Genetic relatedness and variability studies in greengram (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek)

Abstract

Greengram (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) is one of the highly consumed legumes and has the ability to withstand wide environmental conditions. Sixty greengram genotypes were evaluated for genetic relatedness with 11 quantitative traits viz., days to 50 per cent flowering, days to maturity, plant height, the number of primary branches per plant, the number of clusters per plant, the number of pods per cluster, the number of pods per plant, the number of seeds per pod, pod length, hundred seed weight and single plant yield. The data were subjected to variability, genetic advance, heritability, correlation and path analysis. In this study, the phenotypic coefficient of variation and genotypic coefficient of variation was found to be high for the number of clusters per pod and the number of pods per plant. High heritability was noticed for single plant yield, plant height and hundred seed weight. The genetic advance was found to be very high for the number of pods per plant. Association studies revealed that the single plant yield was significantly correlated with the number of pods per plant (0.75) followed by the number of pods per cluster (0.60), the number of clusters per plant (0.58) and the number of seeds per pod (0.49). The direct and positive effect was recorded for the traits viz., days to maturity (1.44), the number of pods per cluster (0.67), pod length (0.46) and plant height (0.24). Phenotypic selection of traits contributing to grain yield exhibiting high heritability and genetic advance would help in the selection of superior genotypes for the improvement of grain yield in greengram. Key words: Greengram, Correlation, Path analysis, Variability, GCV, PCV.