Genetic Diversity for Yield and Its Component Traits in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Abstract

The present experiment was carried out to study the 40 chickpea genotypes to evaluate the Genetic diversity among the chickpea genotypes for yield and yield contributing traits and to identify genetically divergent parents for future hybridization. The present experiment was carried out during rabi 2019-2020 in Randomized complete block design with three replications at Sam Higginbottom university of agriculture technology and sciences, Prayagraj, Allahabad, U.P. The data was analyzed for 13 quantitative traits to study genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance, genetic advance as percent of the mean. The magnitude of genotypic coefficient of variation and phenotypic co-efficient recorded highest for a number of seeds for plant (33.31 and 34.24), high heritability associated with high genetic advance was recorded for a number of secondary branches for plant (97.11 and 59.98) suggesting that there was greater role of additive gene action in inheritance. The distribution of 40 genotypes into six clusters was by Tocher’s method at a random with the Maximum number of genotypes were grouped into cluster I which includes 29 genotypes. The highest intra-cluster distance was observed for cluster I (59.53) which comprised of 29 genotypes. The highest inter-cluster distance (407.97) was found between clusters II and VI. Genotypes (IPC-71, IPC 04-52, JG-31416, L-550, IPCK 09-165, ICC-244263, IPC 94-94 and IPC 06-11 to these clusters may be used as parents to create transgressive segregants. Cluster VI recorded maximum mean values for the number of primary branches per plant (3.67), number of secondary branches per plant (6.47), number of pods per plant (117.13), number of seeds per plant (155.53), and seed yield per plant (g) (25.94).