Assessment of Genetic Variability and Diversity in Desi Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Genotypes Using Multivariate Analysis
S. Neelima *
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Nandyal, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh, India.
K. Sudeepthi
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Nandyal, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh, India.
V. Jayalakshmi
Agricultural College, Mahanandi, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh, India.
B.H. Chaitanya
Department of Plant Pathology, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Nandyal, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh, India.
J. Manjunath
Department of Entomology, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Nandyal, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh, India.
A. Ramakrishna Rao
District Agricultural Advisory and Transfer of Technology Centre, Chittore, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The current research study in chickpea programme was aimed to determine variability and genetic diversity in 24 desi genotypes raised at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Nandyal in a Randomized Block Design during Rabi 2024 - 25. The traits studied were days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, final plant stand, plant height, number of pods per plant and seed yield. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) study revealed existence of significant exploitable variation for all the traits. Moderate estimates of PCV and low GCV were noticed for seed yield coupled with moderate heritability and genetic advance. Diversity study through Principle Component Analysis implied two principal components with eigen values more than one i.e., PC1 and PC2 describes 38.6% and 19.69% respectively with a cumulative effect of 58.30% of the total variation. The 24 chickpea genotypes were grouped in three clusters based on different traits using Ward’s method of clustering, in which cluster III is the largest with 15 entries. The genotypes NBeG 2049, NBeG 2110, NBeG 2106, NBeG 2120, NBeG 2051 were found to be promising entries as they were more diverse in performance of different traits and high yielding as well and can be used for improvement of yield and its attributing traits in chickpea breeding programme.
Keywords: Chickpea, diversity, hierarchial clustering, PCA, variability