Genetic evaluation of selected accessions of ICRISAT chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) mini-core collection for seed yield and its component traits

The present study was undertaken to assess the extent of genetic variability and diversity in selected accessions of ICRISAT chickpea mini-core and to identify promising trait-specific chickpea genotypes as donor parents for use in chickpea breeding. A total of 71 chickpea accessions were evaluated for nine quantitative traits using augmented block design. The results indicated the existence of sufficient variability among the accessions and high phenotypic coefficient of variation was observed for all traits studied. High heritability with high genetic advance was observed for plant height, number of branches, number of seeds, pod yield per plat and seed yield. Correlation analysis indicated that direct selection of traits namely plant width, number of branches, number of pods per plant, number of seeds and pod yield would be useful for improving seed yield per plant. Genetic diversity analysis revealed that the accessions were separated into six distinct groups and th cluster I is the largest whereas the clusters II & V are the smallest with 58 and one accession respectively. Six genotypes namely ICC 1180, ICC 10945, ICC 95, ICC 2884, ICC 4567 and ICC 4639 were identified as superior lines for multiple traits. The results obtained in this study would facilitate an effective selection of identified traits and the use of promising genotypes as donor parents in breeding programs to realize high yield gains in chickpea.