Abstract

Evaluation of genetic variability and association of traits in Kabuli chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes in East Gojjam Zone, Northwestern, Ethiopia

Genetic variability study is an important task for generating genetic information on variability and association of important traits of Kabuli chickpea for further improvement through selection and/or hybridization. In this regard, the study aimed to estimate the magnitude of genetic variation and association of traits among 36 Kabuli chickpea genotypes for 13 traits by using 6 × 6 simple lattice design for two consecutive years at East Gojjam Zone. Analysis of variance indicated that there were highly significant genotypic differences for all studied trait. Over years, most studied traits showed highly significant differences except 100 seed weight and plant height, which were not significant. The analysis indicated highly significant (p ≤ 0.01) difference were observed for the interaction effects of genotypes by years in most studied traits, such as seed yield, biomass yield. Both PCV and GCV value were high for traits like days to flowering, number of primary branch, number of pod per plant, number of seed per plant, biomass yield, hundred seed weight, seed yield and harvest index. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for key trait, such as seed yield, biomass yield, 100 seed weight, number of pods and seeds per plant, indicated that high heritability is due to additive gene effects and therefore, making selection an effective strategy for improving Kabuli chickpea. Seed yield had a highly significant and positive genotypic as well as phenotypic association with the number of seeds per pod, number of seeds and pods per plant and biomass yield. The path coefficient analysis revealed that biomass yield; the number of seeds per pods and seeds plant-1 had a positive direct effect on seed yield at both genotypic and phenotypic levels. Overall, the results of the study showed the presence of sufficient genetic variation among Kabuli chickpea genotypes. The variability of traits, which were exhibited among the genotypes, can serve in planning selection and crossing programs for the future chickpea improvement. However, it requires multi location and year trails among a larger set of candidate genotypes to verify the stability and develop high yielding varieties.

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