Genetic Diversity Studies in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Germplasm

The present investigation was undertaken with thirty five genotypes of chickpea, (including one check) during Rabi 2017-18 in a randomized block design with three replications at Field Experimentation Center of Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences Allahabad. The data was recorded for ten characters to study genetic variability, heritability and genetic diversity. Analysis of variance among 35 genotypes showed highly significant difference. High estimates of genotypic coefficient of variation and phenotypic coefficient of variation were observed for economical yield followed by biological yield and number of pods per plant. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was recorded for economical yield suggesting greater role of non-additive gene action in their heritance. Mahalnobis’s D2 analysis revealed considerable amount of diversity in the material. Thirty five genotypes were grouped into six heterogeneous clusters. Among these clusters Cluster VI has maximum number of genotypes. On the basis of mean performance of the genotypes, IC-275323 was recorded high yield among 35 genotypes under study. Characters such as economical yield, biological yield should be given top priority for effective selection. The present investigation revealed that the cluster II and cluster V are most diverse to each other, and the genotypes constituted in these clusters may be used as a parent for further hybridization programme.