Experiment: Designs used in plant breeding experiment, analysis

of Randomized Block Design.

Aim: To provide an introduction to experimental design including different layouts and
considerations for statistical inference of RBD
Experimental design is the process of choosing treatments, responses, and controls, defining
experimental and sample units, and determining the physical arrangement, or layout, of
experiment units. Experiments should be designed to control error and give reasonable
assurance that the differences between treatments will be detected. Time and resources always
limit experimental design, and in some instances there are ethical and legal constraints as well.

Principles of experimental designs

Principles of experimental designs help in reducing the experimental error and thus
make the experiment more efficient. There are three basic principles of experimental designs
are briefly discussed as follow.
1. Replication: The repetition of treatment under investigation is known as replication.
Increase in replication increases the precision by reducing the error to a greater extent.
2. Randomization: The allocation of treatments to different plots in an experiment by a
random process is known as randomization of treatments. Randomization provides
equal chance to all treatments for being allotted to more fertile plot as well as to less
fertile plot.
3. Local control or error control: The principle of making use of grater homogeneity in
a group of experimental unit for reducing experimental error is called local control. The
fertility of the field may be of two types (a) Gradient (can be reduced by dividing the
field into homogeneous block or replication and (b) Patches (can be minimized by
randomization of treatments within the block).
Experimental designs which are commonly used in plant breeding and genetics includes

1. Simple Experimental Designs

2. Augmented Design
3. Completely Randomized Design (CRD)
4. Randomized Block Design RBD)
5. Latin Square Design (LSD)
6. Split Plot Design (SPD)
7. Lattice Design (LD)

Randomized Block Design (RBD)

The variability present in a population is of polygenic nature and these polygenic
variations are three types viz. phenotypic, genotypic and environmental
The statistical procedure which separate (or)splits the total variation into different
component is called analysis of variance or ANOVA .
 ANOVA is useful in estimating the different components of variance. It provides basis
to the last of significance and it is carried out only with replicated data obtained from standard
statistical experimental results. The different components of variance are calculated as suggest
by Lush in 1940.

ANNOVA Table
Source df Ss Mss F-value calculated
Replication (r-1) Rss Msr = Rss / r-1 Msr/Msc
Treatment (t-1) Trss Mst = Trss / t-1 Mst/Msc
Error (r-1) (t-1) Ess Msc = Ess / (r-1)(t-1)
Total (rt-1) Tss

F (calculated) is compared with F (table) value by looking at the F-table for replication (r-1) &
error df values (r-1)(t-1). If the calculated F value is greater than F (table value) then it is
significant.

Genetic variance
It is the inherent variation which remains unaltered by the environment. It is variation
due to genotypes. It is denoted by Vg & is calculated using the formula
Vg = Mst-Mse / r

Where, Mst = mean sum of squares of treatment

Mse = mean sum of square of error
r = number of replications
Co-efficient of variation
(1) Phenotypic co-efficient of variation: It is define as the ratio of phenotypic
standard deviation to the mean, expressed as % and can be calculated using the
formula.

√Vp
PCV = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝒙̅
(2) Genotypic coefficient of variation: GCV is the ratio of genotypic standard
deviation to the mean expressed as% and is calculated using the formula

√Vg
GCV = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝒙̅
(3) Environmental coefficient of variation: It is the ratio of environmental standard
deviation to the mean expressed as % and in calculated using the formula

√Ve
ECV = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝒙̅
Where, Vg, Vp and Ve are the genotypic, phenotypic and environmental variance and x is
mean.

Steps involved in ANOVA

The different steps involved in preparation ANOVA table can be illustrated by the following
example.

Q. Yield per plant (g) of an experiment with 8 chickpea genotypes evaluated in RBD with
three replications is given below in tabular form. Prepare the ANOVA table and workout
components of variance, coefficient of variance and heritability (broad sense).

