Assessing heritability and variance components of agronomic traits of four alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars

Abstract

This research was conducted between the years 1999-2002 in the experimental area of the Field Crops Department of Tekirdag Agricultural Faculty in Turkey. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with three replications. Four alfalfa cultivars were used. variance components, variance coefficients and heritability values were determined for morphological characters, herbage yield, dry matter yield and seed yield. The maximum main stem height (78.69 cm), main stem diameter (4.85 mm), leaflet width (0.93 cm), seeds/pod (6.57), herbage yield (75.64 t ha-1), dry matter yield (20.06 t ha-1) and seed yield (0.49 t ha-1) were obtained from the cultivar Marina. The leaflet length ranged from 1.65 to 2.08 cm and the raceme length from 3.15 to 4.38 cm in the alfalfa cultivars. The highest 1000-seed weights (2.42-2.49 g) were found in cultivars Marina and Sitel. The heritability values of main stem height, main stem diameter, leaflet length and width, leaf/stem ratio, racemes/main stem, raceme length, seeds/pod, 1000-seed weight, herbage yield, dry matter yield and seed yield were calculated as 91.0%, 97.6%, 81.8%, 88.8%, 90.4%, 28.3%, 99.0%, 99.2%, 88.0%, 97.2%, 99.6% and 95.4%, respectively.