Genotypic Variation of Green Gram Accessions in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Kenya

Abstract

A study was carried out to evaluate 40 green gram accessions at Machakos Agricultural Training Centre in Machakos County. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Data was recorded on eight quantitative agronomic parameters including plant height, number of days to maturity, number of pods per plant, 100 seeds weight and seed yield. The results indicated highly significant (P<0.05) differences in most of the traits studied among the accessions. Accession GBK-022494A had 103 pods per plant as compared to Nylon-2 with 19 pods per plant obtained during the 2011 short rains. Accession GBK-022501A had the highest (4.7 ton ha-1) grain yield followed by GBK-022494A which attained 4.5 ton ha-1.  Cluster analysis results indicated that the accessions were divided into two main clusters. One cluster consisted of only one accession- GBK-022494A, while the other cluster had two sub-clusters. Correlation analysis results indicated that pods per plant was significantly and positively correlated with plant height and seed yield, while it was significantly and negatively correlated to pod length and 100 seeds weight. Seed yield was significantly and positively correlated to plant height and number of pods per plant.