Nature of gene action and genetic parameters for yield and its components in chickpea

To determine the gene action and genetic parameters of agro-morphological traits in chickpea, five genotypes of chickpea as a half diallel crossed with each other in 2008, five parents and 10 progenies were planted as randomized complete block design with three replications and some traits including days to flowering and maturity were recorded on row basis when 50% plants flowered or matured. Plant height, biomass, harvest index, number of primary branches, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant, 100-seed weight and seed yield were recorded for each plant (10 observation). Based on analysis of variance, variance due to additive gene effects showed significant differences for plant height and number of primary branches per plant. Both additive and dominance genetic effects were significant for days to flowering, days to maturity, biomass, 100-seed weight, harvest index, number of pods, seeds and seed yield per plant. Higher values (>1) of the average of dominance (H1/D) 1/2 , a measure of over dominance, were observed in this study except for plant height and harvest index. Higher values of narrow-sense heritability was also observed for harvest index (67%), 100-seed weight (56%) and plant height (42%) indicating that huge genetic gain could be achieved for these traits. Key words: Additive, chickpea, diallel, dominance, heritability.