Variety r1 r2 r3 Rep. total

V1 10 12 10 32
V2 9 8 10 27
V3 12 12 10 34
V4 8 10 7 25
V5 15 13 16 44
V6 13 12 12 37
V7 10 7 8 25
V8 10 11 12 33
Tret. total 87 85 85 257
Steps
1. Grand total=257
2. Grand mean= Grand total/no of observation=257/24=10.71
3. Correction factor (CF) = (G.T)2/N = (257)2/24=2752.04
4. Tss= Total sum of square of all observation-CF = 2875-2752.04 = 122.96
5. Trss= sum of square of treatment /no of replication-CF = 8533/3-2752.04 = 98.96
6. Rss= sum of square of replication/no treatment- CF = 22019/8- 2752.04= 0.34
7. Ess=Tss-Rss-Trss = 122.96-98.96-0.34= 23.67
ANOVA Table

Source D.F Ss MSs F cal.

Treatment 7 98.96 14.14 8.3626761
Block 2 0.33 0.17 0.0985915
Error 14 23.67 1.69
Total 23 122.96

8. Vg = (Mstr- Mse)/r = 98.96- 23.67/ 3= 4.15

9. Ve = Mse= 1.69
10. Vp = Vg + Ve = 4.15+1.69= 5.84
11. GCV= √Vg/G.M ×100=√ 4.15/10.71×100= 19.02%
12. PCV=√Vp/G.M×100=√5.84/10.71×100= 22.56%
13. ECV=√Ve/G.M×100=√1.69/10.71×100= 12.14%
14. Heritability (Broad sense) =VG/VP×100= 4.15/5.84×100=71.05%
15. Genetic Advance (GA) = K√VP×H= 2.06×√5.84×0.71= 3.54
 16. G.A % of mean = GA/Grand Mean= 3.54/10.71×100= 33.03

Result Interpretation
A. GCV And PCV are classified as suggested by Sivasubramonium &
Madhavarmenon in 1973 as
< 10% Low
10-20% Moderate
> 30% High

Interpretation of Coefficient of variance

❖ If, GCV> PCV, it means little influence of environment on the expression of character.
Selection for improvement of such character would be rewarding.
❖ If, PCV> GCV, it indicates that apparent variation is not only due to genotype but also
due to environment. Selection for improvement of such traits sometime may be
misleading.
❖ If, ECV>PCV & GCV, it indicates that environment playing significant role in
expression of such characters. Selection for improvement of such traits would be
ineffective.
B. Heritability: Jonnesen et. al. (1995) categorized heritability as
<30% = Low
30-60% = Moderate
>60%= Higher
Other scale of broad sense heritability
>40%=Low
40%-60%=Medium

60%-80%=High
>80%=Very High
Interpretation of heritability
❖ If it is high: Means character less influenced by environmental effect, the selection
for improvement of such character may not be useful because broad sense heritability
includes both fixable (additive) and nonfixable (dominance and epistasis) genetic
variance.
❖ If it is low: it reveals that character is highly influenced by environmental effect, and
the genetic improvement through selection would be difficult due to masking effect of
environment on the genotypic effect.
C. Genetic Advance: It is a measure of genetic gain under selection. It refers to the
improvement of near genotype value of selection lines and families over the base
population.
GA= (K) (H) (SDP)
 Where,
H=heritability

SDP=phenotypic standard deviation

K=selection differential = (k) (vp) (1/2Vg/Vp)

K= xs-xo
Where- xs = mean phenotypic value of selected plant population

xo = mean phenotypic value of parental plant

Interpretation of Genetic Advance (GA)

❖ If GA is high: Means character is governed by additive gene action and selection will
be rewarding for improvement of such character.
❖ If GA is low: It indicates that character is governed by non-additive gene action and
Heterosis breeding may be useful

Interpretation of Both Heritability and genetic advance:

a) High heritability and High genetic advance means heritability mainly due to
additive gene effect and hence selection may be effective.
b) High heritability and low genetic advance is indicative of non-additive gene action
and hence selection may not be rewarding.
c) Low heritability with high genetic advance reveals that character governed by
additive gene. Selection may be effective in this case.
d) Low heritability and low genetic advance shows that character is highly influenced
by environment and so selection would be ineffective.