Assessment of Genetic Variability and Component Relationship of Seed Yield and Its Contributing Traits in Greengram (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek)

Abstract

After pigeonpea and chickpea, greengram is the third most significant pulse crop in Asia. Pulses are the primary source of protein needed to satisfy both the daily need and the daily consumption for a balanced diet. Pulses are essential to achieving the diet's protein requirements for humans. Because they are the least expensive type of protein, they are referred to as poor people's meat. It is the primary source of vital amino acids for India's vegetarian population. There are twenty genotypes of Greengram in this experiment, plus one check. Three replications of the experiment were carried out at RBD during the month of Zaid in 2023. Thirteen characters' worth of data were collected in order to investigate genetic advancement, variability, heritability, correlation, and path analysis. The majority of the traits under study have significant genetic diversity in the available germplasm, according to analysis of variance. According to the mean performance of grain yield and its constituents, CO-7 performed better than AMULYA, SML-20-10, and IPM-2-14. A detailed examination of the variability coefficients showed that there was no environmental influence on the expression of the traits under study, as evidenced by the small difference between PCV and GCV. For biological yield, number of pods per plant, and number of seed yield per plant, high to moderate estimations of GCV & PCV were noted. For the seed index, plant height, harvesting index, and quantity of seeds per pod, high estimates of heritability were noted. Since they are less affected by environmental factors and have a greater potential for genetic determination, high heritability estimates can be used for genetic improvement. For the seed index, number of branches per plant, and number of clusters per plant, low estimations of genetic advance were noted. According to correlation, plant height, major branches per plant, clusters per plant, pods per plant, biological yield, and harvest index all positively and significantly correlated with grain yield per plant. Path analysis revealed that plant height, cluster size per plant, biological yield, and harvest index have a direct impact on yield at both the phenotypic and genotypic levels. These characteristics are therefore acknowledged as the effective and prospective characteristics for direct selection in order to increase Greengram productivity in the current experimental materials.