Morphological Characterization and Genetic Diversity among Indigenous Collections of Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp

Abstract

Background: Morphological characters are stable across environments owing to oligogeneic nature. Hence, they serve as morphological markers which can be used in varietal or genotypic identification, varietal purification and even in seed production. Genetic diversity analysis is being used to identify the divergent genotypes and to utilize these genotypes to exploit heterosis and also help to select desirable segregants. Methods: A total of 266 pigeonpea germplasm lines along with three checks were evaluated in augmented block design (ABD) at ZARS, Kalaburagi, during kharif, 2020. Observations are recorded on nine quantitative and fourteen morphological triats. Result: Grouping of 266 germplasm lines into twelve clusters indicated a wider genetic diversity for the traits studied, in which cluster I and cluster II are the largest comprising 105 genotypes each, while clusters V, VI, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII were solitary with one entry each. Germplasm lines IC339062, IC343954, IC339074, IC418976, IC343931, IC437078, IC355599 and IC384490 fall into solitary cluster and are more often likely to have some unique characters which make them divergent. The genotypes IC 355599 and IC 343931 are trait specific for both seed weight and pods per plant.