheath blight and sclerospora graminicola), and there was still room for further improvement. ‘Yugu 49’ and ‘Yugu 54’ performed well in terms of foxtail millet blast and foxtail millet rust (membership function values are both 1), but their panicle traits and yield stability were slightly weaker, making it suitable for promotion in areas with a high incidence of diseases. High-yield and high-quality millet requires a balance between panicle shape, quality and stress resistance. ‘Zhongzagu 76’ and ‘Zhongzagu 72’ have excellent comprehensive performance, and the disease-resistant genes of the Yugu series are prominent, making it of significant breeding value.

Key words: millet, grey relational analysis, membership function analysis, comprehensive evaluation, selection and breeding of millet